Brenda’s Flight Essay

As Gregor saw his many legs waving in the air it symbolizes the rejection of different people because as a traveling salesman he used to move constantly from one place to another and in the habit of waking up in unfamiliar surroundings and various circumstances. He must show his patience, perseverance and eagerness to induce many customers because from that he can earn his living. But as we all know not all the people that we used to mingle with can accept and entertain us positively. The weight on Gregor’s life represents the resistance to change in family tradition that he is the financial head of the household; nobody else probably works in his family; their whole present and comfortable existence relies upon Gregor’s employment. Most of his burden is the debt which his father owes to the employer for whom Gregor now works. His mere condition shows the exploitation of one by many because the reactions of his own family revealed that he is just an impending burden to them. They care for him but they are so horrified by his presence that’s why they take to shutting Gregor into his room. They tend to shrink back whenever he reveals himself and his father embedded one of the apples in his back, causing an infection. As he hides himself underneath a sheet is the metaphor for rejection of sick people because it attests that he is afraid to see and to be seen by other people because of that his family becomes the jailer, they locked Gregor in from the outside. Though bereft of human contact, he is still concern for his family and at the same time mad at them for neglecting him. We can de – humanize our enemies by letting them realize their fault and shortcomings; in short we try to touch their conscience. Just like the way Gregor did in this story, he would have left his family out of love and taken their burden away. He returns to his room and collapses, finally giving in to his wound and starvation. I think he did that for one good reason to open the mind of his family that during the days of helping them and even sacrificing for their benefits, he didn’t even murmured or ask something in return coming from them. The Nazi treatment of Jews in the hand of Germany headed by Hitler was violent and so bloody. Hitler called the Jews as his enemies. Enemy defined as opponent or hostile nation. When we called somebody as an opponent it simply meant that we must do something that would hurt them, made them miserable and finally killed them. These are the objectives of Hitler to all his enemies. He pursued boycotts for the Jewish shops and businesses in ! 933; in 1934, the law banned all the Jewish form public places; plundered the Jewish teachers, civil servants and lawyers. Some of the maltreatments were removing the privilege to the Jews to become a German citizen; restriction of inter racial marriage;working and holding property in Germany; the assassination of many Jews and yet penalizing them. The reason why all of these things happened because of selfish desire and greediness. These are not good if many would suffer and be affected by covetousness and hatred. Hostility toward or discrimination against Jews as a religious, ethnic, or racial group is considered as the meaning of anti – semitism. The anti – Semitism in Europe was almost the same predicament of that in the Nazi, Germany. The hatred to the Jews that’s inside their heart becomes deeper and deeper. One example of this was a soccer match between the Israeli and Belgian national teams in Hasselt, Belgium, when Muslim fans waved Hamas and Hezbollah banners, and chanted: â€Å"Jews to the gas chambers! † and â€Å"Strangle the Jews! â€Å"(taken from the Cancer of Anti – Semitism in Europe). We can conclude in this simple illustration that the hatred developed in the past still lingers in the present situation. The suppression of one’s freedom and stepping onto the human rights of a person developed them in two personalities: they may become weak and dependent while on the other hand a person may possess a strong will to fight and defend himself from his enemies. According to Iris Bruce and Cassill, many interpretations of Franz Kafka’s writings have accentuated their psychological, religious, existential and moral dimensions and initiated a whole genre of the kqfkaesque which summon up associations of the grotesque and absurd but is rarely associated with a sense of humour. A ‘Kafkaesque,’ or Kafka-like situation being one of a strange or nightmarish quality become a part of the language from Kafka’s name. Generally, after World War II (and fundamentally due to the prominence of New Criticism and Existentialism in the literary academies during this time), a Kafka myth has crystallized which stresses Kafka’s existential anguish: interpretations, be they religious, phenomenological, existentialist, symbolic or allegorical, center on the psychology of the author, who is presented as being overcome by the sense of absurdity and alienation so prevalent in twentieth. Where this metaphysical approach in literary translation as a discipline has been most detrimental is in its emphasis on the â€Å"universal† rather than on specific textual elements, in the fascination with Kafka’s personal neuroses, in the mingling of psychological speculation and literary criticism which frequently led to a â€Å"false confusion of empirical and literary selves† and most importantly in its overall disregard of the playful and humorous dimension in Kafka’s texts. Conclusion Kafka’s wanted to share the reality that is happening into our life or others life particularly in our society nowadays. The Metamorphosis was all about Gregor Samsa. This story emphasized the way a man entered the world of despised and how discrimination created hostility. Even his own family tired to suppressed, despised and hurt him not only physically but mentally. The same with our society, the persons who are in the authority sometimes take advantage of everything even to the point that they stepped onto the human rights and privilege of a person. Loving something or someone because you profit from them will not be a good foundation because what if the proceed is gone, are you going to hate him or still love him? Conflict is always present if the environment that we used to stay with is not that aware that justice must be offer to everyone. Hurting people or even killing them without important reason, it’s simply because of selfish desire and hatred won’t make any sense in reality. Instead of doing those things, why don’t we learn to love and forgive them? In the end, we’re going to realize that love is the answer in any changes or metamorphosis that will happen in to our life. Love conquers hatred. Works Cited Peter Kuper Kafka’s The Metamorphosis http://www. randomhouse. com/crown/metamorphosis/ Walker, Jews in Nazi Germany http://www. schoolhistory. co. uk/lessons/germany/jews. html Understanding the Treatment of Jews during World War II http://www. dummies. com/how-to/content/understanding-the-treatment-of-jews-during-world-w. html Edward B. Donnell Jr. , Anti-Semitism in Europe Today http://www. state. gov/p/eur/rls/rm/38113. htm The Cancer of Semitism in Europe http://www. aish. com/societyWork/society/The_Cancer_of_Anti-Semitism_in_Europe. asp