One aspect of Gregor Samsa’s life that has really stuck with/ bothered me is his door situation. One morning, Gregor finds himself mysteriously transformed into a bug, and to make matters worse, he’s overslept his alarm and missed the train for work! As if Gregor isn’t perturbed about this enough, his mother, father, and sister all have to chime in and remind him of his tardiness...all from different doors! His father knocks on the door to one of his sides with his fist, seemingly very angry, his sister whispers through the other side door, pleading Gregor to get up, and his mother is calling through the door at the head of Gregor’s bed. The image of these three voices all circling around Gregor’s head, demanding why he has yet to get up for work, is a daunting, nightmarish image. I don’t think I could think clearly if I had people talking to me on three different sides, all with different emotions.
When reading this, the first thing that came to my mind was Janus, the Roman god of beginnings and transitions. Although some aspects of Janus don’t correlate with Gregor’s situation, Janus is also seen as the depiction of war and peace, which seems to correlate with Gregor’s life. From the first section, it seems like there are two different family dynamics in Gregor’s household. There’s is the stern father who is concerned with the financial situation of the family, and so he is very angry when Gregor misses the train to work. (Since Gregor is the family’s main source of income). Then there is Gregor’s sister who is seemingly the calm, peaceful character in the Samsa household. When his family realizes that Gregor has missed the train to work, his sister comes to one of the doors on the side, whispering “Gregor? Is something the matter with you? Do you want anything?...Gregor, open up, I’m pleading with you” (Kafka 6). Gregor’s sister doesn’t want the house to turn into a war zone over his work situation, and so she pleads for him to get up so the father (or the boss) doesn’t come storming in. She is aware that, since Gregor seems to be the main source of income for the family, huge conflicts will arise if Gregor doesn’t get on the train to work. She tries to conserve this almost peaceful morning but to no avail.
As if having three doors in one’s room isn’t enough, begin accompanied by three different voices is even worse. (Gregor’s mother’s voice is sort of the medium between his father and sister. She isn’t as understanding as the sister, but she also isn’t angry like the father). It’s no wonder why Gregor locks his doors every night so he can at least keep a wall in between him and the people around him. It’s almost like he’s trying to conserve his identity, not aware that the capitalist system has almost robbed him of it completely. Maybe Gregor should just remove two of the doors (or move out) so he doesn’t have to deal with the surrounding, conflicting voices that surround his head while he lays in his bed.
DISCLAIMER: I wrote this blogpost before we read section 2 of the book. After reading section 2, my opinions have semi-changed, but I do think there is some reference to Janus in Gregor’s room situation.
The relationship that Gregor has to each of his family members is quite interesting. They all depended on him for income since his parents got in debt, and he is the only one working. But now, he can't work, and that puts a strain on his father, who is no longer able to lounge around, eating a 4 hour breakfast. Now he has to go out and work, and this has made him even angrier. Gregor's sister seemed to readily accept the new Gregor. She is helpful, albeit scared, but at least she isn't attacking him. Gregor's mother, I think is the one who wants to preserve Gregor's humanity the most. She wants to leave all the furniture up in his room so that he can still remember what it was like as a human.
ReplyDeleteI always see this odd detail of Gregor's multiple-doored room as a representation of just how little privacy and independence he enjoys, before his transformation. It's like a psychological metaphor, all these eyes looking over his shoulder and voices in his head. The floorplan of the apartment literally has him *surrounded* by his family.
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