Themes of improsonment within the metamorphises

So we finished the metamorphoses today, and there are a whole lot of things going on, but then end I really thought was intriguing. Gregor was happy to die happy to be let loose from his earthly responsibilities, almost as if he had been trapped within his current life by the debt his family had and the responsibility that gave him of now not only supporting himself but his entire family.  Then he's a cockroach and is unable to support them, and sees them grow and take on the responsibility themselves, freeing him from the responsibility that he felt was his. His parents and sister have a job and are on their way up, seemingly being previously hindered by Gregor's generosity. This growth at the end that he sees is really the reason he is so upbeat as he dies, he knows his life is no longer indebted to anyone, and that those around him will not be crippled by his passing.

Kafka writes books

I'm really enjoying the metamorphoses, and the intricacies of Kafka's writing especially the way in  which he brushes off the extra-ordinary. Sure Gregor's a cockroach but he has more important things to deal with, it really is quite unsettling yet fascinating at the same time. In-Fact my favorite part so far was the debate he had with himself on whether or not he could still sleep even after he realized he was no longer human. I look forward to continuing this surreal novel and enjoying more of Gregor's fascinating tale of transformation.

alcohol and escapism in Hemmingway

Throughout the course of reading The Sun also Rises it's fair to say there was quite a lot of drinking. However all but two incidences of drinking I can name off the top of my head were plot essential, and not merely an atmospheric touch. Namely the bus ride with the basques, and the final scene with Brett and Jake. These two scenes revolve around the drinking taking place. Granted there are quite a fair bit of scenes within a bar but they could have taken place within a 1920's apple-bees and while not exactly the same the plot would have still moved forward. This really intrigued me the more and more I read the book, how it seemed to be the idling activity of choice for most characters.

I originally was thinking this gave them a feeling of decadence a functioning member of society couldn't afford to be drunk 24/7, but as I read more and more of the book I began to think it made the characters feel like they were trying to escape the world around them. No-one really seems truly happy but Bill and even then he speaks with such /irony that you can't be sure. But Brett who is truly miserable, despite the front she may put on in public she is never really truly satisfied with her life, and easily one of the heaviest drinkers in the novel. Jake too, Jake is constantly drinking some type of alcohol, and usually not happy with the current state he is in, unless he is off in the country with bill away from all his problems the happiest we see him, I think, throughout the novel.

This escapism these characters pursued really intrigued me as well, especially with the blurb on the back of the book calling it the quintessential novel of the lost generation. Most of these characters truly do feel "lost". Take Brett, I am unable to name exactly what she wants to do at most points throughout the novel. Sure she wants to sleep with Romero, I get that, but she has no driving goal nothing that applies to more than one facet of her life.

The escapism I feel throughout the novel seems to drive a lot of my opinions in characters as well, I pity someone like Jake who can't find meaning in a life due to a condition that was forced upon him, yet Brett seems to have forced herself into he state we can find her throughout the novel.