"Waking Up Is a Risky Thing," said Kafka.

 I read once that the climax of The Metamorphosis is actually the opening: "One morning Gregor Samsa awoke to find himself changed into a monstrous vermin."This could be true: what can happen that tops this supernatural change to a giant bug?  It also starts in medias res--things had already obviously occurred to lead to this transformation. 

I really enjoy teaching Kafka's famous novella (or maybe just a long short story). I use it in AP Lit, and I'll admit they don't universally love it. But some really get it. I had a couple boys come in one day and ask if they could bring a cockroach in a jar to the room and we would name it Gregor. "I don't think so," I said. (But I do have a small little toy rat I call Winston.) There's certainly a soft spot in my strange heart for the surreal, for odd existential literature and art. My husband is an artist and I've included his painting above which was a response to Kafka's "A Hunger Artist"--we buy living room furniture to go with our art instead of the other way around. 

SURREAL VIDEOS: a successful Metamorphosis opener! This year, I showed two short surreal videos I found on YouTube. One was a disjointed film about a boy whose mother was dying who kept reverting to connections with his indigenous ancestors (link below: "City of Dreams"). It's sad. There were a couple more options I considered that were very engaging but both dealt with suicide, and I didn't want to go there.  I have included two students responses at near the bottom of the post.  

   City of Dreams surreal short film

FINAL SURREAL WRITING: I enjoy the final project--it's playful. They write a surreal short piece echoing Kafka's story or style. I have seen Gregor turned into a child, a turd--things like butterflies and rabbits, or a foot.  But mostly, they just create their own strange story with fantastical action set in a realistic background for a contrast like that in The Metamorphosis. (I have included an example at the bottom.)  I also encourage them to create an "ice axe to the skull to break the frozen sea inside us" type of story  in connection to Kafka's famous statement about the purpose of literature. 

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Bottom line, it's a tragedy. Gregor's family lets him starve to death as he stops eating, and realizes he is no longer loved. I once saw a play at the Des Moines Fringe Festival that had a similar family issue.  The older brother in the family was constantly present but completely ignored.  To emphasize his vulnerability he was naked. I had asked my neighbor to go with me and she still teases me about it. In my defense, I didn't know about the nudity before we went and it was kind of a long forty minutes. (DM no longer has a fringe festival which is a shame. There's no correlation.) 

Hopefully we will all avoid this type of emotional dismissal by those who should be our closest allies. However, sometimes, like with Gregor,  the climax in our lives potentially comes first--each morning, each day when we wake. Kafka felt that waking up in the morning was the riskiest time of the day. We have to jump from one state of consciousness to another............what if we don't make it? 

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A Smarty Girl's Quite Academic Response to Surreal Film: "City of Dreams"

All of the film’s symbols are very clear: the boy’s youth adds a sense of awe that amplifies the tragedy of his perspective (the use of rhetorical questions adds to this as well). He loses his mother, a symbol of his innocence, protection, familial love, and the other important parts of his life that he is now disconnected from. The Native American represents a lost, forgotten, meaningless past, and the alien represents an absurd future that will annihilate the present.

A Reflective Boy's More Emotional Response to the Film

My eyes were glued to the screen. It looks back at times that have since passed and compares it to a dream. The child has so much wonder inside him and his words along with the depressing content of the images are amazing. His mom dies and he can’t help but feel thoughtful. The concept of human mortality and time is emphasized at every possible moment. I want to see more content like this.

The Burial

(Part of a Student's Kafkaesque Creative Response)

As I open my eyes to start my day, I find that my vision stubbornly refuses to adapt to the morning. It was still complete darkness as if I had yet to wake up from a dreadful nightmare. It was strenuous, similar to the workers I’m tasked with overseeing later today. The dream pictured me pushing a boulder upon a hill, only to fall once I was near the top. The story felt familiar, but no matter; I had to depart for work. As I attempted to roll out of bed, I found that the wall decided to push back.

Huh, I didn’t think I struggled much in my sleep, I thought. The other side it is, then.

As I tried to roll to the other side, I was met with the same predicament. My walls have suddenly turned on me. I don’t remember doing anything malicious towards them. I would imagine they enjoyed the gray paint, but it seems my situation proves otherwise. I then try to just sit up out of my bed, but it seems that the ceiling magically got lower. My head connects with the lowered ceiling as waves of pain flow throughout my forehead. Today is already turning out to be a wonderful morning. With little else to do, I struggle. Moving whatever I could wherever made me seem more like a broken wind-up toy. My pajamas kept getting caught on the walls and floor, sometimes even letting out sounds to inform me that the clothes were being torn ever so slightly. Whatever parts of my body showed skin ran throughout my new environment. It all was dry and rather coarse. The smell reminded me of my dad’s woodworking shed. (continued...)

I'd love any comments! What do you do with Kafka? :)