Why a vermit??

[bazarov]

What do you think why Gregor became a vermit and not something else??

[mono]

I thought of the same question when reading The Metamorphosis. Luckily, having read Metamorphoses by Ovid years previously (and loved it!), I used this as a reference book.
In Ovid's Metamorphoses, multiple characters metamorphosed into plants or creatures that either resembled them (such as Arachne, the champion sewer and knitter, turning into a spider) or that they wished for (such as Daphne turning into a laurel tree to escape Apollo).
Thus in Kafka's The Metamorphosis, Gregor may have either turned into a vermin because he resembled it somehow, or because Gregor, in a way, chose to turn into a vermin. The latter seems difficult to apply to the story (considering his negative reaction after turning into the vermin), but the former reason could possibly make some sense.
Kafka, I know, looked greatly down upon living the life given to one, and following it not so much from necessity, but from thinking one has no other choices, living not to one's ambitions, and custom's pressures to work successfully - in essence, to live to work, and work to live; Kafka, in fact, designed Gregor's family into one that resembled his. Not only does a vermin seem dirty, parasitic, and disgusting, but also very common; perhaps, in a sociological perspective, Kafka viewed the common worker (living to work, and working to live) as a thing that resembled a vermin, in the same way that various characters in Ovid's Metamorphoses resembled their formed plants or creatures.

[bazarov]

Originally Posted by mono

I thought of the same question when reading The Metamorphosis. Luckily, having read Metamorphoses by Ovid years previously (and loved it!), I used this as a reference book.
In Ovid's Metamorphoses, multiple characters metamorphosed into plants or creatures that either resembled them (such as Arachne, the champion sewer and knitter, turning into a spider) or that they wished for (such as Daphne turning into a laurel tree to escape Apollo).
Thus in Kafka's The Metamorphosis, Gregor may have either turned into a vermin because he resembled it somehow, or because Gregor, in a way, chose to turn into a vermin. The latter seems difficult to apply to the story (considering his negative reaction after turning into the vermin), but the former reason could possibly make some sense.
Kafka, I know, looked greatly down upon living the life given to one, and following it not so much from necessity, but from thinking one has no other choices, living not to one's ambitions, and custom's pressures to work successfully - in essence, to live to work, and work to live; Kafka, in fact, designed Gregor's family into one that resembled his. Not only does a vermin seem dirty, parasitic, and disgusting, but also very common; perhaps, in a sociological perspective, Kafka viewed the common worker (living to work, and working to live) as a thing that resembled a vermin, in the same way that various characters in Ovid's Metamorphoses resembled their formed plants or creatures.

Hey Mono, mostly I agree with you. I've read it couple of years ago, and I think Gregor became a monstrous vermin beacuse Kafka wanted to present society and peoples in those days. What do you do with a monstrous vermin??? You crash it...
People were thinking only on their work, not at least about them selves. When Gregor woke up and saw his shell, he didn't think: O my God, what I'm gonna do now??? No, his thought was: How I'm gonna go to work??? His family also reacted in same way: He is uselles, we don't need him any more!!! So they stop feeding him and when he died, they just cleaned up his room and move on with their lives. It's not normal, you must admit. But Kafka gives (us) a hope; near to his end, Gregor strated to think about himself, his humanity,etc...To be honest, I never thought about man-vermin working habits, but I see the point. Yes, I agree with you.
__________________

[mono]

Originally Posted by bazarov

Hey Mono, mostly I agree with you. I've read it couple of years ago, and I think Gregor became a monstrous vermin beacuse Kafka wanted to present society and peoples in those days. What do you do with a monstrous vermin??? You crash it...

Hmmm, well said! I suppose I could have said the same in fewer words, despite my frequent verbosity. I can certainly perceive your more sociological perspective, and highly agree with it; I think, on the other end of the spectrum, I viewed it from a psychological perspective. Both, I think, appear correct, and in conjunction with Kafka's absurdist (yet not absurd) point of view.

[bazarov]

Originally Posted by mono

Hmmm, well said! I suppose I could have said the same in fewer words, despite my frequent verbosity. I can certainly perceive your more sociological perspective, and highly agree with it; I think, on the other end of the spectrum, I viewed it from a psychological perspective. Both, I think, appear correct, and in conjunction with Kafka's absurdist (yet not absurd) point of view.

English isn't my first language so, after retranslating your post , I think now we understand Kafka even better than before. I feel better already, althogh I haven't read The Trial or Proces. Is it good?

[mono]

Originally Posted by bazarov

English isn't my first language so, after retranslating your post , I think now we understand Kafka even better than before. I feel better already, althogh I haven't read The Trial or Proces. Is it good?

Oops, I apologize if you have trouble understanding my posts sometimes. You seem to understand and write very well in English, regardless.
To answer your question, unfortunately, I have never read anything else by Franz Kafka besides The Metamorphosis. I hope to read The Castle sometime soon, but we will see what time provides in the near future. From mostly reliable sources, however, I have heard only wonderful things of other literature by Kafka.

[bazarov]

Originally Posted by mono

Oops, I apologize if you have trouble understanding my posts sometimes. You seem to understand and write very well in English, regardless.

No, please, you're helping me to improve my EnglishIt's very nice to see when somebody 'knows' his language very well! I also sometimes sound very strange to my friends...
Yes, I've also heard great things about Proces, I'll try to read it one day, hope it will be soon.

[schilippe]

its a vermin not a vermit, man, if you read kafka i would think you knew some English, please!

[andmir92]

In order to understand why greger became a vermin, one must first understand some of the authors' background. Kafka, a lonesome fellow, always considered himself to be a burden and a "pest" to everyone else. The novel, some say, is just a manifestation about his feelings of himself. By changing Gregor into a vermin, Kafka wants to symbolize that Gregor, and some say Kafka too, feels he a a burden on society and a pest because a vermin is widely considered to have those characteristics. Pure and Simple.

[ex ponto]

Originally Posted by andmir92

By changing Gregor into a vermin, Kafka wants to symbolize that Gregor, and some say Kafka too, feels he a a burden on society and a pest because a vermin is widely considered to have those characteristics. Pure and Simple.

And a burden to his family. A lack of love. I have always thought that all Kafka's works - are nothing but a reflection of battles in his soul.

[Il Penseroso]

Originally Posted by schilippe

its a vermin not a vermit, man, if you read kafka i would think you knew some English, please!

this is just too funny

[johann cruyff]

Originally Posted by bazarov

No, please, you're helping me to improve my EnglishIt's very nice to see when somebody 'knows' his language very well! I also sometimes sound very strange to my friends...
Yes, I've also heard great things about Proces, I'll try to read it one day, hope it will be soon.

Definitely read it.I'd also suggest The Castle,it's just as good,often overlooked though.

[kelby_lake]

Originally Posted by schilippe

its a vermin not a vermit, man, if you read kafka i would think you knew some English, please!

maybe he read it in its orginal czech!

[Erichtho]

Originally Posted by kelby_lake

maybe he read it in its orginal czech!

Kafka wrote in German and not in Czech.

I think he became a vermin because a vermin is considered to be disgusting, something you certainly don't want to have around you. By metamorphosing into a vermin the true nature of the people around him and his social status became visible; what was already on the inside was everted to be shown to the reader.

And why would someone draw a line to Ovid's Metamorphoses? As far as I know, Kafka was never an avid reader of the classics, he read almost exclusively 19th century and contemporary literature.

[zech montera]

I think that Kafka made Gregor a vermin because he wrote this as an autobiography for himself and the vermin is a symbol of what he thought or what his family thought of him like a pest