Perhaps the most frustrating thing about The Metamorphosis is that Gregor's family cannot understand him. As readers, we get to hear all of Gregor's thoughts and we know that he is still "human" in the sense that he still has his consciousness. Not only is he still human-like, he is overly compassionate toward his family. Even though they do not seem to care much for him and treat him absolutely awfully (both as a bug and a human, but even more so as a bug), he remains loyal and compassionate to them until the very end.
He actually reminds me a bit of a dog (or a puppy), which is weird because I was thinking of Cohn as a puppy as well...but Gregor is loyal to his family no matter how badly they mistreat him, in the same way dogs are. I've had two dogs growing up (right now I have just one) and the sad, but amazing, thing about dogs is that no matter how much you neglect them or yell at them or push them out of your way, they're still excited to see you when you walk in the door. Gregor reminds me of a dog because no matter what his family does, he loves them unconditionally. I don't think that this is a very human thing at all. People tend to hold grudges (at least I know I do), and don't forgive others easily when they are being obviously mistreated. Gregor goes against this typical human behavior (even BEFORE his transformation) and irrationally cares for his family no matter what.
So by some transitive property of logic or something, Gregor reminds me of Cohn. I wasn't aware at all of this comparison until I began writing this blog entry, but the puppy/dog comparison really does seem to fit. In the same way that Cohn chases after Brett no matter how much she stomps all over him, Gregor chases after and cares for his family no matter how much they stop all over and mistreat him. It is weird to think about Gregor as similar to Cohn, because I really disliked Cohn but I really like and sympathize with Gregor, but the comparison makes a lot of sense to me. It also provides me with more insight into Cohn's character, and makes me slightly more sympathetic to him. Of course both Cohn and Gregor are being irrationally clingy and loyal, but since I sympathize so much with Gregor, I can't help but sympathize a bit with Cohn now too.
1 comment:
I definitely think there's something to the analogy between Gregor and Cohn--I can imagine some readers of _The Metamorphosis_ growing exasperated with Gregor the way the other characters in _Sun_ get sick of Cohn. The way the manager seems so accustomed to talking down to Gregor also suggests that he, for whatever reason, attracts the scorn of others.
Post a Comment