Tuesday, August 6, 2013

If you were supposed to compare and contrast "1984" and Kafka`s "The Metamorphosis", from which points would you compare them? I am writing an...

Just off the top of my head, how about the two main characters' sense of isolation? Winston lives alone and is constantly under watch of the telescreen.  Gregor feels like no one appreciates him (which they don't until he is unable to work).

They also both rebel against their lives--Gregor by becoming an insect so he doesn't have to go to the job he hates and Winston by keeping a journal, having an affair, and attempting to join the underground.

Each character has a similar relationship with family members as well.  Gregor doesn't really know his family.  He only knows that they depend on him for a steady paycheck.  It is only after he is an insect that they become productive family members and citizens.  Winston also does not know his family.  He remembers his father only by his shoes and his mother and younger sibling by their disappearing faces as they descend underground.

Memories and thinking are difficult for both characters as well.  Gregor, as he becomes more insect and less human, finds cognitive skills and communication beyond his reach.  Winston, though he tries to remember and he also seeks others' memories (Mr. Charrington, for instance), can not recall the past.  He later gets caught and finds thinking nearly impossible while being interrogated at The Ministry of Love.

Good Luck!

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