Short stories

For Monday we were asked to read "The Metamporphosis," "Helbling's Story," and "Bartleby the Scrivener." Each of these works had a similar theme in that they each focused on a central male character who at first seem pretty average and ordinary, with the exception of Gregor who turns into a beetle, but even he led an ordinary life before his transformation. Each of these stories brought me to the conclusion that they all represented the idea of not belonging, whether it be within their families or society as a whole. One thing that struck me in "The Metamorphosis" was Gregor's complete disregard for his transformation, which got me to think that although in the text his mutation was a fact, I couldn't help thinking of it as more of a metaphor for how he lived his life, because he was not a normal human being. I feel like the life he led in some way mirrored that of an insect, because it wasn't a flashy existence, instead he just tried to provide for his household. I feel as though his realization of what he was to the household led, the beetle, led him into his weakened mental state and inevitably his death.