Introduction
The literary works by Franz Kafka, “The Metamorphosis,” and Kurt Vonnegut, “Slaughterhouse-Five,” show that the abilities of the person to change their destiny are limited in many cases, and the individual can only submit to the circumstances to preserve psychological sanity. The lines from Kafka and Vonnegut illustrate the plea to change modern people’s perspective on their omnipotence. The authors emphasize the importance of chance and destiny in human existence, which can ruin people’s plans concerning their actions. Kafka and Vonnegut describe the cruelty of chance and regard destiny as a combination of unexpected issues, which makes the protagonists dream about calm. Therefore, the absence of suffering and the tranquil state are more valuable than faith in the human ability to change the surrounding reality according to the plan.
Issue Description
The popular opinion is that people should have an active position in life to achieve their aims. The contemporary culture emphasizes the ability of individuals to reform their life circumstances if they are not satisfied with them. This cult of productivity and active view on own destiny often leads to adverse consequences when people are overworking or expecting too much from their lives. The critical detail is that people cannot live in constant stress and nervous tension because it is an exhausting experience. In addition, there are numerous situations when individuals have no opportunities to change reality, and they have to submit to new circumstances.
“The Metamorphosis” by Kafka
In Kafka’s story “The Metamorphosis,” the main protagonist Gregor Samsa wakes up one morning and understands that he is no longer human. He turned into a huge insect physically, while his mental abilities remained the same, and his personality did not disappear. This complete inability to cope with the daily tasks without the help of other people, and the disguise that his family feels towards him, make Gregor experience an emotional crisis. He is tied to his existence and understands that his life was senseless from the beginning and no one values him. At the same time, he tried hard to earn money, provide for his family, to be a good brother and son. Everything Gregor wants in his changed physical state is psychological peace and the absence of stress. It is possible to illustrate this assumption with the following lines from the short story: “Calm —indeed the calmest— reflection might be better than the most confused decisions” (Kafka n.p.). Therefore, the prolonged distress makes Samsa experience intolerable suffering and a plea to calm.
Gregor Samsa suffers from general segregation between society and his family. His parents neglect him, and they cannot overcome their repulsion when they see the giant insect, even though they understand that this insect is their son. Gregor is not beneficial for them because he needs to cope with his duties as the son and provide for the family. In addition, he does not correspond to the image of the son they want to have. These aspects determine their negative attitude toward Gregor in the form of the insect.
It is possible to make parallels between the experience of Gregor Samsa from Kafka’s story and the attempts of most modern people to be productive and active. As was already mentioned, there is a widespread opinion that individuals can achieve everything if they set a goal and work hard. However, this plan is incomplete because it does not feature the chance that something wrong can happen to the person that the individual cannot predict or prevent.
The metamorphosis when the person turns into an insect is similar to becoming an addict after surviving a terrorist attack. The person cannot cope with stress, and addiction to drugs or alcohol becomes the only source of finding emotional balance. It leads to the gradual segregation of the person from the rest of the community, loss of work, family, and respect they had without addiction. People start to avoid the addict, and there is no opportunity for this individual to return to the life they used to have. In this situation, all plans for self-improvement and changing the person’s reality before the traumatizing event are destroyed by chance.
“Slaughterhouse-Five” by Vonnegut
Vonnegut’s main protagonist survives after the bombing of Dresden and suffers from the post-traumatic stress disorder he gained during World War II. Suddenly, he is taken by the aliens to Tralfamadore and becomes a time traveler. It is possible to assume that Billy cannot cope with the emotional suffering he experienced during the war, and these time travels are the ways to cope with the pain he experiences. In all cases, the only thing the novel’s protagonist wants is to stop psychological suffering and not feel pain. It is possible to illustrate this idea with the following quote from the novel: “How nice – to feel nothing, and still get full credit for being alive” (Vonnegut 91). These lines show that, in some cases, human prefers to have no feelings because they cannot cope with the stress they experience by chance. It emphasizes the cruelty of the person’s destiny and the complete inability of the individual to plan such events and consequences in advance.
It is possible to find examples from contemporary events that correspond to the experience of Billy from Vonnegut’s story. The previously mentioned situation about surviving after the terrorist attack is consistent with Billy’s experience. People cannot think about such events, and their psyches cannot cope with the stress. No matter how hard they tried to plan their lives before such dramatic events and how proactive they were, they felt nothing but pain. As a result, the desire of the survivor of the terrorist attack to feel nothing is the natural need to acquire psychological balance.
Conclusion
The texts by Kurt Vonnegut “Slaughterhouse-Five,” and Franz Kafka, “The Metamorphosis,” show that there is an opportunity to choose an alternative view of life’s goal that is different from the global focus of active transformations according to their plan. There is nothing wrong with improving oneself and reaching goals, but the tendency in the worldwide culture makes pursuing these issues harmful. People often try to optimize everything in their lives and not waste time on unnecessary things, which leads to the significant emotional pressure they experience. Moreover, these individuals think they are responsible for everything that happens to them, which is invalid. There are various situations when humans cannot predict the problems. Vonnegut and Kafka show the importance of paying attention to the conditions that occur to the person by chance and the absolute inability of the individual to oppose their destiny. In these cases, the only way to react is to understand that human abilities are limited, and they should find peace in their souls.
Works Cited
Kafka, Franz. The Metamorphosis. E-book, The Project Gutenberg, 2012.
Vonnegut, Kurt. Slaughterhouse-Five, or, The Children’s Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death. Caedmon, 2003.