Could some help me with my grammar and tell me if it's a good argument? Thanks!
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As humans, we are dependent creatures. We are dependent to things like our environment, our financial situation, and our social status; in short, we are dependent on one level or another. Thus, when our surroundings change, in our dependency, we must change as well. We are forced to evolve and to adapt to our new surroundings. W must learn to live with our new conditions. In Frank Kafka's Metamorphosis, the transformation of Gregor Samsa leads to the transformation of the rest of his family. They are dependent upon Gregor and when he changes, they are forced to change as well. There was always an antithetical relationship between Gregor and the rest of his family, and thus there are two metamorphoses in Kafka's story: when Gregor functioned as a human, the rest of the family is dysfunctional; when Gregor, due to his metamorphosis, became increasingly dysfunctional, the rest of the family began to function and flourish.
Almost immediately after Gregor's transformation we begin to note his dysfunctional behavior. He wakes up an insect and instead of focusing on the problem that being an insect presents, he is worried about getting out of bed and going to work:
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.
"O God," he thought, "what a demanding job I've chosen! (428)
This shows the reader immediately that there is something very wrong with Gregor. Considering his current condition of being an insect, it is difficult to understand how his daily responsibilities could be the first thing on his mind. This is the first step towards his dysfunctional state. However, prior to his transformation, Gregor is very functional meanwhile his family is not. Perhaps this is because Gregor's ability to function depends on his ability to work. Before he transforms, being in full capability to work, his efficiency is at its best. His family's dilemma of paying off debts motivates him to work hard to bring money home and to satisfy his family:
And so he had set to work with unusual ardor and almost overnight had become a traveling salesman instead of a little clerk, with of course much greater chances of earning money, and his success was immediately transformed into hard cash which he could lay on the table before his amazed and happy family. (442)
Gregor's ability to maintain his family gives him control over them thus making him the only one serviceable while they are forced to depend on him - "...although later on Gregor had earned so much money that he was able to meet the expenses of the whole household and did so...the money was gratefully accepted and gladly given..." (442) Gregor's function is dependent on their dependence.
Yet, what truly makes Gregor purposeful is his family's dysfunction. While his family is incapable of maintaining themselves and while they are reliant on his income, Gregor can keep his position of control over the family issues and keep his ability to function - he improves where they deteriorate and he strengthens where they weaken:
...he [Gregor's father] had done no work for the past five years and could not be expected to exert himself; during these five years, the first years of leisure in his laborious though unsuccessful life, he had put on a lot of weight and become sluggish. And Gregor's old mother, how was she to earn a living with her asthma, which troubled her even when she walked through the apartment and kept her lying on a sofa every other day panting for breath beside an open window? And was his sister to earn her bread, she who was still a child of seventeen...? (442-443)
It is Gregor's days as a commercial salesman that are his days of purpose. Once Gregor transforms he is unable to work thus unable to meet his family's needs and as a result loses his family's dependency. Everything that once made Gregor functional is lost. His family, in consequence, is forced to change and become independent from him. In Gregor's dysfunction is born his family's function. No longer the source of his family's income, he cannot be in control. The family begins to adapt to their new circumstances and begins to function without him. This is seen when Gregor's father begins to show his beginnings of moving forward - "...Gregor's father explained the family's financial position and prospects to both his mother and his sister...his father tended to repeat himself in his explanations...because it was a long time since he had dealt with such matters..." (442) This shows the awakening of Gregor's family's productiveness. While Gregor was the source of reliance for the family, they were too dysfunctional to look after themselves and too dysfunctional to look for other financial solutions. Now, without Gregor, they are obligated to seek out any form of economic aid or back up. They begin to realize that even with the capital leftovers from the father's business failure they must still work to earn money for their daily needs.
The changes that occur in Gregor's family begins to bring them up while he is pulled down in his insect form - "...Gregor realized that the lack of all direct human communication for the past two months together with the monotony of family life must have confused his mind...He had indeed been close to the brink of forgetfulness..." (445) His deterioration of human qualities, such as memory, marks the significant spiral of dysfunction that he starts going through. On the other hand, his family builds a path of productivity which leads them to becoming efficient. The most notable changes are seen in Gregor's father, the one who was most dysfunctional prior to Gregor's metamorphosis:
Now he was standing there straight as a stick, dressed in a smart blue uniform with gold buttons, such as bank attendants wear; his strong double chin bulged over the stiff high collar of his jacket; from under his bushy eyebrows his black eyes darted fresh and penetrating glances; his formerly tangled white hair had been combed flat on either side of a shining and carefully exact parting... (448)
The once lazy, freeloading father who spent his days lying on the couch now works in a normalcy that was never seen during Gregor's days of function. It is now Gregor who is dependent on his family. Gregor's dependency is seen when his father attacks him by throwing apples at him. After having landed an apple into Gregor's back, which then sinks in, he's left with the damage - "The serious injury done to Gregor, which disabled him for more than a month-the apple remained stuck in his body as a visible reminder, since no one dared to remove it..." (449) Since no one is willing to take out the apple from his back, he must remain with the injury. Like so many other things, such as food, space, and acknowledgement, Gregor is dependent on them for basic necessities. This adds to his dysfunction. His family, however, begins to flourish with his deterioration and his weakening - "...his mother...stitched at fine sewing for an under ware firm; his sister...had taken a job as a sales girl...learning shorthand and French...on the chance of bettering herself." (449) In their process of becoming functional they begin to place Gregor aside more and more - "Who could find time in this overworked and tired-out family to bother about Gregor more than was absolutely necessary?" (450) Gregor grows weaker during the process of his family's reformation. He becomes frail, "eating hardly anything. Only when he happened to the food laid out for him did he take a bit of something in his mouth as a pastime...usually spat out again." (450) Even in his dysfunctional state, Gregor dreams of going to work again and taking charge - "He was often haunted by the idea that the next time the door opened he would take the family's affairs in hand again just as he used to do..." (451) Finally, when does Gregor die, we see that his family's development of function is complete. In fact, Gregor's family grows more practical than Gregor ever was simply because they are no longer dependent on anything. Unlike Gregor's paranoiac behavior of having to go to work, Gregor's family is functional enough to ask for days off to go out to the country:
They decided to spend this day in resting and going for a stroll; they had not only deserved such a respite from work, but absolutely needed it. And so they sat down at the table and wrote three notes of excuse, Mr. Samsa to his board of management, Mrs. Samsa to her employer, and Grete to the head of her firm. (459)
The Samsa family is more functional than Gregor ever was because they do not depend on anything besides themselves to be productive and to get what they want. Gregor's dysfunction is no longer needed to motivate them to be efficient. They are now reliant only upon themselves. Gregor's metamorphosis becomes his family's metamorphosis.
Ultimately, what is seen in Kafka's Metamorphosis is the opposing relationship between Gregor and his family. When Gregor functions as a human, his family does not. When Gregor cannot complete his duties, his family becomes functional as humans. However, the most interesting relationship in this story is how dependency plays a role in both Gregor and his family's ability to function. Gregor is always dependent on his family one way or another and that is why his family is able to surpass his ability to function. When Gregor functions at his best, he is dependent on his family's dysfunction in order to be in control of the family matters. When Gregor becomes dysfunctional, he remains dependent on them but for his own survival. When his family is dysfunctional, they are dependent on him for income. But when Gregor's family becomes functional, they are only dependent on a dysfunctional Gregor to push them to become further functional. After Gregor dies, his family is practical enough to not depend on Gregor at all in any sense. They are independent and fully efficient. In contrast, Gregor was always in need of his family and was never able to function completely as a human. Gregor's metamorphosis is dysfunctional dependence. His family's metamorphosis is functional independence. Gregor's metamorphosis was his transformation and his transformation was his family's metamorphosis.
Greetings!
I'd be glad to help out with some editing tips for your fine essay!
We are dependent on things like our environment
In Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis,
However, prior to his transformation, Gregor is very functional--meanwhile, his family is not.
Gregor's ability to maintain his family gives him control over them, thus making him the only one serviceable, while they are forced to depend on him
Once Gregor transforms he is unable to work, thus unable to meet his family's needs; as a result, he loses his family's dependency.
I like the way you tie it all up at the end. Good work!
Thanks,
Sarah, EssayForum.com
