Franz Kafka Could Be Said Essay

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After some initial shock, the family simply accepts him as a somewhat unorthodox and reclusive member of the family.

In terms of the meaningless, Gregor's adjustment and life as an insect is described in grim and often somewhat graphic detail. His family's interactions with him evolve according to his new status as insect, and are similarly described with great attention, as if it an important plot element. This can be compared with Marquez's detailed descriptions of Erendira's servitude, where both her cleaning and her sexual slavery are described in painstaking, but emotionless detail.

Death in Kafka's novel can be contrasted with Erendira's grandmother's death scene. Her death is violent and described in great detail, although the narrator's objectivity is retained throughout the violence. In Gregor's case, he simply and quietly dies, to be discovered by the cleaning woman the morning after the event. There is no death bed scene, and the family is not even aware of his passing until they are told that he is dead. In this way, two of the most important events in his life; Gregor's transformation and his death, remain described as if they are unimportant, everyday events. The family and even Gregor himself treat them in this way as well.

The freedom theme is also addressed in Kafka's novel. Gregor's transformation has created a sense of captivity for the family. Although they apparently ignore him and carry on with their lives, they are nonetheless held captive by his strangeness.

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It is only once he dies that both the family and the reader realize how enslaved they in fact were to his condition. The author states that they Had not all three left the apartment together for months. When Erendira's grandmother dies, she is finally free to go where she wishes, and she is not about to give this up. In the same way, the family is finally free from the obligation to look after Gregor. Both Erendira and the family leave their demised kin to move forward, unemotionally and unmoved, to their new lives of freedom. The emotion that should be connected to the death is all but ignored in favor of the freedom that is to be gained.

In general both stories are written in a non-emotional, distant way. The reader is seduced by the strangeness of the relationship in both families depicted. However, there is no attempt to involve the reader's emotions. This lack of empathy, particularly in the case of Gregor's death, creates a sense of distance for the reader, which enhances the strange atmosphere of the story. It also increases the effect of the story, which is to estrange the reader from the events and the characters. The same occurs in the case of Erendira, where the girl does not turn to as much as thank Ulises for her freedom. She, like Gregor's family, simply takes the freedom that she now sees as her own......

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