Existentialist Ideas in Kafkas Metamorphosis - Essay Example

 Existentialist Ideas in Kafka’s Metamorphosis and Becket’s Waiting for Godot Introduction Two works stand out in the annals of English literature for bringing a new dimension to writing and narrating a tale and the works are Kafka’s Metamorphoses and Becket’s Waiting for Godot. The works were unique at the time of writing for the rather existentialist ideas that they explored and the new twists they give to how people behave in a situation. This examines these two works and attempts to find the unique and existentialist ideas that they conveyed. Kafka Metamorphoses The Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka is a story of a young travelling salesman Gregor Samsa who one day wakes up to find himself metamorphosed into a vermin. The story is a very powerful in its symbolic depiction of Gregor Samsa's alienation through the literalised metaphor of transformation of an able man as insect. What is equally important in the narration is the manner in which his immediate family, who depended on him and are initially traumatised, undergo a transformation to find their hidden strength and capability and how the transformation of their son and brother helps them to stand on their own feet. Fitzgerald (18 April 2007) has pointed out that Kafka attempted to shock readers by presenting a wholly different story that bordered on the post-modern theories. According to the author, Kafka has attempted to pack as many voices and thoughts in the first few paragraphs so that the reader is twisted between understanding the cause and the effect of the malady that befell Gregor. He speaks of cause, effect and transformation of a man into an insect and of the transformation of the dependant and hapless family members into independent people who come out on their own. So the themes here are in one case, a degrading of a man into an insect who depends on his family for support and the second case is the change of the family who depended on Samson and who have now managed to stand on their won feet. Nabokov (2007) has provided a good synopsis of the plot. One morning, Gregor, the main character in the story wakes up to find himself transformed into an insect with numerous legs. He finds himself on his back and he cannot move and set himself upright. The cause that Kafka refers to is the great upheaval and horrendous transformation that he has undergone. When Gregor is struggling in his room, trying to understand what has happened, he finds that his manager is banging on the front door asking why Gregor has not turned up for work The family members including his father, mother and sister are all frantic as to why Gregor is not responding and all this activity has added to the stress that Gregor is facing. Multiple causes are in force right in the first few paragraphs: the horrendous transformation that Gregor has undergone, the panic and anxiety that the family members feel when Gregor is not responding to urgent summons to open the door of his room and the pressure exerted by the manager who is getting angry. All these causes have had the effect of petrifying the transformed Gregor and he cannot speak, cannot get up and so cannot even open the door. When Gregor wakes up, he could feel all the familiar sights and sounds such as the room window, the rain drops that beat the window sill and he initially thought that it was a dream. He felt that if he slept for a little longer, he would wake up and this nightmare would go away. But the change was complete and his state was just like a beetle or a cockroach has trouble getting back on its legs after it has been overturned. “Why don’t I keep sleeping for a little while longer and forget all this foolishness,” he thought. But this was entirely impractical, for he was used to sleeping on his right side, and in his present state he could not get himself into this position. No matter how hard he threw himself onto his right side, he always rolled onto his back again. He must have tried it a hundred times, closing his eyes so that he would not have to see the wriggling legs, and gave up only when he began to feel a light, dull pain in his side which he had never felt before” (Kafka, 1916). Gregor had been working very hard as a travelling salesman, trying to pay off the debts that his father owned to his creditors. He is also the sole earning member of his family. The societal pressures are the causes that have transformed Gregor into a mental wreck and he feels insignificant in the face of the odds, to be precise, he feels that he is a vermin, the lowest order among living things. These are the deeper causes that Kafka speaks of. So when he feels that if he sleeps for some more time, the causes and effects would go away. But they do not go away and Gregor is now physically and mentally a vermin (Nabokov, 2007). Other characters such as Greta, the sister of Gregor, Gregor’s father and mother are moved by the transformation that Gregor has undergone. It must be understood that the cause was the transformation that Gregor has undergone. The effects on each of the characters is different. “His mother—in spite of the presence of the manager she was standing here with her hair sticking up on end, still a mess from the night—was looking at his father with her hands clasped. She then went two steps towards Gregor and collapsed right in the middle of her skirts, which were spread out all around her, her face sunk on her breast, completely concealed. His father clenched his fist with a hostile expression, as if he wished to push Gregor back into his room, then looked uncertainly around the living room, covered his eyes with his hands, and cried so that his mighty breast shook.” (Kafka, 1916) There is Greta, sister of Gregor who was a helpless girl before the transformation of Gregor. She was content to work in the house and stay at home. However after Gregor’s transformation, she has undergone a change herself. Initially she looked after the feeding and other tasks for Gregor but with passage of time, she starts hating her job and neglects Gregor. She has even found a job as a sales clerk. The effect of the transformation is evident since she knows that Gregor is now just a burden and of no use to her (Fitzgerald, 2007). Gregor’s mother is depicted as psychologically very weak. She has been suffering from the loss in business of her husband and is very depressed. She loves her son very much and the transformation has had a very severe effect on her and she cannot come to terms with the fact that her dear son has been transformed into a vermin. “To test his taste, she brought him an entire selection, all spread out on an old newspaper. There were old half-rotten vegetables, bones from the evening meal, covered with a white sauce which had almost solidified, some raisins and almonds, cheese which Gregor had declared inedible two days earlier, a slice of dry bread, and a slice of salted bread smeared with butter. In addition to all this, she put down a bowl—probably designated once and for all as Gregor’s—into which she had poured some water. And out of her delicacy of feeling, since she knew that Gregor would not eat in front of her, she went away very quickly and even turned the key in the lock, so that Gregor would now know that he could make himself as comfortable as he wished” (Kafka, 1916) Gregor’s father had suffered huge business losses and had given up working. He looked up at Gregor to feed the family. After the transformation, the father started working again and soon realized that he was independent and could earn a living. So the effect on the father was that it brought him out of depression and dependence and made him capable of working again. In the later part of the story, due to some misunderstanding, the father starts throwing apples at Gregor and one strikes him hard and remains embedded in his body where it rots and Gregor cannot take it out. The blow from the apple proves fatal to Gregor and he succumbs from the wound After Gregor dies, the corpse is summarily disposed off and the family seems to be relieved that the worst is over. They have more confidence among themselves as they realize that they are now free. The cause is the demise of the transformed Gregor. The effect is that they go out to the city, spend some time enjoying the sights and decide on their future plan of action. The result of the transformation is that the family decides to move to another place, Greta has grown up to be voluptuous and beautiful women and there are plans to get her married off. “Growing more silent and almost unconsciously understanding each other in their glances, they thought that the time was now at hand to seek out a good honest man for her. And it was something of a confirmation of their new dreams and good intentions when at the end of their journey their daughter got up first and stretched her young body” (Kafka, 1916). Samuel Becket’s Waiting for Godot Samuel Becket’s play ‘Waiting for Godot’ written in 1947 still stands the test of time for the unique symbolism and allusions that it narrates. Shorn of huge and lavish sets or a large number of actors, the play has Estragon, Vladimir, Lucky, Pozzo and a boy. The play is about two tramps Estragon and Vladimir who are standing on a street corner, waiting for a person called Godot, who ultimately never comes. The play is enacted in two brief Acts filled up metaphors and symbolic dialogues that strive to draw attention to some insignificant point. Anders (1965) comments that the tramps obviously have nothing to do and their life is a long and fruitless less search for nothing. In the opening scene, Estragon is trying to pull off his shoes and though he tries hard, they wont come off and he will not find anything inside and Vladimir insists that he keeps trying. Even Vladimir himself has this habit of removing his hat and peering inside, hoping that something would come out of nothing. “Sometimes I feel it coming all the same. Then I go all-queer. (He takes off his hat, peers inside it, feels about inside it, shakes it, puts it on again.) How shall I say? Relieved and at the same time . . . (he searches for the word) . . . appalled. (With emphasis.) AP-PALLED. (He takes off his hat again, peers inside it.) Funny. (He knocks on the crown as though to dislodge a foreign body, peers into it again, puts it on again.) Nothing to be done. (Estragon with a supreme effort succeeds in pulling off his boot. He peers inside it, feels about inside it, turns it upside down, shakes it, looks on the ground to see if anything has fallen out, finds nothing, feels inside it again, staring sightlessly before him.) Well?” (Beckett, 1949, Act I) The introduction of the two characters, Lucky and Pozzo is dramatic. The two tramps Estragon and Vladimir are actually doing nothing but wait for the fictional Godot. Then all of a sudden, the mundane silence of the dialogue is broken by the appearance of Lucky and Pozzo. This happens when Estragon has almost finished a carrot that Vladimir has given him. “A terrible cry, close at hand. Estragon drops the carrot. They remain motionless, then together make a sudden rush towards the wings. Estragon stops halfway, runs back, picks up the carrot, stuffs it in his pocket, runs to rejoin Vladimir who is waiting for him, stops again, runs back, picks up his boot, runs to rejoin Vladimir. Huddled together, shoulders hunched, cringing away from the menace, they wait. Enter Pozzo and Lucky. Pozzo drives Lucky by means of a rope passed round his neck, so that Lucky is the first to enter, followed by the rope which is long enough to let him reach the middle of the stage before Pozzo appears. Lucky carries a heavy bag, a folding stool, a picnic basket and a greatcoat, Pozzo a whip" (Beckett, 1949, Act I). In the middle of the drama two character Lucky and Pozzo appear. Lucky, the elderly tramp represents the "the euphoric mental plight that a lifetime of experience and learning may render and how exponentially quick physical human decline can consume that same individual" (Anders, 1965). To begin with, Pozzo is the know-all and able to comment with authority on every subject but he keeps repeating himself as he suffers from short-term memory loss and leads Lucky by tying a rope around his neck. Actually, Pozzo is attempting to impress Estragon and Vladimir through pompous acts of oratory and his friend Lucky is not at all impressed. So the symbolism here is that a man who is nothing is trying to impress men who are nothing, with nothing. Pozzo is determined to show that he is the master and Lucky is plaything and he can make Lucky do anything: “POZZO: Is is enough? No doubt. But I am liberal. It's my nature. This evening. So much the worse for me. (He jerks the rope. Lucky looks at him.) For I shall suffer, no doubt about that. (He picks up the whip.) What do you prefer? Shall we have him dance, or sing, or recite, or think, or—" (Beckett, 1949, Act I) Vladimir appears more resilient of the two and his life is filled with mental anguish. He exchanges his hat with Lucky and there is a symbolic need and desire to get another persons mental set up and though process and the hat represent the though process that drives men, again to nothing. Estragon on the other hand is ready to beg for anything edible, even carrots and chicken bones. “ESTRAGON: Er . . . you've finished with the . . . er . . . you don't need the . . . er . . . bones, Sir? VLADIMIR: (scandalized). You couldn't have waited? POZZO: No no, he does well to ask. Do I need the bones? (He turns them over with the end of his whip.) No, personally I do not need them any more. (Estragon takes a step towards the bones.) But . . . (Estragon stops short) . . . but in theory the bones go to the carrier. He is therefore the one to ask. (Estragon turns towards Lucky, hesitates.) Go on, go on, don't be afraid, ask him, he'll tell you” (Beckett, 1949, Act I). The theme of nothing comes up again in the second act when Pozzo suffers from short term memory loss and cannot remember anything that happened yesterday and also fails to recognise Vladimir and Estragon. “Pozzo: I don't remember having met anyone yesterday. But tomorrow I won't remember having met anyone today. So don't count on me to enlighten you. Have you not done tormenting me with your accursed time! It's abominable! When! When! One day, is that not enough for you, one day he went dumb, one day I went blind, one day we'll go deaf, one day we were born, one day we shall die, the same day, the same second, is that not enough for you? (Calmer.) They give birth astride of a grave, the light gleams an instant, then it's night once more.” (Beckett, 1949, Act II) The above dialogue is one of the most famous among the plays and represents the nothingness of their life. When a mother gives birth, she is literally straddling the grave as the children of tramps are doomed to an empty life filled with nothingness. The closing dialogues of the play are symbolic of the endless wait of the two tramps as they quarrel among themselves and both want to leave the place and move on. “ESTRAGON: (having tried in vain to work it out). I'm tired! (Pause.) Let's go. VLADIMIR: We can't. ESTRAGON: Why not? VLADIMIR: We're waiting for Godot. ESTRAGON: Ah! (Pause. Despairing.) What'll we do, what'll we do VLADIMIR: Well? Shall we go? ESTRAGON: Yes, let's go. They do not move.” (Beckett, 1949, Act II The play ends at this point, leaving a lot of memories for the viewers who have witnessed a play on nothing but come away with a lot of introspection as they realise that nothingness also has a meaning. Conclusion The paper has examined the existentialist ideas expressed in both Kafka’s ‘Metamorphosis’ and Becket’s ‘Waiting for Godot’. Kafka’s story dealt with the transformation of Samuel into a vermin and the manner in which his family adjusted to the transformation, adapted themselves and then managed to transform themselves from being dependant to being independent and coming of age. Becket’s play dealt with the human concept of nothingness when two tramps and their two friends meet and spend two evenings waiting for Godot, who never comes. References Anders, Gunther. 1965. On Beckett's Play Waiting for Godot. Samuel Beckett: A Collection of Critical Essays. Ed. Martin Esslin. Englewood: Prentice. Beckett Samuel. 1949. Waiting for Godot, Act I and II. Retrieved 11 September 2008 from http://samuel-beckett.net/Waiting_for_Godot_Part1.html Fitzgerald Conor. 18 April 2007. Analysis of the Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. Retrieved 11 September 2008 from http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/208186/analysis_of_the_metamorphosis_by_franz.html Kafka Franz. 1916. The Metamorphosis. (Trans. Ian Johnston, 19 February 2007). Retrieved 11 September 2008 from http://www.mala.bc.ca/~Johnstoi/stories/kafka-E.htm Nabokov Vladimir. 2007. Vladimir Nabokov's Lecture on "The Metamorphosis. Retrieved 11 September 2008 from http://victorian.fortunecity.com/vermeer/287/nabokov_s_metamorphosis.htm Read More