When Gregor has transformed into a giant cockroach, why is his family so damned uninterested? I mean, sure...

When Gregor has transformed into a giant cockroach, why is his family so damned uninterested? I mean, sure, they treat him like crap in the first place, I get that. But if somebody in my family had turned into a giant insect for no discernible reason, I would lose any disinterest in that person. Shouldn't they be thinking of the money they could make exhibiting him, especially considering how financially dependent they are on him to begin with? At the end, they have his huge insect-corpse taken out with the trash. An entomologist at Charles University would pay big bucks for that, ensuring the monetary well-being of the Samsas for some time.

Anyway, if you're worried about Gregor's family getting off too easily for their terrible behavior, just keep in mind how much they'll suffer (smaller apartment or not) for not exploiting their son's transformation.

He didn't really turn into a bug. He was just insane. The story and his family's reactions makes more sense if you think of it this way.

i know man, it's totally kafkaesque

They simply thought he was going through a turkish phase

I would grab my lighter and axe decoder body spray and light that bitch up.

It wouldn't have worked if they reacted like normal people would. It always bothered me that his family knew he was crawling on the walls and ceiling while they were in the other room ignoring it.

It's surreal, OP.

You take the story to literal.
If you take it literal, they must be insane or on some deliriants. Then, it might make sense.

Look, I can suspend disbelief on the idea of Gregor turning into an insect. There's no fun in writing fiction if you can't sometimes write about stuff that doesn't happen in real life. But I can't suspend disbelief on the idea that they wouldn't care about the scientific and ontological implications of a human turning into something that probably hasn't existed since the Carboniferous. Thing is, if you're going to have fantastic occurrences take place in a story, that's fine. But you need to balance it out by having people react to it as a real-life person would - not just with disgust (and there would be, giant insects certainly aren't to everyone's tastes), but also with amazement and wonder at the fact that a momentous discovery has just taken place. You may be right about Gregor's transformation not being literal within the world of the story. Maybe the treatment by his family caused him to develop schizophrenia, and woke up one day believing that he'd become an insect. Still, I kind of wish Kafka had been more clear about that.

When autism meets literature

You're an idiot, and the transformation is a metaphor written as a literal event.

That would be missing the point.

>kafka was a science fiction writer all along
I knew it, I dang well knew it!

My interpretation is that they didn't see him as a real insect but still a human, but a human whose characteristics changed.
Kafka used the bug as an analogy.
It's like saying "today my friend behaved like dragon"
You don't mean she really transformed into a dragon but she acted overly furious.
Kafka just turned this concept into smth. more extreme for his story. This was now a very simple interpretation. Of course, it's a bit more sophisticated, just to give a rough idea how I understand this story.

I see where you're coming from, user. But allegories don't have to play by the rules of real life.
Don't be a dick.

Gregor is actually an insect-kin and Fee identifies as a bug, don't hate on Fim/Fer

Then how was he killed with an apple?

The interesting thing about Kafka's stories is that they follow some sort of dream logic.

It was a really heavy apple

Mix of physical abuse and starvation that came afterwards

Then how come he climbs all over the walls

yo literally how do u read kafka and not get it even a little bit

its just something that a functional human would easily be able to solve (and would prevent becoming an issue at all) that Gregor in his current state was incapable of addressing

its just about his interaction with his room is unnatural, not that he literally defies gravity. he inhabits his room in a way that a healthy person isnt

A U T I S M
is how.

I feel really bad for autists. So much beauty in the world is just plain lost to their understanding. I'd say this is okay if they find their own things to be happy about, but they don't really seem like happy people desu. They just complain a lot.

Exactly, they complain because when the world doesn't conform to their linear, literal senses they lash out.

>But I can't suspend disbelief on the idea that they wouldn't care about the scientific and ontological implications of a human turning into something that probably hasn't existed since the Carboniferous

Its called surrealism bro. Even if it was a literal transformation its weird enough to blur the lines

I'm not talking about metaphors, I'm talking about the plot. Specifically, I'm talking how Gregor's family (and, really, his boss) are mind-bogglingly apathetic about the fame and fortune they could achieve by revealing their son's condition to the scientific community and the world.

You raise a good question, OP, fuck all these other brainless anons that take the dick of the most obvious explanations without being able to question them.

You are underestimating the revulsion and horror of finding your son to have transformed into a roach. It wouldn't be something you could just easily pass off into the realm of science. The mom, for one, can't get it into her head at all. The sister can understand, and would do what you're talking about, but she is too paralyzed by the fear of everyone else. Essentially, everyone is raped by the appearance of something nasty without being able to penetrate to the point that you've considered. The situation is irrational.

IMO you have hit the point absolutely dead on; the question you have asked is the entire punchline.

Apple is a symbol of knowledge
Has anyone here even read the Bible?

I'm really starting to hate this board

> the question you have asked is the entire punchline.
and he's saying he can't suspend his disbelief to accept it, and it looks like he takes it as a misinterpretation of human nature by Kafka rather than as the point of surrealism. The thread is justified to be pissed

Omg why don't people understand the obvious Christain symbolism of the apple. Gregor was basically tempted like Eve so then he became the sacrificial lamb like Jesus. He's like a super bibilbical character guys, this is just Bible studies 101, have you not seen the Simpsons episodes that parody these stories?

Omg guys seriously, you say you are well read but you haven't read these two random stories that only have a vague connection to this book. Omg seriously

Hey OP. The 'cockroach' translation is just generally assumed designator for lack of a better word of 'ungeheures Ungeziefer' which is some sort of abstract monstrosity in vermin form, much like how Grendel in Beowulf wasn't a giant werewolf type thing but a mixture of an apparition/demon/mortal beast. Besides just being an entry-level reader who has no knowledge of Kafka, if this bugs you, then stop reading anything outside of realism. I suppose we won't read The Odyssey anymore bc why would Odysseus's crew be totally okay with sacrificing a ram for a blind spirit in a cave to tell them what to do, or literally any other book.

So OP, relax. You're not making any sort of new interesting claim, read some criticism, there's enough to last you a lifetime on Kafka out there, instead of projecting your pseudo-insights on an anonymous forum.

user, you're mistaking his means here, not getting the punchline to Kafka's most palatable story isn't a good question, it's pure laziness.

Modern man(child) everyone

I apologise he/she was clearly an early trans-roach and I will not oppress him any longer.

>if this bugs you,
>bugs

I knew this would be the first response right when I typed it but still left it.

>lol I'm the goat lord
fuck you rose

>Look, I can suspend disbelief on the idea of Gregor turning into an insect. There's no fun in writing fiction if you can't sometimes write about stuff that doesn't happen in real life

there is no fun if that unrealistic stuff is always described realistically

that's mostly for fantasy/science fiction then, all those descriptions how would realistically people behave if there were magic etc

kafka didn't bother with it and used a magical event as a means to convey his idea

Buttttt he didn't literally turn into a cockroach

Guyyysss pls stahp pls