great works ii – 2850 jta 12:25-2:05: love letters from the world

Thesis statement: Through the metamorphosis of Gregor, the tragic hero model was showcased when his life had taken a sudden turn and resulted in the distaste from his family and increased burden but also a decreased of a reason for Gregor all together.

I felt that this image illustrated my interpretation concisely as there is a shadow underneath him which represented what his life used to be. According to Aristotle, they would be born in noble birth but in this novel, he was the provider of his family. The door would represent the distant that was created between him and his family but also the mistakes he had done (such as frighten the tenants as his curiosity was outside of the room).  The bare and empty room would describe the solitude that would drive him into his death.

The movie followed the script strictly in terms of actions relating to costumes but otherwise, the costume design is not clearly defined for each character. A defining moment that imprinted a sense of costume design was at the beginning when Clov was unveiling Hamm. “He goes to HAMM, removes sheet covering him, folds it over his arm. In a dressing-gown, a stiff toque on his head, a large blood-stained handkerchief over his face, a whistle hanging from his neck, a rug over his knees, thick socks on his feet, HAMM seems to be asleep” (767). Watching the movie after reading the script, I was mentally picturing a check-list and separately checking off each of these actions, noticing the costumes involved. After removing the sheet, the blood-stained handkerchief arose a curiosity. In a small span of time, a sense of HAMM’s costume is shown. However costumes of Nell and Nagg was not presented. The limited fact was that they were in stationed inside of bins. It is up to the viewer to realize that to connect with their dusty, worn wardrobe which was presented in the movie.

A theme from “My Cloud” is the inevitability of aging. This theme connects to the theme in “Aura” because Consuelo desires youth and beauty over the reality of old age. “…I don’t have many years ahead of me, Senor Montero, and therefore I decided to break a lifelong rule and place an advertisement in the newspaper” (834). Consuelo is desperate for Filipe to finish her husband’s memoirs, knowing that she will die soon. She also knows that she will slowly lose her beauty as she ages, so she wants Felipe to finish as soon as possible. Her strong need for lasting youth and beauty has triumph over the actual reality of death. When Felipe reads the General’s journals, he notices Consuelo’s strong obsession with youth. Consuelo is insecure about her old age because she wants to stay youthful for her husband. (Ivy)

One theme from “My Cloud” is the search for youth and regaining what has already been lost. I feel like this connects to the theme in “Aura” because Consuelo is on a quest to recapture her youth and trying to regain what’s been lost. One quote that I found in the story is, “You plunge your face, your open eyes, into Consuelo’s silver-white hair, and you’ll embrace her again when the clouds cover the moon, when you’re both hidden again, when the memory of youth, of youth re-embodied, rules the darkness” (852). Consuelo’s main motivation throughout the story is to recapture her youth. When Felipe meets her, she is obviously really old and shows it. She changed in her time apart from the General and began to experiment to find a way to relive her youthful days. Her desire to relive the past is also related to her love for the General. (Alexandria)

Adding onto what Ivy and Alex had said, a theme from “My Cloud” that has floated about was the desire for everything to be exactly as it was during their youth. The very last quote from “Aura” went as “She’ll come back, Felipe. We’ll bring her back together. Let me recover my strength and I’ll bring her back…” (852). Where in “My Cloud” when it states “ It doesn’t taste like my cloud from when I was young” shows how the cloud even though changed for the better or worse, will not be the same as the cloud as it was before, which was so adored. In “Aura” the quote explains how in the end, Aura turns out to be Senora Consuelo. However Felipe only loves Aura which was the youthful Senora Consuelo. Even if Aura was crafted as a replica of the youthful Consuelo, Felipe would much rather prefer the young version that is Aura than Consuelo. (Michael)

The chief clerk and Gregor’s father both had different reactions to Gregor’s metamorphosis. While the chief clerk was more terrified, Gregor’s father was more calm and impassive. When Gregor revealed his transformation, everyone was shocked. “But the chief clerk had turned his back on Gregor the moment he had begin speaking, and only stared back at him with mouth agape, over his trembling shoulder.”(218) The chief was so scared that he left the house immediately. Gregor’s father went from calm to angry, to the point where he kicked Gregor back to his room. “…when from behind his father now gave him a truly liberating kick, and he was thrown, bleeding profusely, far into his room.”(220) Unlike the chief clerk, the father was more angry than scared. (Ivy)

Adding onto what Ivy said on the first part, the charwoman’s and Gregor’s father reaction towards Gregor’s death is now completely different. Whereas Ivy pointed out with Gregor’s father being the violent one, kicking Gregor into his room, now Gregor’s dad takes a more calm approach. “Ah, said Mr Samsa, now we can give thanks to God. He crossed himself and the three women followed his example” (240). This showed how when his son was alive as a bug, Gregor’s father wanted to physically remove him. But now that he is dead, he does not need to use force to do so.  As for the charwoman’s initial reaction to Gregor, she had a similar reaction to the chief clerk. “Her eyes went large and round, she gave a half-involuntary whistle, didn’t stay longer, but tore open the door of the bedroom and loudly called into the darkness: ‘Have a look, it’s gone and perished; it’s lying there, and it’s perished! (239). Instead of chief clerk running out of the room in fright, the charwomen ran towards the family to bring them closer to Gregor and give attention to his death.