Why does everyone overanalyze this? The novel is about the fear of being a detriment to one's family, friends, ect. Gregor becomes a bug and drags everyone down, only to realize that in he had been dragging them down his whole life. His sister matures without him, his father becomes healthy again, and pretty much everyone is better off after he dies.I found it very relatable.
>>7754670
>only to realize that in he had been dragging them down his whole life
Just plain wrong nigga
Hes been sustaining the whole damn family
It is a modern "protocols if the elders of Zion"
>>7754684
>Hes been sustaining the whole damn family
Did you even read the book? After he dies the family goes on better than they were before he was normal.
>It is a modern "protocols if the elders of Zion"
What the fuck are you on about?
>>7754684
>It is a modern "protocols if the elders of Zion"
Aside from everything else that's retarded about this, they were published 12 years apart.
>>7754692
>Did you even read the book? After he dies the family goes on better than they were before he was normal.
That doesn't mean he was holding them back, it means they worked him to death even though they never actually needed him. The joke of the story is just how badly he got screwed.
>>7754670
>the fear of being a detriment to one's family, friends
the only you got right, friendo.
Kafka had epilepsy and generally poor health and died young. It's an excellent story, but reading it through the lens of a disabled man terrified that the people he cares about will see him as something repulsive, subhuman...that makes it fucking heartbreaking.
the funny thing about Kafka is that every time people read him for the first time, they get an unshakable idea of what his work means.
from their perspective, their interpretation is unambiguous and unquestionable....
happened to me. I thought the hunger artist was about sex... now I don't even fucking know what anything is about.
it's like a religious power he has... what a fucking master. I wish I could meet Kafka. I feel like maybe we'd be friends. Maybe not. idk
you've fallen for the Kafka trap, OP. this is why he's one of the goty authors. this effect. chill out for a while and come back to it
>>7754732
>Kafka had epilepsy
sauce?
I thought it was about coming to terms with a terminal illness and the impact it can have on those around you. That interpretation was heavily influenced by a family situation when I was reading it though, so it's possible that it wouldn't hold up to a second pass.
>>7755433
http://sites.utoronto.ca/tsq/DS/02/111.shtml
https://books.google.com/books?id=pq0OCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA79&lpg=PA79&dq=franz+kafka+hypergraphia&source=bl&ots=d12dUqtgNW&sig=vjO3wKcwWYt5J6YLLUwOzGI5-O4&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwihqIzIx5vLAhXMzoMKHe0VCiAQ6AEIIzAB#v=onepage&q=franz%20kafka%20hypergraphia&f=false
hypergraphia is linked to temporal lobe epilepsy, it ought to be noted
>>7754732
When he published die verwandlung in 1915, it was 2 years before he was diagnosed with tb. He was an avid swimmer before that, enjoying women, burlesque and low brow popular entertainment. Not going to say your interpretation is wrong, but it's wrong.
A new biography on Kafka was released in 2014 by Reiner Stach; he worked on it for over 2 decades. I suggest you read it
>>7755457
Considering that Kafka definitely had chronic tuberculosis (and ended up dying of it), that's actually not a bad reading
it might even be better than my epilepsy one above, which is, i think it bears stating, pretty personally influenced
>>7755507
okay thanks
>>7754670Apples? How do you like them apples?!
Many complain that the words of the wise are always merely parables and of no use in daily life, which is the only life we have. When the sage says: "Go over," he does not mean that we should cross over to some actual place, which we could do anyhow if the labor were worth it; he means some fabulous yonder, something unknown to us, something too that he cannot designate more precisely, and therefore cannot help us here in the very least. All these parables really set out to say merely that the incomprehensible is incomprehensible, and we know that already. But the cares we have to struggle with every day: that is a different matter.
Concerning this a man once said: Why such reluctance? If you only followed the parables you yourselves would become parables and with that rid yourself of all your daily cares.
Another said: I bet that is also a parable.
The first said: You have won.
The second said: But unfortunately only in parable.
The first said: No, in reality: in parable you have lost.
>>7755499
in those sources it says dosty had epilepsy, not Kafka
>>7755507
>enjoying women, burlesque and low brow popular entertainment
burlesque? I know he went to brothels somewhat often & he liked the jewish theatre... but I think you're making him to be a little rougher than he really was
