Although society’s view of people with disabilities has evolved over time, becoming more accepting, there is still many barriers that exist for people with disabilities, especially those with mental illness. The book “The Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka tells a story about a traveling salesman turned vermin overnight in which it analyzing the state of his new life. The book is a wonderful look inside the mind of someone struggling with a mental illness. It exploits their resistance to seek help, the isolation from others, and general loss of enjoyment. Many people who have mental illnesses struggle on a daily basis both internally and against the stigma set by society. In particular, one group of people, struggling with mental illness, is rarely …show more content…
Combining long hours, difficult patients, bad outcomes, death, and a fast work pace, both a physician’s physical and mental state can become worn down. Similarly, Gregor in “the Metamorphosis” works tirelessly with hardly any down time to provide for his family, being the sole breadwinner. At first, Gregor is very shy of his transformation, and does not want his family or boss to see him in his comprised state, showing his fear of weakness and vulnerability. Although he recognizes that he is physically exhausted, he still intends to go to work on the morning of his transformation. He clings to the concept of self-sufficiency as he continues to try and live his life normally. Initially, he refuses to accept his transformation. He struggles all morning trying to do things for him self. This failure to accept change and realize the need for help parallels many physicians struggling with mental illness. Physicians are stereotyped as strong and intelligent with the ability to handle it all. This leads many in the face of mental illness to try and move past it or learn to handle it on their own. In addition, physicians are required in many states to report any mental diagnosis to the medical licensing board. This leads many physicians to fear seeking help for depression or anxiety, which may lead to restrictions in their medial license. (>>>) (CLOSING
Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis is so strikingly absurd that it has engendered countless essays dissecting every possible rational and irrational aspect of the book. One such essay is entitled "Kafka's Obscurity" by Ralph Freedman in which he delves down into the pages of The Metamorphosis and ferrets out the esoteric aspects of Kafka's writing. Freedman postulates that Gregor Samsa progresses through several transformations: a transformation of spatial relations, a transformation of time, and a transformation of self consciousness, with his conscious mutation having an antithetical effect on the family opposite to that of Gregor. His conjectures are, for the most part, fairly accurate; Gregor devolves in both his spatial awareness and his consciousness. However, Freedman also asserts that after Gregor's father throws the wounding apple, Gregor loses his sense of time. While his hypothesis certainly appears erudite and insightful, there really is no evidence within the book itself to determine whether if Gregor has a deteriorating sense of time. If Freedman had only written about Gregor's spatial and conscious degradation, then his entire thesis would be accurate.
In her essay “On Being a Cripple,” Mairs describes her path of acceptance of her multiple sclerosis (MS) diagnosis by declaring that she is a “cripple” in alternative to the more broadly acceptable terms: disabled or handicapped. Her essay is written with humor, satire, an open heart, and open eyes. Mair’s purpose is to describe her acceptances of her condition by using rhetorical elements and appeals, such as ethos and pathos, in order to allure her audience.
The Day the Voices Stopped is a “Memoir of Madness and Hope,” written by Ken Steele (Steele & Berman, 2001, p. 1). As a reader, my experience of this book was like a rollercoaster and I found myself very emotionally invested. When terrible things happened to Ken, I truly felt sick to my stomach while reading them; but when good things happened, I also felt like there was still hope left. Ken Steele’s memoir described how stigma is extremely prevalent in mental illness and individuals are forced to overcome massive obstacles in their lives.
The story The Metamorphosis revolves around Gregor Samsa, a devoted son and brother who works tirelessly to provide for his family, waking up finding out that he has been transformed into a larger than life insect. Franz Kafka enlightens the readers to how being dependent on one person can lead a family to being weak when that support system is ripped away from them. The situations that Gregor is put into knocks him down from the head of the family into nothingness while at the same time boosts his family from that nothingness into being a strong support system for each other. Gregor 's transformation, his dependency on his sister for food, his injury, the family choosing strangers over him, and ultimately his death are all things that lead to this downfall, or metamorphosis.
Gregor, prior to his metamorphosis, is stuck in a cycle of suffering. He is a slave to his obligations and is alienated emotionally from the outside world. His life, ruled by his families dependence on him, around a job he neither choose nor enjoys. Gregor’s work so engrosses his life that there is no time for rest. He has not “had a day’s illness in his five years at the firm.” and that “if it weren't for my parents I’d have handed in my notice long ago.” (Kafka 1967) Gregor lives alarm clock ...
The Metamorphosis is said to be one of Franz Kafka's best works of literature. It shows the difficulties of living in a modern society and the struggle for acceptance of others when in a time of need. In this novel Kafka directly reflects upon many of the negative aspects of his personal life, both mentally and physically. The relationship between Gregor and his father is in many ways similar to Franz and his father Herrman. The Metamorphosis also shows resemblance to some of Kafka's diary entries that depict him imagining his own extinction by dozens of elaborated methods. This paper will look into the text to show how this is a story about the author's personal life portrayed through his dream-like fantasies.
As mentioned previously, the chances of becoming disabled over one’s lifetime are high, yet disabled people remain stigmatized, ostracized, and often stared upon. Assistant Professor of English at Western Illinois University, Mark Mossman shares his personal experience as a kidney transplant patient and single-leg amputee through a written narrative which he hopes will “constitute the groundwork through which disabled persons attempt to make themselves, to claim personhood or humanity” while simultaneously exploiting the “palpable tension that surrounds the visibly disabled body” (646). While he identifies the need for those with limitations to “make themselves” or “claim personhood or humanity,” Siebers describes their desires in greater detail. He suggests people with
“Life can either be accepted or changed. If it is not accepted it must be changed. If it cannot be changed it must be accepted.”- Winston Churchill. Change is frightening, but without change you can never accomplish a greater goal. Gregor experienced a dramatic change in his life. He may or may not have experienced the physical change described, but he did experience a mental change. The mental change opened Gregor’s eyes to what really mattered in life. Once Gregor accepted his physical change he was able to begin his mental change. Gregor’s values in life had changed dramatically from beginning to end. Though Gregor was subjected to ridicule, he was given the greatest gift. The opportunity to change is the greatest gift anyone can
In the book, The Short Bus, Jonathan Mooney’s thesis is that there is more to people than their disabilities, it is not restricting nor is it shameful but infact it is beautiful in its own way. With a plan to travel the United States, Mooney decides to travel in a Short bus with intentions of collecting experiences from people who have overcome--or not overcome--being labeled disabled or abnormal. In this Mooney reinvents this concept that normal people suck; that a simple small message of “you’re not normal” could have a destructive and deteriorating effect. With an idea of what disabilities are, Mooney’s trip gives light to disabilities even he was not prepared to face, that he feared.
The exposition of The Metamorphosis beings with a small little room that is symmetrical in every manner. Gregor awakes to find himself transformed into a “monstrous vermin”(3) and without any halt of hesitation or question, he proceeds on with his daily routine and tries to adapt to his new form of life. Gregor does not want to “stay in bed being useless,”(7) however his current structure restrains him from doing anything human-like. It is in Gregor’s nature to take up the role of responsibility in the household no matter what circumstances he may face. Gregor’s perseverance in his everyday life is an attribute that Gregor can perceive in himself, yet is anonymous to everyone else. Although Gregor loathes his “grueling job”(3), he is bound down by his father’s failures which forces Gregor to work while creating “no relationships that last”(4) which makes Gregor feel like “a tool”(5) by both his father and his boss. Not only does Gregor feel alone and isolated because of his job, but his ...
Throughout the course of history, people with disabilities have often been viewed through the context of their limitations. The Disability Rights Movement, beginning in the 1960’s, strived to change society’s perceptions to consider people with disabilities through their abilities instead. Positive messages of person’s abilities have begun to permeate our media, including changing ideas of how we view disability in general. Through the use of captivating personal anecdotes and scientific information to back them up, the 2015 This American Life podcast “Batman” seeks to prove that disability is a social construct, because one’s abilities are directly influenced by those around them.
In this work Nancy Mairs, a woman with multiple sclerosis, discusses why she calls herself a cripple as opposed to the other names used by society to describe people with disabilities. She prefers the word “cripple” over the words “disabled” and “handicapped”. Nancy Mairs presents herself as a cripple using a straightforward tone, negative diction, repetition, and logical/ethical appeal.
People who have physical disabilities often experience negative situations and connotations that they must overcome to thrive in society. People who offer narratives about their disabilities often give the most accurate representation about the challenges those with disabilities face. Ms. Marenge, reported that one of the hardest things about leaving the rehabilitation center after becoming paralyzed was living in a house that was inaccessible, and having to rely on her family to carry her up and down the house (Casey Marenge, 2011). Similarly, a student with muscular dystrophy, says that she wishes more places were wheelchair accessible, because when they aren’t she feels that society is holding her back, and she can’t reach her full potential. Alisha also reported that t making friends is hard because some kids would ignore her at school because of her situation and she is often separated from the mainstream students at school. Alisha, doesn’t want to be defined by her disability, however, she believes that many people who look at her only see her wheelchair (Alisha Lee, 2011). Despite the many negative ways people who suffer from physical disabilities are affected, it is important to note that they don’t always feel bad for themselves, and that having a disability doesn’t stop them from loving
It should be noted that, before the late 1900s, mental illness was not recognized as an illness. Instead, it was considered inhuman and people tended to view the mentally ill as, “‘dangerous,’ ‘dirty,’ ‘cold,’ ‘worthless,’ ‘bad,’ ‘weak,’ and ‘ignorant’” (Phelan, Link, and Stueve 189). When analyzing, Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, the main character could be suffering from a delusion when considering the parallels between Gregor’s behavior and the stigma surrounding the mentally ill in the 1950s.
The modern world gets smaller and smaller each passing year with every new invention that is designed in order to make our everyday lives easier . As a result, one might contemplate that this shrinking world would lead to humans feeling a unique sense of closeness and therefore becoming increasingly connected to each other. However, many modern writers and philosophers see the world through an existentialist point of view. Existentialism is the theory in which the people of the modern world suffer from a sense of alienation or disconnection from the other members of their society. Detachment from the surrounding world can be characterized by a strong feeling of the need to keep up appearances, self-loathing, feelings of condemnation, or social