Absurdity And Insanity In Metamorphosis And The Nose

Novella, “The Metamorphosis” is written by Fanze kafka, he was short story writer and German novelist, it was published in 1915. It was Kafka's famous work. It is basically about salesman, named Gregor Samsa. One morning he gets up and discovers that he was changed completely and became an insect. And, the short story 'The Nose' by Nikolai Gogol, written during his time living in St. Petersburg. It was written somewhere 1835 and 1836, it is about St. Petersburg official whose nose leaves his face and develops a life of its own. In The metamorphosis and the nose, the body of the main characters changed terribly. This brutal change makes a negative effect on their social rank.

They woke up and discover the brutal change in their lives, the main characters of both of the stories uncover the most private elements of their personalities. Both the writers disclose the harsh fact invisible in the daily routine via unusual stories. Under the pressure of the bodily conversion, the main characters Gregor and Kovalyov undergo revelation, that in turn leads to them transiting their mental boundaries and illuminate their moralities and sins. Before the bodily conversion

Gregor is a modest slave of the situations, developed by the family of Gregor, his manager friends. He never thought of anything more than a limited context. Gregor not for a moment ponder about himself and dedicates his existence to his family. Gregor looked forward into the gloom, he became extremely arrogant that he is worthy to give his family the life of luxury. Gregor keep pondering about his sister and parents but he also realizes that his family doesn’t want or need him anymore . A comparable transition depicted in “The Nose”: the main character Kovalyov can’t visualize himself beyond his formal social environment. The writers Kafka and Gogol have stylistic resemblances in common, also both of the authors use components of the metaphysical and the bizarre, however, they do, vary subtly and essentially on the significant theme of their stories.

Kovalev's course of life is to exist for only himself and for the benefits of his own. His longings are to go up the bureaucratic staircase or wanted to getting married to a rich girl: “Major Kovalev came to Petersburg on business, to wit, to look for a post… girl with a fortune of two hundred thousand” . When he missed his nose, it actually deters him from achieving on either count and erodes the whole criterion of his upcoming life. Therefore, there is one more resemblance between the main characters of both the stories, beyond the transition of social status after drastic bodily conversions, that is, both of them were no longer able to survive their traditional life, and it suggests a big challenge to their personality. Both the writers put their main characters under drastic problem and compel them to traverse the limitations of their old lives.

Gogol and Kovalev encounter their challenges in their suitable ways, it enables the reader to comprehend their real identities. Gregor acknowledges his disaster submissively. He is self-reflecting and concealing, still proceeds to consider about his family only. Nonetheless, his life alters fast. Nobody liked and wanted him anymore. This leads to surprising disclosures, a sudden discovery in his awareness of family relations and to an ultimate revelation. Nobody admired his initial sacrifices, He is deceived. In spite of the surprising reality, Gregor stays calmly in the limitations of his decency. Conversely, Kovalev handles his problems in a very considerable way: he examines the mails evaluated ads and protest out loud.

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Throughout the novel he didn’t remains stagnant, and he was active throughout the novel. He rejects to acknowledge his fate and all set to utilize of whatever means are accessible just to get back his nose. Major Kovalev disclose at every point what are the actual values for him, a fortunate wedding and not love , a prosperous business and not struggle, not near connections with kith and kins, but conventional social status.

He didn’t realize , and crosses the borders of morality and discloses himself as a man who has no real human values by his unstable behaviour. Via the context of insanity and misshapen we discover about the main characters suddenly a lot than in everyday situations, and now we can discern how unique the personalities are.

The bodily changeover arouse both the characters. The writers emphasize this by rousing the protagonists in the starting of the stories. When we read the story further, we can comprehend that it is a phony awakening and that Gregor goes on to sleep, but it is waking up from very long sleep. He roused to facts that he never see prior, or may be feigned not to see. Nobody loved him, even prior to became a bug. Gregor's family wants him just because he is doing a lot for his family. When he transforms to a bug, it symbolizes his ethical awakening as if it was his journey from a dream to reality. On the face of it, the issue of Kovalev is very similar, the condition is very ridiculous, that the reader and Kovalev does not accept that this is just a prolonged dream. Nonetheless, as the story goes further , the readers comprehends that this is surely a strange truth of the St- Petersburg community. However, Kovalev cannot rise to that reality, he goes on to live his daily life and does not undergo the moral change. Also, in the end of the story, Gogol enables him to come back to his sleep. Gregor traverses the limitations of his dream and ends up in a harsh truth, on the other hand the writer politely sent Kovalev back to sleep because he is not incompetent of a true revelation. “He will go on to live as he sleeps and sleeps as he lives”. Therefore, this illustrates the main distinction in both the stories.

For both of the protagonists, the bodily conversion happens to a distinct extent, Gregor wakes up to actuality, unable to tolerate it and lose his life. Conversely, Kovalev goes on to sleep undaunted by his strange bodily change. Viewed in this way, to cross the limitations is extremely drastic for Gregor than for Kovalev in the mental and physical sense. However, Gregor stays within the horizons of his politeness. On the other side of the coin, Kovalyov is politely left within his formal realm, his miseries proceed for little time and not too long without leaving any affect on his life. In this little amount of time, he discloses his real personality and does not transit the limitations of his normal attitude. For the revelation of Gregor amounts to epiphany; and it is a disclosure of personality for Kovalev.

The works of both the authors “Gogol and Kafka” mostly focus on the absurd. Both writers, via their use of dreams illustrate insanity/absurdity apparently unrelated truths, and different structures. What precisely both the writer implies by the absurd differs a little but if examined in their entirety, both the authors have a lot of resemblances. Kafka and Gogol are both strange writers, “but genius is always strange”