1) In Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis, Gregor could be see as a hero overcoming Campbell’s Heroic Journey. There are 8 stages in the heroic journey. According to Joseph Campbell’s theory, could we define Gregor’s journey as a success or a failure? Does the ending of the book determine the result?
2) In the Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, Gregor’s family remained heartless throughout his transformation. In the five stages of grief, you have to go through denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. These stages help us identify how we’re feeling inside. Therefore, is it the reason why his family was acting “odd” in the story? Could the stages be used as an excuse of why his family wasn’t as caring? If so, how would you explain the bargaining stage in the story?
Crystal Wong
I think it is interesting to apply Campbell’s Heroic Journey to the Metamorphosis. His call and refusal of the call could be applied to his transformation, and respectively, to his refusal to go back to his old life. Although he may not have much of a choice, he quickly realizes how he is viewed by others and makes his decision. Maybe in order to apply the journey model more effectively, you could focus it more on whether the end result was a direct fault of Gregor, or his circumstances. You could look at Gregor’s journey as an inner one, and how he handled his transition and his new world.
I like your second question a lot! I think applying the five stages of grief to Gregor’s family is very suitable; in a sense, the family does lose Gregor. He can no longer communicate with them, he is no longer human, and he can no longer provide for them. I think using the stages could help us understand the family’s behavior, and the bargaining stage could apply to the family keeping him around and for example, finding out what he can eat. You could also thoroughly analyze the “acceptance” stage, and evaluate whether the family was justified in their behavior.