Metamorphosis_vs_Stranger

Min Jae Cho 01/26/11 arr.6 – IB SL World Literature Compare/Contrast Essay It is easy to locate single body; it is hard to locate million cells that compose single body. In Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis and Albert Camus’s The Stranger, the concept of the “body” is quite important. Through vivid description of what happens to Gregor’s body in The Metamorphosis or what body means to Meursault in The Stranger, Kafka and Camus attempt to not only express the mentality of their main characters but also convey certain ideas related to society or meaning of life. For example, in The Metamorphosis, Gregor’s physical transformation represents Gregor’s psychological conflict and the brutality of materialistic society. In The Stranger, the concept of “body” signifies Meursault’s belief that life is meaningless and human mortality is inevitable. First, in The Metamorphosis, Gregor’s transformed body is an external representation of his internal conflict. In other words, Gregor’s physical change mirrors the change in his psychology. In the beginning, Kafka opens up the story with extraordinary situation: “When Gregor Samsa woke up one morning from unsettling dreams, he found himself changed in his bed into a monstrous vermin” (Kafka 3). Vermin is “a wild animal that is believed to be harmful to humans because it carries diseases”. Of all possible creatures that Gregor can be, why did Gregor turn into “vermin”' The term “vermin” indicates Gregor has been living under the pressure of keeping his whole family together by himself. None of his family members has a job. Gregor is the only one who makes money by working as a “ traveling salesman” (Kafka 4). However, Gregor abhors his job because salesman is a “grueling job” that demands “the torture of traveling, worrying about changing, eating miserable foods at all hours [and] constantly seeing new faces” (Kafka 4). He always bemoans that the life of salesman is “[not so different from that of] a harem woman” (Kafka 4). However, despite his hatred toward his job, Gregor realizes that he has to sacrifice himself and cannot quit his job. If he quits his job, his family will encounter financial difficulties. Until he “[pays off his] parent’s dept to [his boss]” (Kafka 4), he is bound to work hard for the sake of his family not for the sake of his own. He would rather give up his own desire and comfort to sustain his family than become useless or harmful like a “vermin” within his family. However, at the same time he wants to help his family by giving them his money, Gregor wants to take a rest by quitting his job. “If [he did not work for his] parent’s sake, [he] would have quit long ago” and “[take] a big break” for himself (Kafka 4). Thus, Gregor’s transformation as a vermin is the representation of psychological clash between his morality of helping his family and his desire to do what he wants. Additionally, through Gregor’s physical metamorphosis, Kafka attempts to display social alienation and the cruelty of materialistic society. Before the metamorphosis, Gregor’s family treats him well because he is the only moneymaker in the family. For that reason, in the beginning, when Gregor does not come out of his room, the family becomes extremely worried if he is sick. If “[Gregor does not] get up”, then “[Gregor falls] in danger of losing his job” and if Gregor loses his job, then “the boss would start hounding [them] about the old depts” (Kafka 10). After the metamorphosis, however, they do not treat Gregor well anymore because, in their materialistic perspective, Gregor is not profitable for them anymore. By being unable to earn money, Gregor loses his value and role from the family. For instance, Gregor’s father throws an apple to Gregor when Gregor gets out of his room and tries to talk. Gregor’s body is so weak that “[the apple] literally [forces] its way into Gregor’s back” (Kafka 38) and causes “serious wound” (Kafka 39). Apple is a biblical allusion for sin. In the book of Genesis, Adam and Eve become sinful after consuming the forbidden fruit, which is an apple, of Eden. In The Metamorphosis, a piece of apple symbolizes Gregor’s family’s sin of materialism. A piece of apple piercing through Gregor’s weak body implies that Gregor is the victim of his family’s materialism. Despite the fact that they are Gregor’s family, Gregor’s family is blind with money. They do not bother getting rid of Gregor who is their family member. Later, the apple remained in Gregor’s back becomes direct cause of his death. In The Stranger, the concept of body is little different from that in The Metamorphosis. If The Metamorphosis focused on general idea such as the problem of materialism within society, The Stranger focuses on philosophical idea such as the meaninglessness of life and human mortality. For example, in the beginning, Meursault is at his maman’s funeral. At the funeral, caretaker asks Meursault if he wants to see maman’s body before he “unscrew the casket” (Camus 6). However, Meursault indifferently says he does not want to her dead body and surprises the caretaker. Why does he not want to see his mom’s body' Meursault refers to his maman’s words when he was young - “If you go slowly, you risk getting sunstroke. But if you go too fast, you work up a sweat and then catch a chill inside the church.” (Camus 16). Meursault thinks that “[there is] no way out [in life]” (Camus 17). Like maman said, whether one walks slowly to avoid sweating or fast to avoid sunstroke, one will still reach the same destination no matter what. In other words, whether people try to avoid problems in their life, they will still have problems and some problems will definitely happen in their life such as death. In his belief, death is inevitable part of life cycle; all bodies are created to decay. Thus, Meursault believes that there is no need of being sad about his maman’s death or being desperate to see her body because he will also face death in his life and follow maman’s path. Meursault’s somewhat pessimistic principle of life is also shown through his conversation with the chaplain. As devout Christian who believes in God and hope, the chaplain finds Meursault’s principle of life quite disturbing. Therefore, the chaplain suggests Meursault to have hope or target of faith in his life. When his suggestion does not seem to work, the chaplain asks if Meursault believes that “[there is] no hope at all [or think that] when [he dies] nothing remains[.]” (Camus 117) and Meursault says “yes” (Camus 117). Meursault believes that hope creates fear of death because if one has hope, one also has fear of losing that hope. The concept of body in The Metamorphosis and The Stranger is significant in terms of both story development and understanding of the message within. In The Metamorphosis, Gregor’s body goes through grotesque metamorphosis and he becomes “vermin”. Gregor’s transformed body represents Gregor’s social alienation, his psychological clash and the cruelty of materialistic society. In The Stranger, the concept of body is not exclusively focused on Meursault’s body like it is in The Metamorphosis. Instead, it focuses on philosophical aspects of the body such as the meaning in life and mortality.