Samsa Stark

Gregor Samsa is an insect, while he is typically a human, so getting to work in the morning will be different for him in the morning. The Metamorphosis takes place in Prague in the late nineteenth century or early twentieth. In this era, work was the main part of everyones life. Going to a job almost every day of the week simply to live. Although looking back it was a period of innovation and industry, workers led short, uneventful lives. Kafka uses Gregor to show the state of mind the people are always in in this era. “ Once ive got together the money to pay off my parents debt to him[Gregor's boss]- 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 1) He shows that Gregor cares much more about paying off his parents debt than his own well being. His parents don't even work while he pays off their debt.

Gregor hasn't taken a sick day in his life and yet the manager comes in and calls him a selfish pig head. This shows how the upper levels of society treated the everyday worker, like they were merely an asset and if they neglect their job, they are faulty. “However, now I [The manager] see your unimaginable pig headedness, and I am totally losing desire to speak up for you in the slightest. And your position is not at all the most secure” (Kafka 5) The manager decides that greg is just being selfish in not coming out of his room. He does this whilst knowing greg's typical personality and hardworking mentality. But this logic isn't running through his brain. The manager only sees a cog that isn't turning, in his head, the only options are to force it to turn, or remove it. the cog doesn't get a day off.

Kafkaesque

Franz Kafka was born in prague, which was then the capital of bohemia. He was the firstborn of six children, none of whom survived to old age, his two brothers died as babes, and his three sisters were murdered in the holocaust. He went to german schools as a kid and went to Charles-Ferdinand University for college. He entered college as a chemistry major, but that soon changed to law.













Kafka began working at an italian insurance company in 1907. He hated the job and left to work for a worker's accident insurance institute for bohemia, which suited him much better. He then came down with tuberculosis in 1917 and had to retire in 1922. He fell in love with one Dora Dymant who followed him into death













Kafka influenced many facets of literature. He wrote much about existentialism, alienation, brutality, and many other things. The term 'Kafkaesque' has been coined to describe his work and works or events, that have a similar feel to his writing. His work is still studied throughout the globe. he has influenced the literature world greatly with his work.













Kafka Died of tuberculosis on June 3rd of 1924. His last words were "kill me, or else you are a murderer" he was begging the doctors to euthanize him with an overdose of morphine. Just earlier that year, even in a near death state, he finished A Hunger Artist. And After his death, Brod, his friend and literary executor, ignored Kafkas instructions to destroy unfinished manuscripts and published The Trial, The Castle, Amerika, and The Great Wall Of China.












bib:

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

"Franz Kafka." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 17 Mar. 2014. Web. 18 Mar. 2014.

"Franz Kafka's Last Words." Franz Kafka's Last Words. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2014. <http://quotes.yourdictionary.com/articles/franz-kafka-last-words.html>.

Shmoop Editorial Team. "Franz Kafka: Childhood & Early Career." Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 18 Mar. 2014.

What Nightmares May Come

What Dreams May Come is pretty similar to Dante's Inferno. What Dreams May Come follows a man as he journeys through hell to find his wife, Inferno follows a man as he tries to find his mistress. The difference is that Chris Nielsen (What Dreams May Come) Only Goes down to the seventh level of hell while Dante goes through hell, purgatory, and heaven. The movie has some inclusion of the book in it in the other circles of hell. One difference in punishment is that Chris's wife, a suicide, had a punishment based on her imagination. Inferno gave everyone the same punishment, suicides were trees being picked at by harpies. 

Note that this boat in heaven has a similar look to the one 

Annie was sailing when she met Chris (Red Triangular sails)

Some similarities are that Chris and Dante both had Guides, Virgil and The Tracker. They also both had similar reasons that they traveled through hell, to find their women. Also, they both came out of hell alive, which is pretty rare biblically. there is significant symbolism in colors and other things in What Dreams May Come water plays a big part in the movie. They meet in a lake, riding boats, and Then chris's heaven has that same lake where he can walk on water, breath underwater, and the he eventually travels to hell on a boat. what i think this could symbolize is that although blood is thicker than water, water can help us reconnect with our blood and be just as important to us. The tracker, who was really Doc, supported Chris through his journey to hell to find his wife, Chris also thought that Ian was Doc by his appearance. And he Treated doc like family, so water can be just as important as blood.

This part made me really sad for some reason, 

Just the fact that his name is Ian and my worst fear is 

having a bad relationship with my dad.

I got 99 problems, but a sin ain't one

Another week of dante presentations. They were pretty interesting this week, my favorites were the 9th circle of hell and the eight circle. In the eighth circle, there are many pits and ditches in which different sinners are placed, one is for flatterers. Their punishment is to live in a river of human waste. The contrapasso in this is that everything they said in their mortal life is a load of crap, they told people bullcrap for their own gain. I think that they are pretty deserving of the punishment. I believe in working toward what you want, not achieving it through easy manipulation.

In the 9th circle are the traitors. They are frozen in the river in the deepest circle of hell with satan. I don't think the treasonous deserve to be the lowest of the lowest. Sometimes there needs to be defiance against the government, otherwise we would become a totalitarian society, where no freedoms are permitted. A good example is Edward Snowden. The government says he committed treason, but he has opened the eyes of the american people to the governments infringements on our rights.

Disco Inferno

Presentations begin. Inferno cantos I-IVII have presented so far. Overall I think that the presentations are turning out pretty well. The visuals are going good, very interesting interpretations of each canto. Mine was pretty cool as well, I did a video that, I thought, gives one the same emotion that one would feel whilst reading the canto. I included pictures from My Dad, Misha Gordon, Sally Mann, and Giger airbrush artwork.

some Giger art

I felt like the video  point got across really good. the pictures flashed with enough time for emotion to come but left before one could process the images themselves. Which is key in trying to get into someones emotional side. and they all played to a creepy tune by Abearica with a girl muttering in the background. The pictures were interrupted by me reading an ominous verse from the canto in darkness.