Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” clearly represents how the power of the mind can make a difference in society. Those who remained chained up, only believed that the shadows were reality, which relates to Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis” where the mother, father, and sister of Gregor, believed that Gregor was the only one physically capable of providing for the family. However, in the end, the family has no choice but to see the truth, which never happens in Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave”: “They talked to each other, leaning back comfortably in their seats, about future prospects, and they discovered that on closer observation these were not at all bad, for all three had employment.” It is then when the family of Gregor realizes that they could have worked and distributed the cost of living, instead of forcing all responsibilities on Gregor. It is a self realization which connects to the escape of the prisoner, where the prisoner sees what the world has to offer outside of a cave, or in Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis” a house.
6 Responses to The Metamorphosis
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Much like Roshelle pointed out, Plato’s Allegory of the Cave clearly indicates the effect of perception and confronting radical changes with regards to it. When the men are chained up, their worldview is fairly simple, however once the freed man tries to explain all that the world has to offer, he is thought to somehow be incorrect by his fellow prisoners. In Metamorphasis by Franz Kafka, Gregor’s family experiences a similar radical change to their worldview when Gregor becomes a cockroach, and deals with it in a similarly close minded fashion. In a moment that was highly indicative of familial views towards Gregor’s change, Gregor’s sister clears his unfinished food “…right away, not with her bare hands but with a rag, and carried it out.” By stipulating the fact the Gregor’s own sister was too repulsed to clear his unfinished food without a rag, the general attitude toward Gregor seemed to be that of disgust, or at least disdain. Instead of offering Gregor support in dealing with a drastic change not dissimilar to the one experienced by the men in Allegory of the Cave, Gregor was reviled and relegated to outcast status.
I like when you said “When the men are chained up, their worldview is fairly simple, however once the freed man tries to explain all that the world has to offer, he is thought to somehow be incorrect by his fellow prisoners”. To me that was the main point of the story. The reason why the chained up men didn’t believe the free man was because the only reality they ever knew was in that cave. The only way those chained men will believe the truth about reality would be for them to leave the cave.
Crystal Wong
Same as both of my group members pointed out, Gregor’s situation is similar to the situation displayed in the Allegory of the Cave. In this society, people tend to have a hard time accepting the reality because its perceived in the wrong way from their point of views. In the Allegory of the Cave, the prisoners were reluctant in believing that there’s another world better than “the shadows”. The prisoner became the outcast. In the Metamorphosis, the family relied heavily on Gregor and basically dubbed him as the breadwinner of the family. In the beginning of the passage when he didn’t answer the door for his boss and parents, his mom stated, “Go to the doctor right away. Gregor’s ill.” His family was anxious and worried for him. However after they saw his “‘disturbing” image, they turned their backs at him. “Gregor hadn’t even heard her until she cried ‘At last!’ as she turned the key in the lock.” This shows that his family is not even trying to understand his situation and basically pushed him away as an outcast of the family. In both of the stories, instead of receiving support from their friends and families, they were pushed away because they were different.
In response to Crystal’s post, the way Gregor is treated after he wasn’t able to bring home income is indeed depressing. Myra have referred to the Samsa’s attitudes in her post as well, “the Samsas didn’t really care where he worked, how long he worked, just as long as he worked and provided for them”. Going back to professor’s original leading question in regards to whether the ending illustrated by Kafka is a bigger problem in the society we live in today, it certainly is. I can relate this to how, at times, the elderly in the family have lost their position to speak and voice their opinions within their own household. Members of the family would no longer respect them and see them as freeloaders who is unable to provide for them. Nevertheless, they have forgotten, just as how the Samsas have forgotten about the hard work Gregor has contributed to the well being of the family when he was able to work.
-Chi Zhang
I think you made a great comparison between “Allegory of the Cave” and “The Metamorphosis”. Because it’s true that Gregor’s family didn’t think they could provide for themselves and as you pointed out; “believed that Gregor was the only one physically capable of providing for the family.” After the family realized their self-sufficiency, they started to neglect Gregor and understand that they didn’t really need Gregor and started to do everything themselves. It makes me wonder since Gregor’s family started to accept reality, would the prisoners that were still chained up be able accept reality? The same way the prisoner who escaped did?
-Myra Khan
I agree to w.dayan’s response back to j.kerstein, “The only way those chained men will believe the truth about reality would be for them to leave the cave.” It is true of the theme Rochelle first described of coming to the self realization and what our other classmates pointed out in this thread. It remind’s me of the last presentation in class that encouraged us to travel and see the world. It also reminded me of a saying by Mark Twain which states, “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.” It all ties into breaking free from the cave and truly realizing and grasping reality. -Diana