In The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, the characters Gregor Samsa and his sister Grete go through major changes. It is critical for characters to go through changes wither they are big or small. Throughout the book we learn Gregor turns into a bug and how he deals with the struggle to survive. While Grete, finds her brother and decides to take care of him. Before believing she’s not taking care of Gregor just a giant bug.
The way Gregor reacts would not be uncommon to many people. In the beginning he doesn’t understand why it is happening to him then he slowly accepts it. The way he reacted is a positive way to handle a stressful situation. Gregor hides when his family comes into the room to help protect them. This is the most likely to occur in any situation. He would rather protect his family than to hurt them and be a burden on them.
From the beginning of the story Grete had an easy life until Gregor’s change. Grete’s reaction was to take care of her brother, which shows she’s a loving and caring person. After awhile she begins to become sick of taking care of him, her character becomes cold and mean. Grete now started to become independent and had her own job to help the family. This helps show that she still has the loving and caring side in her but yet she is still mean.
In The Metamorphosis, two characters change over time, one for good and the other for the bad. The more the characters change the more the reader can relate to them. This adds drama to the text and allows the reader compare to other works. The book has a deeper meaning than a book with no characters evolving over time.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Ch. 3 questions
1. Gregor’s family was selfish when he needed them because they felt as if Gregor was hopeless and could not be helped in his situation. The more they took care of him and seen that he was not changing back they realized that Gregor may not ever be turned back to a human and that it was too much to take care of him in the condition he is in.
3. When the family moved the furniture around was probably to try to give him more space to move around. I don’t think they were trying to kill him faster because Grete was trying to make sure he got food and something to drink still. I also don’t think they knew Gregor now had the actual life of a bug and maybe even the lifespan as a bug.
4. Gregor’s family may blame him for their situation because he was the one that brought in money so they could buy food and pay their servants. When he couldn’t work anymore it was like he was useless and they now had no way of paying for the things they had now except for the little money they had set aside. Now they feel as if they have to take care of everything but before they had no worries because Gregor took care of everything.
5. Gregor feels depressed because he thought that his family would accept him in this new form. He would do the same if one of the other members was a bug. He probably feels as if they only took care of him for that time because they had to but now they feel it s a hassle and it takes too much from them.
7a. Gregor’s family stops believing he is the bug because he does not communicate with them when he is able to. The family just feels that it is a monster and that Gregor could never be such a thing. When Grete tried to take care of him, he should have tried to make contact with her instead of running under the couch it may have saved the relationship that he did have with the family.
8. The family is able to move on so quickly after Gregor’s death because they had given up on him a long time ago and also they believed that the bug living in his room was not him. Grete felt as if Gregor had left and a bug took his place, she may feel this way because she was scared of him when she seen what he really was.
10. Grete may have called Gregor a monster since he did not try to make contact with them and she began to think that it was just a bug. The more she took care of him the more she felt that she was just taking care of a bug and not her brother.
13. This chapter I think satirizes the American families today because when families get together for dinner they usually do not talk a lot to each other. This may be why families are not as close as families from different era’s. Talking to each other creates a strong bond and when families do not talk as much they may be shocked when they find new information out about one of their family members.
15. I think Gregor’s feelings are more humane now because he has a chance to really think about how people really feel and how they react to different situations they are exposed to. Since Gregor feels he can not talk to his family he can only process the way they feel about him and what they say about him.
17. I think Gregor still loves his family because that’s all he has in his life. He had no love life and no social life all he had was his family and when they start to give up on him, he still thinks that they are all he has. The family may not realize it but all they have is each other and may one day regret doing this to Gregor.
3. When the family moved the furniture around was probably to try to give him more space to move around. I don’t think they were trying to kill him faster because Grete was trying to make sure he got food and something to drink still. I also don’t think they knew Gregor now had the actual life of a bug and maybe even the lifespan as a bug.
4. Gregor’s family may blame him for their situation because he was the one that brought in money so they could buy food and pay their servants. When he couldn’t work anymore it was like he was useless and they now had no way of paying for the things they had now except for the little money they had set aside. Now they feel as if they have to take care of everything but before they had no worries because Gregor took care of everything.
5. Gregor feels depressed because he thought that his family would accept him in this new form. He would do the same if one of the other members was a bug. He probably feels as if they only took care of him for that time because they had to but now they feel it s a hassle and it takes too much from them.
7a. Gregor’s family stops believing he is the bug because he does not communicate with them when he is able to. The family just feels that it is a monster and that Gregor could never be such a thing. When Grete tried to take care of him, he should have tried to make contact with her instead of running under the couch it may have saved the relationship that he did have with the family.
8. The family is able to move on so quickly after Gregor’s death because they had given up on him a long time ago and also they believed that the bug living in his room was not him. Grete felt as if Gregor had left and a bug took his place, she may feel this way because she was scared of him when she seen what he really was.
10. Grete may have called Gregor a monster since he did not try to make contact with them and she began to think that it was just a bug. The more she took care of him the more she felt that she was just taking care of a bug and not her brother.
13. This chapter I think satirizes the American families today because when families get together for dinner they usually do not talk a lot to each other. This may be why families are not as close as families from different era’s. Talking to each other creates a strong bond and when families do not talk as much they may be shocked when they find new information out about one of their family members.
15. I think Gregor’s feelings are more humane now because he has a chance to really think about how people really feel and how they react to different situations they are exposed to. Since Gregor feels he can not talk to his family he can only process the way they feel about him and what they say about him.
17. I think Gregor still loves his family because that’s all he has in his life. He had no love life and no social life all he had was his family and when they start to give up on him, he still thinks that they are all he has. The family may not realize it but all they have is each other and may one day regret doing this to Gregor.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Why the future doesn't need us
Throughout "Why the Future Doesn't need Us" by Bill Joy it states that if the human kind creates robots to be able to do more things than they can now, human kind will become extinct. If this occurs the only thing our race can do is sit back and watch it happen. Unless we prevent it in the short run. This can happen by not giving the robots complete control on what they get to do or how they act. Our race would still have to be active in the world to make sure that our race survives. With the companies today researching and trying to create robots the people could put the blame on them. When the robots become out of control the companies who programmed them will have set up our fate to become extinct. After reading some of AldousHuxley’s “Brave New World” it starts to connect to this article. The only difference is that there is genetic engineering instead of robots. In a Brave New World, society becomes consumed with things being perfect and in Why the Future Doesn’t need Us, the robots could want to do the same. Both of the works show that the future can be grim but our race can change it before things go terribly wrong. The author Bill Joy could be made out to be a fear monger since he seems very concerned about how the human race will become obsolete. He seems to act like he knows it will happen no matter what the race does to stop it but that might not be true. Joy argues this by stating that researchers are trying to create robots now that can do basic functions and that they may make them to be able to do the things our race can.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Writing prompt #2 9/19/08
In 1984 by George Orwell the character Winston Smith has no control in life over anything. Among the population in the story Winston is just one out of many people who do not know what it's like to control their own life.
Throughout the story Winston lives in a dictator society. It's either one way or no way. The leader Big Brother has no characteristics of a brother. He is mean and very cruel to the people. Winston decides to try to get control of his own life and over throw Big Brother.
During the time Winston is trying to fight to get rid of Big Brother he faces obstacles. One of them is the things Big brother sends people to stop Winston. In one case Big Brother sent people to kill Winston but that failed. No one would want to be told how to do something or even what to do.
Enhancing certain qualities throughout the book is one way the author can keep readers entertained. In 1984, George Orwell uses power struggle as his main topic. When the readers see a character going through a power struggle it may help relate the book to them. It hooks them easier than normal.
All in all in every story or in every life people have to deal with similar problems Winston went through. Also in every case everyone handles the situation differently.
Throughout the story Winston lives in a dictator society. It's either one way or no way. The leader Big Brother has no characteristics of a brother. He is mean and very cruel to the people. Winston decides to try to get control of his own life and over throw Big Brother.
During the time Winston is trying to fight to get rid of Big Brother he faces obstacles. One of them is the things Big brother sends people to stop Winston. In one case Big Brother sent people to kill Winston but that failed. No one would want to be told how to do something or even what to do.
Enhancing certain qualities throughout the book is one way the author can keep readers entertained. In 1984, George Orwell uses power struggle as his main topic. When the readers see a character going through a power struggle it may help relate the book to them. It hooks them easier than normal.
All in all in every story or in every life people have to deal with similar problems Winston went through. Also in every case everyone handles the situation differently.
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