In-class writing quiz

Kafka illustrates Gregor's apparent contradiction of animal and human as a vehicle that reveals what the world would be like if humans demonstrated their true animalistic nature. He agrees with Freud's analysis of the id and immoral desires, yet he cleverly connotes this through Gregor's physical state of a bug and his family's reaction to this metamorphosis. In fact, Gregor's id is "reversed" and is shown on the exterior, instead of being buried deep inside his subconscious like a human. Despite his appearance, Gregor has human emotions on the inside, emotions that bugs cannot posses. For example, he has an emotional attachment to his sister's music. "And yet his sister was playing so beautifully...Was he an animal that music so captivated him?" (Kafka 45). If his appearance was not recognized, the reader would appreciate that Gregor has meaningful emotions. However, his emotional attachment to music often confuses the reader. Indeed, Kafka reminds the reader that Gregor is a bug and effectively demonstrates his animalistic desires. "However, his sister should not be compelled but would remain with him voluntarily...his sister would break out in tears of emotion, and Gregor would lift himself up to her armpit and kiss her throat..." (Kafka 45).  Freud would argue that these immoral desires are contained in the id and a human would choose to hide these emotions from the judgement of society; however, Kafka transforms Gregor into a bug to see what happens when one cannot hide their id. He goes on to prove that the outside world does not recognize what is on the inside of someone, all society does is judge what is on the outside. Thus, Kafka reveals Gregor's own family resenting him as he begins his ill-fated downfall. Initially, his parents completely ignore Gregor and rely on their daughter to take care of him. Eventually, his sister does not even have the will to take care of him. Indeed, this typical human reaction to what is believed to be the id in an physical state proves what humans would do if they were exposed to someone's id.