What do you want to do Siddharha?

In the novel, Siddhartha attempts various things to reach Nirvana. First Siddhartha decides to leave his family, wealth, and comfort and becomes a Samana. Siddhartha ignorantly says "...one can learn nothing" (Hesse 19). Soon, Siddhartha confronts the Buddha and speaks the flaw of his teaching. Siddhartha says "....But according to your teachings, the unity and logical consequence of all things is broken in one place" (Hesse 32). Siddhartha says he's trying to find a way to Nirvana but he questions every mentor and teachings he has been offered.

(an image of a Buddha)

In the other hand, the Samanas, Buddha, and even the ferryman believes in each beliefs and continue practicing it. For instance the ferryman quotes "I have often listened to it [the river], gazed it, and I have always learned something from it" (Hesse 49). He also says "I have learned that from the river too; everything comes back" (Hesse 49). The ferryman shows Siddhartha that one can learn from anyone, even from a river. Also after all the rejection, Siddhartha asks Kamala to be his teacher and student. Siddhartha asks, "I have come to tell you this and no thank you because you are so beautiful. And if it does not displease you, Kamala, I would like to ask you to be my friend and teacher, for I do not know anything of the art of which you are mistress" (Hesse 53). Siddhartha, after criticizing other people for being taught asks Kamala because she's beautiful and Siddhartha is in love with her.

Siddhartha seems very ironic and ignorant in many ways. First he says he wants to find Nirvana and says to reach Nirvana he should empty himself, not escape from himself, and find his Self. However, all Siddhartha do is find a flaw in the teachings he is offered to. Moreover, Siddhartha is seduced by a woman.

Siddhartha 1-2 (partner) late due to absence

In the novel Siddhartha, the main character Siddhartha is loved by everyone. Siddhartha, as a Brahman's son, is loved " That was how everybody loved Siddhartha. He delighted and made everyone happy" (Hesse 5). However he doesn't satisfy and wants something else. Siddhartha says "But Siddhartha himself was not happy..., beloved by all, a joy to all, there was yet no joy in his own heart" (Hesse 5). Being loved is a essential part of one's well being but, like Siddhartha, people may think it's not important because they have been always loved that way. Siddhartha is ignorant because he doesn't value what he already has.

Moreover, even when Siddhartha follows the Samanas, Siddhartha thinks there's nothing else to learn. He quotes "I believe that amongst all the Samanas, probably not even one will attain Nirvana. We find consolations, we learn tricks with which we deceive ourselves, but the essential thing-the way-we do not find" (Hesse 18). Siddhartha shows no respect to his mentors, the Samanas. Also when Siddhartha's friend, Govinda suggest to meet the Buddha, Siddhartha says "that I have become distrustful of teachings and learning and that I have little faith in words that come to us from teachers...I believe in my heart that we have already tasted the best fruit of it" (Hesse 23). Siddhartha is prideful of himself and thinks he knows everything thus don't need and teacher or learning even from the Buddha.

(an image of Siddhartha)

Since Siddhartha values little of what he got and Siddhartha is egoistic that he doesn't appreciate the teachings, Siddhartha is an ignorant person.

Kafka essay

Ashley Kim

1st period

Why did Gregor had to die?

In Kafka’s novel, The Metamorphosis, the main character, Gregor Samsa, is a caring young man who loves his family so deeply that he works without rest to pay his parent’s debt. He lives an isolated life with little communication between his family members due to his work. One day, Gregor turns into a bug and the family becomes cruel to him. It’s ironic that such a wonderful human being suffers the most than any of his family members who are worthless and cruel. Kafka tells the readers that being loving is beautiful and certainly nice but it can destroy one’s life.

Gregor’s family are like parasites which steal energy from him and abandons him when Gregor has no more to give. Foster explains, “A nasty old man, attractive but evil, …, steals their innocence -and coincidentally their ‘usefulness’” (Foster 16). Like vampires, the family make Gregor work and take the money for themselves. Also “Generally, eating with another is a way of saying ‘I’m with you, I like you, we form a community together’ and that is a form of communion” (Foster 8). Throughout the novel, sister is the only one who brings food to Gregor but the family never eats with him. This proves that the family has no intention of building a relationship with Gregor. Moreover Foster describes, “Nearly every religion has some linguistic or social ritual involving the coming together of the faithful to share sustenance” (Foster 8). Gregor’s family lacked this ritual thus lost the chance to become a group.. Gregor had a loving heart and a good soul but he lacked conscious thus didn’t know his family aren’t making an actual communion with him. His innocence and love blinded Gregor from seeing the truth.

Gregor realizes that his family are not as nice as he thought they were at last. But when he realizes it, it’s too late. Gregor says, “As he heard his mother’s word Gregor realized that the lack of all immediate human contact” (Kafka 14). Although Gregor knows he lacks social contact with his family, since his turned into a bug, he cannot rebuild the relationship with them. Wallace tells, “‘, and there the corner stands the trap that I must run into,’ ‘You only need to change your direction’” (Wallace 1). Gregor, in The Metamorphosis, already turns to a bug thus it’s too late to go back. Kafka bring the point to illustrate how modern people are chased in their works that they miss the important values.

Moreover, Gregor dies because he has been naive. When the sister announces to get rid of Gregor,“... Gregor did not have any notion of wishing to create problems for anyone” (Kafka 24). Gregor does nothing to protect himself and instead sits quietly waiting to die. Gregor’s love toward his family at the end ruins him. If Gregor stood up and cared for himself, the situation may have been different. Also Gregor still loves his family. He quotes, “he felt a great pride that he had been able to provide such a life for his parents and his sister in such a beautiful apartment” (Kafka 9). Gregor, even with the hate from his family, feels proud of himself for establishing such a luxury for his family rather than getting mad at them. Wallace explains “No wonder they cannot appreciate the really central Kafka joke, that the horrific struggle to establish a human self results in whose humanity is inseparable from that horrific struggle” (Wallace 3). Gregor had to know that, the horrific days he has been having will not suddenly change. Gregor’s thinking about sending his sister into a Contrary while the sister is thinking of killing Gregor. He was naive to his family thus lost his life.

Therefore since Gregor’s innocence and love results in a tragedy of him getting killed, Kafka is suggesting that one’s innocence can result in a destruction of one’s life. If only Gregor noticed that his family is not caring fast enough to make a turn and not be naive, The Metamorphosis may have a different ending to it.

Nice to Eat With you and Nice to Eat You?

 Eating in literature has more meaning than just consuming the energy. In literature, the act of eating is used to create a family-like and loving feeling. Foster states, "Once again the act says, 'I'm with you, I share this moment with you, I feel a bond of community with you'" (Foster 11). In contrast, bad meal is seen a cold, strict, and lack of love. Foster says, "If a well run meal or snack portends good things for community and understanding, the the failed meal scands as a bad sign" (Foster 11). This is what Gregor and his family was like in the Metamorphosis. Since Gregor was so busy working, he didn't spend his time with his family, resulting in a failed meal. The family lacked understanding and communication,

(an image of family dinner)

(an image of bad dinner)

Foster also talks about vampirism in literature. He suggests, "But it's also about things other than literal vampirism: selfishness, exploitation, a refusal to respect the autonomy of other people, just for starters" (Foster 16). Foster states that vampires are not just bloodsucking monsters but also portrait cruel instincts of human. Gregor's family is a form of vampire because although they look like humans, they have sucked blood, in this case, money, from their son Gregor. "The essentials of the vampire story, as we discussed earlier: an older figure representing corrupt, outworn values; ...a stripping away from her youth, energy, value" (Foster 19). Gregor as a young man supports his family financially. His parents, like vampires, sucks Gregor's youth and energy. 

(an image of Gregor's family from The Metamorphosis)

Empathy for Gregor

The Emphatic Civilisation by Jeremy Rifkin, according to the research in Italy, human are "soft wired" which means being able to feel what others feel. At first human could feel the feelings within their tribal group, then religious group, and then a national society. Moreover from the incident in Haiti, Rifkin states people living far away from Haiti felt empathetic toward the Haitian. Rifkin also points out that human gene traces back to a single woman and a single man, which means all human population are connected. What Rifkin tells the viewers is called "existentialism." Existentialism is a philosophical theory that being human starts with feeling the emotions of others.

(an image)

Kierkegaard and Sartre are philosophers who introduced this idea. Kierkegaard is considered to be the first existentialism philosopher. His works focused on the importance of personal choice ans commitment. Sartre is also a writer who wrote about existentialism.

Then how does this term related to Kafka's The Metamorphosis? Kafka is a modernist writer who criticized how inhumane people are due to their commitment to jobs. Kafka constantly points out the fact that Gregor, the main character, has no connections with his family. Although Gregor feels what his family feels, his family cannot feel what Gregor feels. Kafka illustrates Gregor's family as inhumane beings. Kafka formats his work that way to bring empathy to Gregor, in other words, to bring humanism back.