November 2018 – ENG2850.TIMOTHY ZHAO

The video I selected is a small scene from the Metamorphosis. It was mainly performed by Janusz Madej at the Department of Acting Amsterdam (2005). This simple little show mainly presents the process that Gregor has just transformed into a giant insect and then discovered by his family and his manager. Unlike other stage performances of the same drama, this performance uses almost no props but languages and bodies to convey the original content to the audience. Among them, we can feel more about the characters’ inner activities and emotional changes.

The burden of life is heavy for Gregor and has to be carried. At the beginning of the novel, there are many monologues about the protagonist complaining about the exhaustion of life, such as: “O God,” he thought, “what a demanding job I’ve chosen! Day in, day out on the road. The stresses of trade are much greater than the work going on at head office,” and “If I didn’t hold back for my parents’ sake, I would’ve quit ages ago.” After everyone saw him become vermin, the frail mother was immediately stunned, the manager was scared away, and the father showed a wicked look and drove him back to the room.

There are three kinds of “metamorphism” in the story: Firstly, the physiological metamorphism, which is that Gregor suddenly found himself turning into a giant insect in the morning. Secondly, behind the physiological metamorphism is deeper psychological metamorphism. Gregor is the pillar and the money-making machine of the family and the company. The character’s inner need was unconcerned. He is extremely eager to get rid of the stresses of life. The third is the metamorphism of various interpersonal relationships, that is after he became some vermin, the relationship with the society and his family was utterly subverted, and Gregor was able to see the darkest side of the relationship between people. The whole family’s attitude towards Gregor is also changing as his role in the family changes; until his death, the family was relieved and asked to leave for an outing.

If the author does not intend to make Gregor become a disgusting and unacceptable thing but become a kitten, a puppy, a flower and grass, the alienation of his family and the indifference of society will not be completely exposed. It is absurd that people transform into a giant insect, but the family’s reaction to this incident is real. In real life, when a person becomes a terminally ill patient from the family’s pillar, his family will initially be very concerned and very sympathetic. However, when the patient gradually loses all kinds of abilities, when the economic burden is getting heavier, the family’s boredom and complaints will naturally arise. Moreover, when the patient becomes the biggest obstacle to the family’s new life, the family will even be happy for his disappearance. The main idea of Kafka’s works and the literature of the Absurd is to reflect the alienation and absurdity of the relationship between man and society. These cannot but be of deep reflection.

“I would prefer not to.” This sentence repeatedly appears in the video I selected and is also the most representative line of the protagonist.

Imagine that you have a specific career or hobby and have made achievements in this field, but suddenly, you are far from this and will not continue it anymore. This is what Bartleby did in the story. Although seemingly exaggerated, it is true. Bartleby is mysterious and lonely, who is left to people of a sad prototype that rejects the world. The phenomenon of Bartleby is widespread and not far from us. We can even say it as a personality symbol in the depths of each of us. To everyone, there is a shadow of him.

According to the story of the scriveners on Wall Street, this book demonstrates the dilemma of interpersonal relationships in the rapid development of modern society. The scriveners represent a group junior staffs whose work and life are standardized and mechanized repeatedly every day according to the labor employment contracts. The video I chose vividly restored the scenes in the book that happened in the office by using several simple minifigures. Such small scene restorations are not only interesting but also intuitive. When watching this video, readers can easily follow the perspective of the old lawyer. Although the background of the story is Wall Street more than a hundred years ago, the office workplace ecology seems to have no difference in time and space. Even in the 21st century, there is deep resonance.

There are three other scriveners in the story, Turkey, Nippers and Nut, who have their own hobbies and habits, but they all listen to the employer’s orders to complete the daily tasks and make the daily operation of the office in a delicate balance. However, Bartleby, a former member of the “Dead Letter” Group, is a maverick clerk. He broke the contractual spirit prevailing in modern society, refused to obey the boss’s orders, and sometimes even motionless, without words, stubborn and weird. There are several descriptions of these images in the text that reflects this contrast, for example, “Half-past twelve o’clock came; Turkey began to glow in the face, overturn his inkstand, and become generally obstreperous; Nippers abated down into quietude and courtesy; Ginger Nut munched his noon apple, and Bartleby remained standing at his window in one of his profoundest dead-wall reveries.”

In fact, the change in Bartleby’s work attitude is not without reason. The simple writing and copying behaviors of lawyers and scriveners are actually helping the real estate capitalists to squeeze people who cannot afford a house or can’t live in a house. “Do you not see the reason for yourself” when asking Bartleby about the reason for his changing he indifferently replied. If we can link the scriveners’ job to the injustice of capitalism, then Bartleby makes sense. It symbolizes the subversion of the established social order and the faint voice on the edge of the mainstream ideology. Unfortunately, this resistance was finally proved to be ineffective, and it led to his self-destruction. On the other hand, whether this resistance is valuable or not, it deserves more thinking.