Kafka the Bug

       When Gregor wakes up in the morning and realizes he has turned into a bug he seems distracted by other things. When he first wakes up he feels like it is all a dream and that he is still asleep and dreaming. When he sees he is a bug he is not scared for his life he is scared because he does not know how he will be able to work for his family. This shows his isolation from his personal life because he is more obsessed with his work and helping pay for his family then his life. After this, he starts to think about his life and his job. He kinda goes into a depression about his life and how his job sucks.
         This is a metaphor for depression because he is basically thinking that being a bug is not the worst thing in his life right now, and that is why he is not even distracted by being a bug. After his thinking of his depressing job, one can see examples of isolation again. Gregor parents come to check on him but can't come in because the doors in the house are locked. This shows a disconnect through his family and that they all really are not connected personally. Kafka then falls from the bed hitting his head and almost seriously injuring himself. This shows that he is willing to risk his life for his family and his job. When one reads about Kafka's life, one can see that many life experiences like isolation and depression are in his writing.

Kafka as a Legacy

Life: Kafka was born in Prague, in July of 1883. At the time Prague was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire. His family was Jewish and part of the middle class. Kafka was the oldest of his six brothers and sisters. he had two brothers, George and Heinrich who died at the age of 15. Kafka later said that his father was very hard on him and beat him which was a huge influence on his writing.




Adult: Kafka Studied law at the University of Prague. After getting his degree he started working in the insurance business which he was successful in. He was engaged with Felice Beuler But they never got married and eventually split up. He then fell in love with Dora Dymant who helped him with his illness in his later years. They lived in Berlin for a while till Kafka sickness took its tole. Kafka thought that people though of him mentally and physically repulsive but in fact it was quite the opposites. they thought him cool, intelligent, and funny.


Influence: Kafka's Writing influenced the world and is considered a amazing writer. Unfortunately, he died before he was widely known but Kafka did not want other people to read his writing and was opposed to the idea of publishing it. His work is known as the most important of the twentieth century and was very popular during WW2. Many people described Kafka's writing style as Kafkaesque. This is used to describe the concepts in his work. Also a museum  was made in his name in his home town of Prague. Many classes still teach students about Kafka today.



Death: As Kafka grew older his tuberculosis became worse and worse. In March of 1924, Kafka had to move back to his home town of Prague from Berlin because of his illness. Here members of his family took care of him. When Kafka went to Kierling for treatment on April he stayed and dies there on June 3, 1924. The cause of death was starvation. This is because the pain in Kafkas throat made it very painful for him to eat. He legacy still remains though, and is being taught everyday.

Works Cited

"Franz Kafka." Franz Kafka. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.

"Franz Kafka." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 15 Mar. 2014. Web. 17 Mar. 2014.

"Kafka's Life (1883-1924)." The Kafka Project. N.p., 8 Jan. 11. Web. 15 Mar. 2014.

What Dreams Have come

     In Class this week we watched What Dreams May Come. This movie was related to Dante and made one think about what happens after death. On thing that really made one think was heaven and the place that is your paradise. One can see from watching the movie that a paradise will eventually become a hell. After a while your heaven will get boring and you will wish you could do anything else. One way the fixed this in the movie was with the option of rebirth. This was a really cool concept because when one goes through rebirth you have to find your soul mate again and get another chance at life.

      This movie also was really related to Dantes inferno but also had its differences. One concept that was kind of the came was the idea of suicide. In Dante it was a sin to commit suicide and you went to hell because of it. It was also a sin in this movie but it was almost like the people who committed suicide where so tortured in there mortal life that they could not figure out if they where dead and that there mind could not take the concept. Also, through out the movie there were pictures in hell that are from Dantes inferno of Dante and Virgil. This is almost leading to the fact that it is a representation of Dantes Inferno.

Hit and Miss with Dante

      A lot of these presentations this week, either felt like it should not even be a sin, or the punishment was to severe. A lot of people today would be put in hell because almost every one committed at least one sins, such as theft. Almost every one has stolen most being not a serious crime but just as a kid. A lot of kids will steal toys from other people. Does this mean that even if they are sin free for the rest of there life and good at heart they will go to hell. These are the reasons why a lot of these sins are unfair.
   
      One of the things in presentations that interesting, was the contrapasso because it was very clever. A lot of these punishments where very symbolic to the sin they committed. Even though it was not fair, it was well thought out. For example the diviners, astrologers, and magicians. Because they attempted to see the future in their mortal life they have there heads turned back so they can never see the future again. Contrapasso was one of the things very interesting in Dantes interpretation of hell. It was very well planed and symbolic which made it interesting.

The Unfair Sins

     This week in class people presented their Dante projects. For a lot of the projects some of the punishments didn't fit the crime. This is because in the days that Dante was alive there were way stricter rules in place and there were a lot of sins. When looking at these projects one can see that a lot of people in modern day jobs would be in some of these categories. Also, for all punishments everyone has a chance to redeem them selves and be forgiven. This is simple because every one in there life will make a mistake and commit a sin. Lastly, gods whole policy is that you can be forgiven.
     Two of the sins that should not even be sins where suicide and homosexuality. For suicide it is pretty unfair because the whole reason that they committed suicide is because they believed that there life. They then thought that the only way for it to get better is suicide. Also, in the afterlife you should show them happiness and stuff because they where not able to experience it in there life. The homosexuality sin is not fair because god is suppose to make every one the way they are. In this sin god is basically punishing them for the way he made them. Lastly, even if god didn't make them like that, he is suppose to accept everyone for who they are.