Seven: The Trial, "The End"

Hi, friends. I know that I posted this very late, and I certainly won’t penalize you if it isn’t done before class tomorrow. Please try to get it (and any missing blogs) done by Saturday morning.

“‘The only thing I can do now is keep my mind calm and analytical to the last. I’ve always wanted to seize the world with twenty hands, and what’s more with a motive that was hardly laudable. That was wrong; do I want to show now that even a yearlong trial could teach me nothing? . . . I’m grateful they’ve sent these half-mute, insensitive men to accompany me on this journey, and that it’s been left to me to say myself what needs to be said” (228).

“K. knew clearly now that it was his duty to seize the knife as it floated from hand to hand above him and plunge it into himself. But he didn’t do so . . . He could not rise entirely to the occasion, he could not relieve the authorities of all their work; the responsibility for this final failure lay with whoever had denied him the remnant of strength necessary to do so” (230).

“Logic is no doubt unshakeable, but it can’t withstand a person who wants to live” (231).

“With failing sight K. saw how the men drew near his face, leaning cheek-to-cheek to observe the verdict. ‘Like a dog!’ he said; it seemed as thought the shame was to outlive him” (231)1.

1. So this is it--Josef K. dies at the hands of two “‘old supporting actors’” who seem to be employees of the court (226). Did you see his execution coming? Did it make sense? Was it satisfying in any way? That is, to you, how did it work as an ending?
2. Does K.’s ordeal teach him anything?
3. What does K. mean to say with his last words, “‘like a dog!’”?

_________________

1 You probably noticed that this quote suggests that the two men expect K. to deliver a “verdict” as he dies. The word “verdict” is highly provocative in the context of the court and the officials, as it suggests that K. himself is a (the?) judge. Where Mitchell uses “verdict,” many other translators opt for “result.” I’m going to investigate the text of the novel’s end to see if his use of “verdict” is appropriate. If it is, we have a lot to discuss.

Six: The Trial, "The Flogger"

I have only one question for you tonight, and it draws heavily upon the question that Madeleine asked at the end of class: do the guards deserve the flogging, and, if so, is it an acceptable punishment?

See you tomorrow.

Five: The Trial, "Initial Inquiry"

To me, this is our most bizarre reading yet. In it, we are introduced to the sprawling absurdity of the court system that has ensnared our friend (eh, he's so domineering and self-absorbed that we can only really call him a frenemy at the best) Josef K. Yet, I get the feeling that this chapter has given us nothing more than a glimpse of the tip of the proverbial iceberg. The bearded, badge-sporting bureaucrats in the meeting room may very well be of no more importance or significance than the fleas on the jacket worn by the first doorkeeper in "Before the Law."

And now, the questions:

1. Were you surprised that the court meets in a tenement? What is the significance of this chapter's setting?
2. What did you think about Josef K.'s castigatory speech? Did you agree with it? Disagree? Why or why not?
3. On page 52, the examining magistrate tells K. "'that [K. has] today deprived [himself] . . . of the advantage that an interrogation offers to the arrested man in each case.'" The magistrate warns Josef K. that his actions are damaging his case, implying that K. (like the man from the country, the hunger artist, and Gregor) is trapping himself through his misuse of his freedom. So, what should K. have done instead of ranting about the court? Of what advantage(s) has he deprived himself? 

I can't wait to discuss this on Tuesday! Have a lovely long weekend!

Four: The Trial, "Conversation with Frau Grubach Then Fräulein Bürstner"

1. To me, Kafka’s stories depict self-sabotage by characters with myopic, distorted and depressing worldviews (that is, they feel that they are oppressed by a powerful and absurd world or authority and have no agency or control) who create their own prisons as they fail to realize that they have more possibility for escape than their conceptions of their situations allow. Do you agree or disagree with my idea? Why?

2. What do you think of K.’s erratic and offensive behavior towards Frau Grubach? Why might he act and think in the ways he does?

3. How does K. feel about his arrest? Do you think he believes that the arrest is significant and that the court has legitimate authority? Why or why not? Quote in your response.

Three: The Metamorphosis: Part III. "Well, Now We Can Thank The Lord."

"And it was like a confirmations of their new dreams and good intentions that at the end of their ride the daughter was the first to get up, stretching her young body."

"He recalled his family with tenderness and love...He lingered in this state of blank and peaceful musing until the tower clock struck three in the morning.  He held on long enough to glimpse the start of the overall brightening outside the window.  Then his head involuntarily sank to the floor, and his final breath came feebly from his nostrils."

Somehow it seems to me that "The Metamorphosis" has a happy ending.  Gregor is out of his misery; Dad, Mom, and Grete leave the apartment for the first time in months, just in time for Grete to "blossom into a lovely and shapely girl."  All is well in the Samsa house.

Or is it?

I'm writing this instead of Emma, and I find the story so...inscrutable.  It takes us back to the the first parable we read, as well as "A Hunger Artist," where Kafka provides as far as I can tell no definitive answers to the questions he raises.  You wake up a vermin; a bug; a cockroach; and there's zero explanation for this.  Is this metaphor?  Is this allegory?  Parable? Naturalism (he certainly treats it this way).  As I said in class, it reminded me of the great horror film "The Fly" by David Cronenberg, where a scientist ends up genetically splicing himself with a house fly and terror and tragedy occur.  But Cronenberg at least comes up with some rationale.  Kafka...nope.

So:

1.  Your reaction to the story?  Like?  Dislike?  Why?

2.  Give it a shot: how would you explain it: what is the story ultimately about?  Quote in your response. (Don't bother looking at any web sites for explanations.  They're not terribly helpful.)

3.  Is it a happy ending?  Why or why not?

200 words, folks.  Tomorrow, if Emma doesn't call on everyone, I will.  I can say that there are no wrong answers here.  Emma may disagree.  I hope she disagrees.  See you all tomorrow.

Two: "The Metamorphosis," Parts I and II

1. In Gregor’s room, there is a picture of “a lady, with a fur cap on and a fur stole, sitting upright and holding out to the spectator a huge fur muff nto which the whole of her forearm had vanished” (114).  This picture may be an allusion to Leopold von Sacher-Masoch’s1 1870 novel Venus in Furs, in which a man dreams of discussing love with a fur-clad Venus. This man reads a manuscript about a man named Severin, who begs a woman named Wanda to treat him like a slave. When Severin travels with Wanda, she gives him the name “Gregor.” In the first part of “The Metamorphosis,” we learn that Gregor cut the picture of the woman in furs from a magazine, framed it, and hung it on his wall. He crawls atop the picture in the second part of the story in order to protect it from removal from his room by his sister. What do you make of the picture of the woman and the ways in which Gregor responds to it?
   
   
2. I mentioned on Friday that the German word Kafka uses to describe what Gregor has become emphasizes uncleanliness. The word, “Ungeziefer,” is derived from the Middle High German word “ungezibere,” meaning “animal unfit for sacrifice.” Whatever it is that Gregor has become, we can have no doubt that it is repulsive to his family. His mother faints upon seeing him, and his sister sweeps all of his leftover food, “even the things he had not touched”  into a bucket “as if [they] were now of no use to anyone” (134). How does Gregor’s repulsiveness affect him and his relationship with his family members?
   
   
3. Please choose one of the following questions (if you’re really eager, feel free to respond to both!):
    

• On page 132, Gregor crawls under his sofa because he feels uncomfortable in his room. Why might he feel “filled . . . with an apprehension he could not account for” in his own bedroom (132)?
• Give the title of a song or piece of music that you would add to a “The Metamorphosis” playlist. How does it relate to the novella?

__________________

1 In case you were curious, “masochism” is an eponym derived from von Sacher-Masoch’s name.

One: "Before the Law" and "A Hunger Artist"

1. “Before the Law” is a bipolar parable--that is, it teaches two opposing lessons. One tells us that, like the man from the country, to live is to aspire insignificantly and fruitlessly towards achievement of some purpose (such as admission to the law).  The other warns us not to surrender to fear of authority as the man does. I think the man’s actions are both relatable (we all experience fear) and ridiculous. We, like the man, are caught between hope and despair. The parable teaches us to realize this predicament and laugh at ourselves. That’s my take, but it may not (and certainly doesn’t have to be) yours. Do you agree with me? Why or why not?
2. Now for some questions about "A Hunger Artist." First: does the Hunger Artist choose to fast and/or cage himself of his own accord? How free is he, really?
3. Does anyone appreciate the Hunger Artist’s performance? Can it actually be understood or appreciated?