Yet the opening of a poem or novel also seems to spring out of a kind of silence, since it inaugurates a fictional world that did not exist before ' (Eagleton, 2013: 8)
Within the opening lines of Kafka’s Metamorphosis, it is, to some extent true that Kafka forms the idea that the uncanny has just emerged into a world that was previously ordinary, perhaps initiating the novella as the telling of a pivotal point in Gregor Samsa’s life where the ‘Fictional world that didn’t exist before’ (Eagleton, 2013, p. 8) is inaugurated. We are told initially that Gregor Samsa ‘awoke one morning from troubled dreams, he found himself changed into a monstrous cockroach’ (Kafka, Hofmann, 2007, p. 87). This opening establishes the supernatural transformation, …show more content…
In part two of three, Kafka once again begins with Gregor’s awakening, ‘not until dusk did Gregor awake form his heavy almost comatose sleep.’ (Kafka, Hofmann 2007, p.106). However, contrary to the very first part where we are made to envision the physical transformation to begin with, in the latter, Kafka explains the physical suffering and sacrifices Gregor goes through. This is all followed by the final part of the novella where Gregor isn’t awoken from his uncomfortable sleep any longer which can be considered as an extended metaphor, suggesting that sleep is no longer available as his escapism as Gregor begins to lack sleep, his eyesight worsens and he’s still in excruciating pain. The apply that is thrown at Gregor into his back from his father, is a very effective and symbolic way of portraying the decadence of Gregor as it ‘continues to rot’ in his back, whilst he begins to loose his health. Through this we can identify that the different parts are used to highlight a different scenes, time passing, as well as slowing down the pace once again, as expected from pieces of ‘Kafka time’. In addition, it is clearly identifiable that the first two openings are very similar in style and both could potentially be the start of the novella as they don’t follow the conventional, ‘Once upon a time’ or ‘In the beginning’ which are time honored ways of beginning a story (Eagleton, 2013, p. 18). Kafka appears to also incorporate sleep and relaxation within his openings, particularly in the first two parts. We see that Gregor spends a lot of time resting, which is perhaps indicative of sleep being his form of escapism from the isolation as he is also unable to communicate. In doing so, Kafka highlights a particular social issue where Gregor presents a man who has lost his voice and reason due to
Within the opening lines of Kafka’s Metamorphosis, it is, to some extent true that Kafka forms the idea that the uncanny has just emerged into a world that was previously ordinary, perhaps initiating the novella as the telling of a pivotal point in Gregor Samsa’s life where the ‘Fictional world that didn’t exist before’ (Eagleton, 2013, p. 8) is inaugurated. We are told initially that Gregor Samsa ‘awoke one morning from troubled dreams, he found himself changed into a monstrous cockroach’ (Kafka, Hofmann, 2007, p. 87). This opening establishes the supernatural transformation, …show more content…
In part two of three, Kafka once again begins with Gregor’s awakening, ‘not until dusk did Gregor awake form his heavy almost comatose sleep.’ (Kafka, Hofmann 2007, p.106). However, contrary to the very first part where we are made to envision the physical transformation to begin with, in the latter, Kafka explains the physical suffering and sacrifices Gregor goes through. This is all followed by the final part of the novella where Gregor isn’t awoken from his uncomfortable sleep any longer which can be considered as an extended metaphor, suggesting that sleep is no longer available as his escapism as Gregor begins to lack sleep, his eyesight worsens and he’s still in excruciating pain. The apply that is thrown at Gregor into his back from his father, is a very effective and symbolic way of portraying the decadence of Gregor as it ‘continues to rot’ in his back, whilst he begins to loose his health. Through this we can identify that the different parts are used to highlight a different scenes, time passing, as well as slowing down the pace once again, as expected from pieces of ‘Kafka time’. In addition, it is clearly identifiable that the first two openings are very similar in style and both could potentially be the start of the novella as they don’t follow the conventional, ‘Once upon a time’ or ‘In the beginning’ which are time honored ways of beginning a story (Eagleton, 2013, p. 18). Kafka appears to also incorporate sleep and relaxation within his openings, particularly in the first two parts. We see that Gregor spends a lot of time resting, which is perhaps indicative of sleep being his form of escapism from the isolation as he is also unable to communicate. In doing so, Kafka highlights a particular social issue where Gregor presents a man who has lost his voice and reason due to