NICOLE &TARA
The Metamorphosis can be connected to Allegory of the Cave by relating Gregor to one of the prisoners in the cave. The last few pages of The Metamorphosis speaks on the death of Gregor and how his family neglected him. His open mindedness to accept life for what it is and how crazy it seems is similar to the prisoner who sees the shadow of the birds and escapes to see reality. Both readings describe dark places where they experience being uncomfortable. On page 239 of The Metamorphosis Gregor describes his experience being locked in a room. “ What now?” wondered Gregor, and looked around in the dark. He soon made the discovery that he could no longer move.” Gregor experiences a trapped feeling that the prisoner also experiences in his cave. Both readings also look for the reality of life. Gregor goes to work and accepts the reaction of the clerks and is okay with either outcome. The prisoner escapes the prison after seeing the shadows and finds that there are in fact real animals outside of the cave.
Tara:
Kafka’s Metamorphosis can be compared to Plato’s Allegory of the Cave in that Gregor’s family is similar to the prisoners in the cave who refused to accept reality. Gregor’s family found their son had become a cockroach, and this was not a complete shock to them. As the story goes on Gregor dies after being mistreated by his family for quite some time, and they still were not distraught over losing their son. Once they discovered Gregor’s dead body the family is described as “ Sitting back, comfortable in their seats, they discussed the prospects of their future; it turned out that on a closer inspection these were not all bad,” (241). This description can be compared to the prisoners in the Allegory of the Cave because his family clearly realized Gregor had died, yet their first instinct was to discuss the future. Like the prisoners Gregor’s family did not want to accept the truth that Gregor was dead, they wanted to continue living their lives as if they did not just suffer a great loss.
6 responses so far ↓
b.samura // Apr 6th 2017 at 8:39 pm
For Nicole, I like your point of view on both of the stories. I never saw that comparison on how Gregor is a prisoner. You stated that “Gregor experiences a trapped feeling that the prisoner also experiences in his cave.” So I’m guessing his transformation made him see reality , because before that he was just trapped with work paying of his parents debt. After being turned into a cockroach he saw the truth in reality.
k.parkinson1 // Apr 6th 2017 at 9:36 pm
I think you guys make great comparisons between “The Metamorphosis” and “Allegory of the Cave”. I find it interesting that Nicole makes the connection between Gregor and the prisoner. How they both feel trapped and are hit with the reality of their lives. While Tara says that Gregor’s family and the other prisoners are similar when it comes to their attitude which is ignorance. Which is shown when she says “like the prisoners Gregor’s family did not want to accept the truth that Gregor was dead, they wanted to continue living their lives as if they did not just suffer a great loss”.
f.furca // Apr 6th 2017 at 10:19 pm
Tara I like how you said that the characters refuse to accept reality and chose to be isolated from society. I also like it when you said “This description can be compared to the prisoners in the Allegory of the Cave because his family clearly realized Gregor had died, yet their first instinct was to discuss the future.” I do agree that they did not pay much attention to his death. Which was similar to when they saw him as a cockroach and didn’t really react in a shocking way. I also like how you compared it to the prisoners and how the prisoner just went forward with the future and not really looking back at the cave.
m.khan10 // Apr 6th 2017 at 11:10 pm
I like Tara’s comparison of the prisoners and Gregor’s family and how both refused to accept reality. “Like the prisoners Gregor’s family did not want to accept the truth that Gregor was dead, they wanted to continue living their lives as if they did not just suffer a great loss”. I think this quote does a great job of showing the ignorance that both the prisoners and Gregor’s family had.
MEZBAH ONU // Apr 7th 2017 at 10:33 am
Tara brings up how the prisoners refuse to accept reality and I share the same point of view. It’s unfortunate how they refused to believe. “His open mindedness to accept life for what it is and how crazy it seems is similar to the prisoner who sees the shadow of the birds and escapes to see reality.” That was well put comparison that makes me feel like the two different stories are so similar
r.klamen // Apr 7th 2017 at 10:48 am
Tara says, “Kafka’s Metamorphosis can be compared to Plato’s Allegory of the Cave in that Gregor’s family is similar to the prisoners in the cave who refused to accept reality.” I think that there is a difference. The prisoners are afraid to look at reality, and stay looking at it’s dark, exaggerated version- the shadows. Gregor and his family, however, continue to look and believe only in the dark, exaggerated version of reality, in which Gregor is a cockroach, not simply lazy and unwilling to move.
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