The Metamorphosis

The Metamorphosis:

As part of my school's summer reading assignment, I read Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis. A story about a traveling salesman named Gregor Samsa and his unexplained transformation from a working man to a bug.

After his transformation the story focuses on his observations and experiences with his family as they attempt to cope with Gregor's change from being the breadwinner of the household to the potential downfall of everyone else he used to provide for. At my school, during the holiday season, my classmates and I read Charles Dickens's A Christmas Choral, while reading through the work we attempted to determine what is Christmas according to Mr. Dickens and what that has to do with what some call the Industrial Era virtues, or simply modern virtues. These includes the ideas of timeliness, efficiency, productivity, etc.

As I read The Metamorphosis I noticed the examination of these modern virtues by Kafka. Gregor, a traveling salesman is well in-tuned to the schedules of arriving and departing trains. The transformation of Gregor occurs in the morning, when he must leave to begin working. The fact he is late seems disastrous to his family, because of his transformation he now longer can exhibit the virtue of timeliness. Gregor's transformation into a bug also makes him slow and clumsy also taking away the virtue of efficiency and productivity.

Anyway, the point is this. Kafka's work seems partly to be about the problems and potential outcomes of upholding modern/ industrial era virtues and relying on one man to provide and exhibit all of them.

Poetry page added, hopefully more to follow

I've begun to add the poems I've posted on Facebook to their more permanent home here. This poem, The Fire, I wrote with history in mind and one of the many factors that drive it. People's need for food, resources, and their willingness to do what they must to survive. Even if that means killing their fellow man. Who in turn must fight back.

The Origins of the Blog, World War I Anniversary, and 1914 Europe Goes to War by Max Hastings

The Origins of Blogging (Sorta):

Ever since the development of you writing in Ancient times and the extension of its use beyond recording how much stuff a particular person had or the recording of the name's of kings and the battles they won people have recorded their thoughts and feelings about things going on around them. The main difference today is the method in which we communicate and the speed in which we do so.


World War I Anniversary:

Yesterday was the one hundred year anniversary of one of the most violent world changing conflicts in history. World War I, or the Great War as it is often called killed over 37 million in both the fighting that took place and the Spanish Flu which still ranks today as one the largest pandemics in history.

I know in history classes there can be an emphasis on the politics, rapid advancement in technology, and the ideology change of warfare into a war of attrition, in addition to the involvement of civilian populations which would continue till today. But it is important to remember that in these conflicts there are human beings involved on all sides. It can be difficult sometimes to determine who are the "bad guys".

1914: Europe Goes to War by Max Hastings

In remembrance of the events that took place at the beginning of the are and the first year of the conflict I am reading the book whose title is given above.

Sincerely

~Muser

Into the Breach, Today in the History of..., and Oscar Wilde

Into the Breach:

So, first post of this blog and I am going to start with two things that will hopefully become a regular thing.

Today in the History of...

In this segment of our program I will randomly receive a topic and look up the history of it on this day (if there is any). So today in the history of peace treaties: The Treaty of July 27 was signed between the United States of American and the Native American tribes of the Apache, the Kiowa, and the Camanche.

The treaty itself is concerned with the three tribes previously mentioned living around the area south of the Arkansas River and trying to promote peaceful relations between the United States, the Native Americans and the peaceful relations among the Native American tribes themselves.

Further articles in the Treaty also give the United States the right to build roads through the tribes's territory.

The content of the treaty can be found here

Oscar Wilde:
Finally in our program I'm announcing what book I'm reading: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde.