Section 1
Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis and Herman Melville's Bartleby the Scrivener are two seemingly incomparable works. The Metamorphosis is a far-fetched tale written in 1915 about a man named Gregor Samsa who wakes up in his European home one day to find he has been transformed into a giant vermin. The tale follows the trials and isolation he feels from his family, and society as a whole. Bartleby the Scrivener, written in 1853 is the story of a homeless man named Bartleby, who begins work in a Wall Street office. After awhile, he refuses to do work, and his pitying boss attempts find some compromise.
A secondary theme which ties together the stories of Kafka and Melville, is the importance and struggles of the workplace on the individual. In The Metamorphosis, Gregor, the protagonist, and his family's lives are upturned when his disastrous misfortune causes him to lose his job. Being the main provider of the family, those who had learned to rely on him financially and for little else, were in a jam. The ensuing monetary troubles of the family causes stress and emotional uprisings all at Gregor's expense. And so it appears that the social commentary is on the bureaucracy being the sun of the Samsa universe around which life revolves.
In Bartleby the Scrivener, work is literally all of Bartleby's life. With no apparent family or other activities to rely on, he uses his desk job to fill the void of time and give him some meaning to live. When his job is in peril, and eventually lost, after being sent to jail for vagrancy, he loses the will to live altogether. The pathos evoked here shows the tragedy of a man ruled by his desk. In both stories, the underlying theme is the evil of a corrupt bureaucracy which takes over human existence and makes everything else seem of little importance.
Section 2: The lost section
Section 3
The authors' styles are also very important and effective in making the story. In The Metamorphosis, the story is told from the point of view of an outsider, in third person omniscient. This helps to show what all the characters are feeling and experiencing. Kafka's writing is unique because it is often somewhat autobiographical. The hero, who usually represents an aspect of Kafka's inner life, is chiefly one who appears distorted or abnormal in a "normal" world. In this case, Gregor is a giant beetle. There is also strong symbolism in the transformation. Gregor's metamorphosis from a family provider to a burden symbolizes the aloneness of man even among those whom he is closest. Kafka is also unique in his simplistic style and diction. He increasingly avoided what he called "singing" in his writing, such as flowery words. He retained the vagueness and grotesque element which became his signature. His simplicity runs deeper than what appears. His words are rich in subtle allusions. His criticisms are hidden well in a fairy tale. Setting is not as important to the story as some other aspects. The Metamorphosis is set in a small, middle-class neighborhood in Eastern Europe in the early 1900's. Almost all the events take place in the Samsa home, and aside from a few scenes in which Gregor sneaks into the hallway, the plot takes place in Gregor's bedroom. The bedroom was where the transformation first took place, and finally where he died. It was only in the final scene where the action moved to the countryside on a train, after Gregor is dead. The characters themselves add depth and help the story along. Mr. Samsa, Gregor's father is a tired, old man who had previously depended on his son for support, but is still resentful and suspicious of Gregor. He is the one to deliver Gregor's fatal wound. Mrs. Samsa, Gregor's mother, is in denial. She is a soft-spoken woman concerned about her son, and never comes to terms with Gregor's transformation, believing he will be normal again. Throughout the story she makes a few small gestures, such as stopping Mr. Samsa from throwing more apples, to show her love. Grete Samsa, Gregor's sister, is close to her brother, and takes on the task of caring for him. However, her dislike of his new state causes Gregor the most pain, and it is her eventual hatred and selfishness that causes Gregor's death. The conflict in the story is in the characters of the antagonists, all the people who reject Gregor and force him into isolation. His boss runs away, his father locks him in a room and throws apples at him, and even Grete shows her resent for Gregor. An interesting twist to the novel is the question of reality. Many scholars have wondered whether the entire novel is one big dream. This is possible in such a far-fetched tale, but Gregor unfortunately never "wakes up" from this supposed dream at the end of the book. Additionally, the book is split into three parts, each of which has its own climax. The first peak comes at the end of one, when Gregor leaves his room to reveal to his family his state of being and receives his first injuries and rejections. The second climax, at the end of two, occurs when Mr. Samsa throws apples at Gregor, symbolizing Gregor being driven from the family circle. The final major climax is at the end, where Grete rejects Gregor with such a giant emotional blow it kills him. Each of these climaxes is precipitated by Gregor's attempt to rejoin his family and humanity. Finally, the mixture of humor and pathos is an effective balance. An example of humor comes when Gregor attempts to walk for the first time on tiny insect legs. An obvious example of pathos is Gregor's death from his misery. It makes for a tragic comedy that leaves the reader with mixed feelings.
In Bartleby the Scrivener the story is told from the point of view of the boss. This adds a familiar storyteller feel to the novel. Melville's symbolic description is said to resemble that of Nathaniel Hawthorne. This and their similar themes place them in the same category of American literature. Melville has the ability to see in ordinary objects and events more than just pure objective reality, but to sense moral, spiritual and aesthetic values. Melville, like Kafka was also somewhat autobiographical. He derived ideas frequently from incidents in his own life. He also drew freely upon source books, and so he wrote about what he knew. Occasionally, he used his imagination in the creation of some plots, but it wasn't where his forte lay. Melville was known more for his philosophical, dramatic, and artistic elaboration, such as in Bartleby. The setting is limited like in Kafka's novel. The majority of the action occurs in the nameless office building on Wall Street in New York City. It is again only at the end where the action shifts to the new office building, and the jail where Bartleby dies. The characters are sparse but very important in the novella. Obviously, the main character, Bartleby, is a quiet, complex man with a passive pride, and no apparent past. The manager is a business-minded, yet generous man, who tries with little success to understand his strange new employee. The minor characters, Turkey, Nippers, and Ginger Nut, the fellow employees add dimension to the piece. They show an outside point of view, and also add humor to an intense, emotional situation. The main antagonist in the story is society as a whole. The unwritten rule seems to be "conformity above all." Bartleby's resistance of social norms is denounced, and eventually it lands him in jail. The story is somewhat anticlimactic, and there is little suspense, but it seems irrelevant to the importance of the plot. The major turning point comes when the manager finally takes the step and leaves Bartleby in his old office. From there it is downhill, and Bartleby is arrested for vagrancy. Humor and pathos are also used extensively in the story. Melville is known for his witty comedy, most often in the form of a satire, such as Bartleby the Scrivener. As mentioned, the supporting characters add humor, as well as the initial shock of the manager when he first hears "I would prefer not to." The pathos is quite apparent. Melville gets the reader to sympathize with the boss for Bartleby, and sadness is evoked when Bartleby dies as a cause of the individual versus society. In this case, society wins.
Section 4
The definite evil in The Metamorphosis can be embodied, in part, in the single entity of the manager. "The chief clerk is a mean-spirited, suspicious man who suggests that Gregor is missing work because he has stolen from the company" (Pinkmonkey). He attempts to place blame on the innocent worker, and then runs away when he learns the truth, without so much as wondering if he could do anything to help. He is obviously solely concerned with money and the welfare of the company over that of the employee. However, this corrupt "money disease" is not limited simply to the source, the company. Throughout the years, Gregor's family had come to take granted of his selfless support, and that is all he was remembered for when tragedy struck. "None of them (the family) think about how Gregor feels about his miserable transformation; instead they are worried about the effects of the metamorphosis on them personally, especially since Gregor has been the sole breadwinner for the family" (pinkmonkey). This is not the say that the family is exactly evil and conspiring against Gregor. It is more a criticism on the society that forced them to be ruled by money, in a Darwin-esque survival of the fittest, (or in this case, richest.) An example of this are the extra menial jobs the family takes to support itself and the boarders the family comes to hate, but must wait on like servants. However, the situation is not entirely everyone else's fault. Gregor himself had slipped into patterns of monotonous routine in which he accepted his miserable life in fear of change. "Another main idea that Kafka discusses in The Metamorphosis is the enslavement of the modern man to the forces of materialism. By turning Gregor into a bug that can observe his family from a different perspective, Kafka can show man's preoccupation with financial security. Before his transformation, Gregor is miserable at work, but he cannot quit since he is the sole breadwinner for the Samsa family. Nothing at work satisfies him, and his boss treats him worse than an animal, almost like a bug" (Lawson 133-168). He goes on to quote that this is Gregor's own doing, and has no one to blame for the way he is treated. "Unfortunately, Gregor does not have the courage to go out and find something better; he accepts his miserable existence in order to have financial security. Then his transformation occurs; he literally becomes an insect, the lowest form of life. Symbolically, Kafka is portraying the level to which a human being can be reduced in the modern world. It also symbolizes to what depths a man sometimes sinks before he begins to reflect on the meaning of his existence. Ironically, only as an insect can Gregor Samsa find the time or motivation to reflect on his own misery, to acknowledge his own desire, and to see the selfishness of his family" (Lawson 133-168). Kafka even lends a somewhat autobiographical approach in relating to Gregor, because in his own lifetime he had taken on a dull office job which often times impeded with his passion for writing. Much is the same with Gregor, who was given the chance at a happy, normal life like most individuals, but squandered that chance in the pursuit of material happiness. His ignorance for his family leads to shock when he cannot understand why they harbor little pity towards him. Through Gregor, Kafka warns of the increasing trend toward a society of working drones. It is a struggle of material wealth versus an intangible wealth of love and friendship. "Kafka also shows that mankind is driven by materialism, often to the exclusion of human relationships. Modern life demands that a person have a job and earn money to fulfill materialistic desires. The materialistic mind-set usually enslaves the individual and transforms him into a beats or insect who does not have time to care for others. Gregor is the perfect example. He hates his job as a salesman, but endures it in order to provide material things for his family. In order to have and give financial security, he sacrifices a social life, companionship, pleasure, and dreams. His life is miserable, and counts the days until he can quit his job" (Lawson 133-168). Lawson goes on by commenting on the family that turns on him when he is no longer of use to them. "Ironically, the people that he supports and loves prove they have no depth of emotion for him. Once he cannot financially care for them, they one by one desert him, adding to his total misery. Gregor is literally left to climb the walls and die in total alimentation. Through him, Kafka is warning modern society that it is being forced into an existence similar to that of Gregor" (Lawson 133-168). Kafka even takes on autobiographical approach to the character of Gregor, as Kafka himself held a dull office job that often impeded with his passion to write.
The story of Bartleby takes the saying "work or die" to the extreme. Through some turn of events, Bartleby had lost any family and social connections, and so had nothing else to do nor any other source of income, and so was forced to take a dreary middle-rate job. His rebellion against the bureaucracy and search for happiness led to his eventual demise. The main theme apparent here is the individual spirit against conformity in the workplace. Society makes it appear that work is so important, it overshadows any individual voices; an individual will only cause chaos in the form of a wrench thrown into the gears of society. "... hemmed in by the walls of society, responding through the force of his passivity... The lawyer attempts without success to persuade Bartleby to conform to the conventions of the profession and eventually help to understand" (Cohen 221-245). Again, like with Kafka, Bartleby's tendencies resemble Melville and his own sense of circumspection. Melville comments on how modern social norms can kill the creativity and individuality of man in pursuit of a uniform, flawless system. "Bartleby is a story of Wall Street, in which this business epicenter of nineteenth-century America is seen as murderous to the human creative spirit, a site only of commodification and of the fetish of property and profit" (Lee 249-267). Like in The Metamorphosis, materialism is a big issue. Only, to Bartleby, material wealth is basically nonexistent, and he works mainly to survive and keep up with society. An example of this is the fact that his few possessions were moved into the office where he worked. For a man with no house, material gain was not a main issue. This is one major difference between Bartleby and Gregor. Another difference is the attempt to break from social patterns. Gregor fell into a stable rut, but Bartleby's rebellion of "I would prefer not to" shows an effort to defy the bureaucracy. "The message that Melville intends for the reader is how society has little tolerance for social deviance. This is where the theme of ostracization of social deviance comes into play, expressed in the metaphor of individual versus society. Those who do not fit into the common mold are pressured to change or are removed forcibly. Bartleby is an example of a character that doesn't fit anywhere even near the mold and is 'removed'" (Liao 2).
Section 5
It is often said, "Write what you know." For Melville and Kafka, this advice was heeded. Many of their works included a familiar, autobiographical feel. The theme of the effect of the conditions of the workplace and the corruption of bureaucracy on the individual in both stories elicits a case in which society wins and the individual, both spiritually and physically, dies. The limited amount of characters and locations adds intimacy to which an intensity grows from the emphasis placed on internal struggles. The humor laced throughout evokes uneasy laughter in the reader, and the pathos evokes pity and sorrow. The authors both warn against materialism, and instead embrace family and relationships. However, their negative perspective on society leads to a sort of futilistic view. In a literary world, Kafka and Melville are almost as black and white, from different times and countries. Often times, it takes realistic situations composing the theme to transcend the boundaries of time and literature.
