Both Lonely and Alone

This past week in class we began reading The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. This story is about a man named Gregor who is used to his daily routine of getting up and going to work in order. He is essentially the family mule, as he works to pay off his parents' debts even though he hates his job. One day he wakes up and realizes he has transformed into a giant bug, but is more worried about little irrelevant details rather than the fact he has gone from a human being to an insect. "Once I've got the money to pay off my parents' debt to him--that should take another five or six years--I'll do it for sure. Then I'll make the big break. In any case, right now I have to get up. My train leaves at five o'clock" (Kafka, The Metamorphosis). Gregor never specifically complains about his duty he takes on of repaying his parents' debts because he is a selfless person. However, it doesn't affect him too much because he is a very lonely and alone person. "...hung the picture which he had cut out of an illustrated magazine a little while ago and set in a pretty gilt frame. It was a picture of a woman with a fur hat and a fur boa" (Kafka, The Metamorphosis). Here is yet another showing of Gregor's unmistakable loneliness; where normal people would have taken out the sample image in a frame and replaced it with a photograph of a loved one, Gregor kept the sample image of a woman in there. This means he feels disconnected from everybody, including his family even though he lives with them.

His metamorphosis into a bug did not seem to phase Gregor by the slightest bit. His main worries were how he was going to have to complete his tasks in a bodily form he could barely control. "'Why don't I keep sleeping for a while and forget all this foolishness'" (Kafka, The Metamorphosis). The entire first page of the story, Gregor realizes very clearly he has been transformed into a bug, but he does not have a panic attack or mental breakdown like you would think. Instead, he runs through his mind how exactly he is going to fulfill his duties and work for his family and job while in this state of being. "Gregor had no intention of opening the door, but congratulated himself on his precaution, acquired from traveling, of locking all doors during the night, even at home" (Kafka, The Metamorphosis). Literally speaking, Gregor is isolated from the world and his family in that he has a habit of locking the door. Metaphorically speaking, Gregor shuts out the world by doing so, creating this dull, robotic, lonely bubble he lives in.

What Dreams May Come

This week in class we watched What Dreams May Come, a movie about a man named Chris who loses his children to a car accident and then he himself is killed in one. The film What Dreams May Come and Dante's Inferno have much in common, since the film pulled many ideas from the epic poem. Chris is sent to heaven, which is related to what Dante conjured up because Dante believed the punishment should fit the sin. In What Dreams May Come, the souls who are in heaven create their own eternity. At the beginning, Chris doesn't realize that he has died, since he is still on earth and can see everybody clearly. However, they can't see or hear him, and Chris begins his journey into the afterlife. His journey symbolizes Dante's journey with Virgil as his guide. Chris' eternity is literally Annie's paintings, seeing that they were/are soul mates it only Inferno, and she is cast down into hell. The entire film is filled with symbolic colors and symbols and parallels many ideas from the epic poem Inferno.
seemed fitting. Annie, however, can't handle her life without her husband and kids, and ends up killing herself in order to meet them again in heaven. What she doesn't know is that suicide is considered a sin, as it is in Dante's hell as well.

There is an abundance of symbolic colors and scenes in the film. The one that stood out the most to me was the color purple. This color is mainly used to represent suffering and death, and also centered around Annie. She paints a purple tree that appears in Chris' eternity. This relates back to Dante's Inferno because in Dante's hell the sinners who committed suicide are turned into trees just to be ripped apart and then start the whole thing over again. Annie also wore a purple dress when preparing the pills that she was going to take in order to kill herself. She was sitting in her bed, with her lamp on and Chris' lamp off, and there were three paintings behind her; hell, earth, and purgatory, therefore relating back to Dante's Inferno.

Franz Kafka

Franz Kafka was born on July 3rd, 1883 in Prague, Bohemia (now the Czech Republic) to a Jewish family. He was the oldest of six children. His two little brothers died in infancy and his three little sisters all died in concentration camps. His father, a businessman and retailer of "fancy goods and accessories" (kafka-online.info), was said to be ill-tempered and directed much of his anger towards Kafka. Kafka's mother helped his father turn form poverty into prosperity. His home was shaped with tragedy, and he derived much of his value from his father.


After successfully completing high school, Kafka enrolled at the Charles Ferdinand University of Prague. He intended to study chemistry, but switched over to law to his father's delight. This also gave him valuable time to take classes in art and literature. He completed his law degree in 1906 and took a one year unpaid apprenticeship as a law clerk. He worked hard at later jobs, but health problems forced him to retire in 1922. At work he was a rather approachable guy, but his personal family issues plagued his future relationships. After being engaged twice to Felice Bauer, he fell in love with Dora Diamant, who was also Jewish and shared a preference for socialism like he did.


Kafka only published a tiny bit of his work during his lifetime. He was full of self-doubt and therefore very reluctant to show the world his work. His friend Max Brod went against his wishes after his death and published his books. His work greatly influenced German literature and gained favor especially around World War II. His appeal and value as a writer was converted into a number when his manuscript of The Trial was auctioned off for just under 2 million dollars (the highest price ever paid for a modern manuscript). He even introduced a new term into the English lexicon. His work turned out to be far more successful than he could ever have imagined, as he had instructed Brod to burn the things, unread.


Kafka suffered from clinical depression and social anxiety throughout his whole life, as well as migraines, insomnia, constipation, boils. This is said to have been brought on by excessive strains and stresses. He tried treating his problems, but when his tuberculosis worsened he returned to Prague, and then a sanatarium by Vienna for treatment. He died on June 3rd, 1924, and was interred a few days later in the New Jewish Cemetery in Prague.

Works Cited

"Franz Kafka - Biography." Franz Kafka. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Mar. 2014.

"Franz Kafka Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 17 Mar. 2014.

"Franz Kafka Biography." A Short Biography of Franz Kafka. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Mar. 2014.

"Kafka's Life (1883-1924)." The Kafka Project. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2014.

I Don't Know, I Don't Care

     After a long week of taking the horribly boring TCAPs, sitting back and watching Dante's Inferno presentations was a good way to take a break. I was very glad to have taken on the challenge of being one of the first to present; it relieved me of having to stress for the next two weeks. I really enjoyed seeing how the punishments changed the further you got down into hell, some way worse than others. What interested me the most was the absolute beginning of Dante's Inferno; the indifferent. I've always thought that only the sinners would end up in Dante's hell, but apparently if you "wasted your life" you are being sent down there too. Those who disregarded Jesus' teachings were cast down there, those who didn't take a side. The punishment for the indifferent isn't anything too extremely severe (certainly not as bad as being chewed by Satan for all of eternity); there are wasps and insects that sting and bite you. Of course, that is not exactly pleasant, but preferable over some of the other cruel punishments in this unimaginable hell.

No Hope Left

     This week I finished my Dante's presentation (with one all-nighter) and was able to present my Prezi on Thursday, as planned. I was very proud of myself for being able to successfully complete my humungous project and share it with the class. I also think my presentation went fairly well (minus the "King....King....King...Oh wait this isn't the King one!" bit, although it was a bit of a hoot for the class). Watching the presentations go on after mine, I noticed that the punishments in the different cantos became more and more severe. The punishments, in my opinion, seemed fair for only a few cantos after mine before the torture the souls had to go through shocked and horrified me.
     The 14th canto, to be specific, has been the one to shock and horrify me the most so far in our journey of presentations. One of the sins to get into that torture chamber, dare I say, was to swear against God. It scared me a bit because I am guilty of a few of these sins, and it was freaky to think that if this inferno was real, I would be stuck under eternal fire rain, with no break or no place to hide. Or my punishment could be worse, depending on what I did. It's very interesting for me to compare how common these sins are nowadays to how horrible they could be punished for committing them. As the presentations go on, I am sure I will be seeing how deep into hell I have gotten myself so far.