The thought of a Gregor as a dog was a really entertaining idea. It made me think of Clifford, the big red dog, one of my favorite TV shows when I was younger. I can just imagine Greta sitting on Gregor, trying to play with him or Gregor trying to push himself out of his room. If Gregor was turned into a dog instead of a cockroach/beetle/bug, I feel like the reaction from his family would be a lot different. Dogs have a lot of benefits for the humans that live with them because apparently, studies have shown that dogs can decrease stress and depression. Dogs also tend to be louder and more noticeable (a giant cockroach is still pretty noticeable) and harder to neglect. This would also be one of the reasons that Gregor as a dog might cause more trouble for the family because a dog is harder to take care of.
I think one of the reasons that Kafka transformed Gregor into a cockroach was because of the association that we have with bugs. Generally, bugs, especially cockroaches, are associated with unclean conditions. Another reason would be because of the behavior of bugs. Bugs tend to scurry around and hide and dark places, trying to stay out of notice. Gregor's personality before he became an insect would reflect more of a bug than a dog. I think that a dog is able to convey it's feelings better than an insect and so they plot of the story would change a lot more if Gregor was a dog.
I definitely agree that the plot would change a lot if he was transformed into a dog instead of a bug. I also think that if Gregor were a dog, he would be more accepted. We accept dogs as a part of our families, and give them food, water, toys, beds, etc. On the other hand, most people tend to really dislike bugs and either put them outside or kill them. I think that most humans do make an association with insects of uncleanliness, while dogs are members of households that people genuinely care about.
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting. So since Gregor's a bug, and not a traditional household pet, he's no longer loved. But at the same time, Gregor as a dog wouldn't really make sense. Not just because of his personality, but because of his family's attitude toward him. (But then maybe they act unloving toward him because of his personality?) My theory is that if Gregor were a dog, the family would explode from the confusion of not knowing how to treat puppy Gregor. Or maybe they're cat people. In which case the point is moot.
ReplyDeleteThis somewhat silly line of thought (which, admittedly, I myself introduced into our conversation) is interesting to me not so much in the sense of "why did Kafka choose a bug?" (which is parodied so memorably in "FK's It's a Wonderful Life") but rather in the sense of how thinking about other "nonhuman" transformations wouldn't have quite the radically alienating effect as the insect does. As we discussed briefly in class today, dogs *do* communicate, and we habitually see them in anthropomorphic terms (as having emotions, feelings, dreaming when asleep, loving us, etc. etc.). As George Carlin memorably pointed out, dogs have *eyebrows*. Their visages lend themselves to our projections of quasi-human feelings.
ReplyDeleteTry this with the typical insect face: especially when magnified, the total alienness of insects couldn't be more clear. The idea of an insect invested with anything like human consciousness or emotion is funny precisely because of how absurd the idea is. We're accustomed to talking dogs in cartoons and even live-action movies; a talking insect requires animators to construct absurdly humanoid faces (see Bee Movie, Antz, etc.). An actual talking insect would be creepy, no? Kafka's on to something here.