Judgement

Sorry for the late post, in terms of the judgement Kafka utilized a very unique relationship between a father and his son. The most puzzling part of the story was the suicide of the son. It made me question whether this entire intercourse was inside the protagonist's head. What I thought was that the friend in Russia was his father and that the father in the story was his conscience. I thought it was really interesting that Kafka utilized such dramatic relationships between the characters in order to get a point across.

Kafka's Voice and Vision

As I read the first chapter of metamorphosis, I found it interesting that the narration with Gregor was so calm and collected. Kafka utilized third person narration and chose a very matter of fact approach. In stead of using hyperboles and overexaggerations as many would with a story like this, Kafka used bluntness and underexaggeration to make the chapter more compelling as you focused on central concepts of relationships between characters and the situation itself instead of focusing just on the fact that Gregor became an insect.

Kafka's Point of View

Metamorphosis

Although the point of view is 3rd person, I decided to look at the different types of 3rd person to see which Kafka used in the story.  It seems as if he starts off the story with indirect 3rd person, however the second paragraph moves to direct since it uses quotations in saying, "What's happened to me?" (117).  Since he uses many quotations, it is safe to say Kafka uses the direct 3rd person point of view.

However, since Gregor is only talking to himself in the first couple pages, why do you think Kafka uses direct with quotations?  Since it is a self-reflection and self-thinking piece of the story, why didn't he use the flow of free indirect instead of making the story choppy with quotations?  Kafka may have wanted to write in the same tone throughout the piece since we meet other characters later, but I just found it interesting the first few pages are quoted when he is completely thinking to himself.

Karla's Voice and Vision

After reading the first part of Metamorphosis I think Kafka has a very different view point of voice and vision from other authors we've looked at this year. Like for example when Gregor Sasma turns into a bug.  This shows that Kafka is way more of a creative writer and comes up with some crazy ideas. He also develops characters differently too by giving them un-human characteristics.

Illustration

I particularly enjoyed Crumb's illustration.  I think that it accurately captures Kafka's feelings towards his father and how his father's actions made him feel.  I found the part in the end in which he jumps off of the bridge to be the most interesting, even though the illustration would not have the same effect that the words would.  Overall, I think that the feeling of the characters were accurately portrayed, and the tone and ambience of the characters are almost identical.


-English J tbh.

TOO MUCH LIGHT NOT ENOUGH DARK

SPOILER ALERT: He dies. By committing suicide.
Anyway, the theme of the end of the story is all about death, and perhaps the darkest form; suicide. The illustrations are wonderful, however I still don't think they mirror the shadowy and conflicting emotions that go with debating your own life on the edge of a building. I mean I don't about guys but suicide sucks, and I'm not sure the Crumb really understood to the fullest what he was drawing about. Not that I could have done any better (however I haven't tried yet, don't hold this to me), but I think someone else in a darker place could have expressed the words in pictures much more effectively.

Crumb's Critique

I think that the illustration of the Judgement was very good, in getting the emotion of the characters across, emphasizing the most important parts of the stories. My favorite illustration was then second to last one of him hanging off of the bridge with one hand with the speech bubble. I like how it made his last lines, or words even more dramatic, and also almost funny. The parts with the father yelling at Georg are good because it really shows him being "ambushed" and pushed in to the corner, or backed against the wall. Also in that part with the lines in the background, I think really show his fathers tone and mood.

Review

Crumb, known for his underground comics, has taken that style of art to high art here. His drawing style is similar to one of an illustrator. He seems to have  a real eye for detail, and the ability to illustrate any scene. Had the bio and excerpts been any less compelling, the illustrations would have still been notable. Each page was filled with drawings and many of them are minor masterpieces on their own. His drawings truly capture the emotion of the characters and transports the reader to he exact moment in time when the event was happening. Simplicity is far from an explanation of his drawings. His exaggeration creates such fear and emotion that the reader is almost scared of what they are seeing on the paper. 
-Matt

FOILs

Georg and His Friend are FOILs

The definition of a foil is a character who contrasts with another to highlight particular qualities of the other; they often differ drastically or are very similar with one big difference separating them. As an example, last year my english class talked about a very commonly-know foil pair: Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.  

At the very beginning of the story, it's easy to depict the main differences between Georg and his friend.  Georg is an engaged business man who lives at home while his friend is a world wide, poor bachelor.  

I think Kafka uses the friend as a foil to show Georg's side to the conflict.  Georg wrote many letters about other people's engagements before he even mentioned his own; he likes to hide some things about his personal life.  However, he admits he wanted to protect his friend; he didn't want to hurt his feelings by telling him about the engagement.  Georg is in a tricky place by hiding something from his friend in order to protect him emotionally, but his friend will ultimately be upset once he hears later on.  But I'm not quite sure what exactly Kafka is trying to highlight, I just know that based on their differences, the friend is a foil.

Judgment

Judgment

I think this story carries a lot of symbolism and depth. Within the title there is a cryptic story behind it which is explained throughout the story. The title "The Judgment" was written, I believe purposefully, on Yum Kippur because the story is about the judgment in which Georg is being faced. His father who Georg thought he could confide in and also keep in the dark (both symbolically and literally) judges his son for his actions against his childhood friend. Ultimately, it is the judgement the father has made against his son, for the fowl play Georg has committee against his friend, that leads Georg to take his own life. In this sense I feel like Kafka named the story to show the power of judgment and how underestimating someone can lead to your own demise.

Kafka Illustration

I think that Crumb's illustration of "The Judgement" is done very well. The drawings are very dark and vague, which is the type of tone that the story gives out. The drawings also portray all of the fathers different emotions very well. This emphasizes the huge shift in the way he acts. The facial expressions of the characters are very helpful because they allow Kafka to not have to explain or show how the characters feel since it is apparent in the illustrations. Finally the illustrations are very helpful because they show the craziness of the father and the whole story in general.

Profanity

So I was looking more into the usage of profanity in Alexie's writing and cam across this article about a school in Chicago trying to ban his books.

http://www.chicagonow.com/chicago-subtext/2009/06/proposed-sherman-alexie-book-ban-in-chicago-suburban-high-school-updated/

This caused me to look more into the banning of books in high schools. The list that I found of books that have been challenged have a decent chunk of books that we have read here.

http://www.bannedbooksweek.org/censorship/bannedbooksthatshapedamerica

Religious References

I found it very interesting that amount of religious symbolism used by Alexie. For someone who seems to make fun of religion a lot, why continuously incorporate it your stories/poems? I feel that Alexie makes religion a focus because he wants his characters (along with the reader) to be transported to a heavenly beyond. For his characters, a world that is better than the reservations. My essay focuses on the comparison between life on earth and how Alexie uses religious symolbism to create a bond between God and a place (heaven) beyond us. Alexie uses imagination/modern references to allow this transport to seem less religious and more exciting.
Thanks
Matt :)

his writing resonates

As we read Alexie's literature I begin to like his writing more an more. What I find interesting about Alexie's literary works is that fact that he uses crude language and themes paired with more sophisticated concepts like history. The combination of the two provide for a more relatable type of writing. His writing resonates with people as he writes in a way that you can easily understand and he touches upon themes that are relatable for large groups of people. Alexie's writing overall is like talking to one of your peers, it doesn't feel like he is better than you.

Alexie's Common Themes

Father/Son Relationships

One of the many common themes Alexie uses is the relationship between his paternal figures.  The relationship varies throughout the pieces- sometimes they're bad, sometimes distant and sometimes relaxed.  I found a connection with a poem and a short story I found interesting.  Reading the "Father and Son Road Show", we see the son struggling to convince his father to stay on dialysis.  The son doesn't care if "he's planned to die or not" (16), he still wants to save him.  In a short story we read, "Witnesses, Secret and Not", the son says, "my father was forty-one and that's about the age that I figure a man starts to think about dying...or starts to accept it as inevitable" (213).  I thought this connects back to "Father and Son Road Show" in that maybe the father in that poem has already accepted dying, but the son hasn't accepted the fact his father is dying.