My first Kafka!
And now I am a bit less
clueless as to what it means when they call a piece of art 'Kafkaesque'.
No wonder the likes of
David Lynch and Co. consider him their source of inspiration.
The story begins with our
protagonist, Gregor Samsa (a metaphorical representation of Franz Kafka
himself, if I am not mistaken), waking up one fine morning to find that he is
not able to get out of bed as he has transformed into a large bug. Worried that
he will be late for office- where he is employed as a travelling salesman-
Gregor then makes several attempts to come to terms with his new body and get
on with his routine before his father or his boss's chief clerk- who has come
to his house to check why he is late today- will get a chance to reprimand him
for being tardy and ungrateful.
Yes. That is how surreal it
is.
And, to top it all, by
never giving an explanation as to why the metamorphosis actually happened in
the first place, Kafka ensures that the physical deformity does not take
centre-stage in the plot even if it is precisely what triggered the conflict.
Kafka, in its stead,
maintains a firm grip on the telling, ensuring that the focus remain on
presenting it as an absurdist commentary on authoritarianism and the impact it
has on an obliging mind.
Gregor, despite facing the
misfortune of having metamorphosed into an insect-like creature, is never shown
to rise above thinking about how the people around him will react; whether his
family will forgive him for the burden that he has become by losing his source
of income; whether his father will notice the little acts of obedience he is
still displaying undeterred by the loss of his ability to communicate; whether
his sister is aware of how grateful he is for trying to make life a little less
miserable for him by clearing out the furniture so he be able to crawl around
freely and by putting out stale food in his room, twice a day.
By setting the scenes
inside closed rooms till the very end and by describing them in a bleak,
claustrophobic manner, Kafka makes the reader experience better the
unintelligent and over-complaisant mindset of the main character. Gregor never
reaches a point where he can starts believing that he, and not his family, is
the one who is suffering. Neither does he understand the selfish nature of the
people who rule his life.
And that, I believe, holds
true for any person who chooses to remain co-operative and accommodating of a
society- or the few who govern it- that is ever ready to impose on anyone and
everyone willing to bend.
The writing is 'German'
stern, yet packs quite a few moments of absurdist hilarity that makes one
smile, cringe and ponder- all at the same time, if you will believe me- at the
silly little travelling salesman whose life has been turned upside down and yet
whose first thought is, 'Heck, I'm going to be late for work!'
Certainly worth a read.
