World Literature Assignment !

Martin Yeboah.

TO WHAT EXTENT ARE THE PROTAGONISTS IN GABRIEL GARC A MARQUEZ'S CHRONICLE OF A DEATH FORETOLD AND FRANZ KAFKA'S THE METAMORPHOSIS PUNISHED ? Numerous apparent similarities and differences can be found when comparing the theme of punishment in the novels hronicle Of A Death Foretoldby Gabriel Garc M quez and he Metamorphosisby Franz Kafka. Gregor Samsa, the protagonist in the book he metamorphosisand Santiago Nasar, the main character in the novel hronicle of a death foretoldare severely punished by society. Like Gregor, Santiago is also punished by society for selfish reasons. Their various punishments lead to their ultimate and inescapable deaths. Nevertheless, It would be a tremendous mistake to hold society alone responsible for punishing Gregor and Santiago, since Gregor Samsa punishes himself to certain degree when his attitudes towards his punishment is critically analyzed. Unlike Santiago, Gregor is punished severely by his family for the sole reason of being unable to uphold their standard of living owing to his physical dehumanization. Santiago Nasar, conversely is punished for taking Angela Vicario's honor by deflowering her. Initially, Santiago Nasar and Gregor Samsa are punished for selfish reasons. In the he Metamorphosis Kafka clearly reveals right in the beginning of his novel how Gregor is severely overworked as he is the only person who works to sustain the entire family. None of his relatives offer to help the family although they were capable of working. Gregor's family only used him as a source of income. This explains why his family punishes him by dejecting and isolating him after he becomes unsupportive due to his physical dehumanization. Kafka illustrates this with the scene where the family maltreats Gregor by feeding him poorly and leaving his room uncleaned. here were old half rotten vegetables, bones covered with congealed white sauce from supper the night before However, as Gregor is punished by his family for selfish reasons, in like manner is santiago Nasar. As Gregor is punished for being unsupportive of his family, Santiago is punished out of jealousy. Santiago Nasar is one of the wealthy, prominent and well-known townsmen. He owns the family's ranch. Out of jealousy of his privileged position, most of his townsfolk refuse to disclose the Vicario twin's plan of murder to him. Likewise Kafka, Gabriel depicts how selfish reasons for punishing someone can ironically lead to independence. Ibrahim Nasar abused Victoria Guzman sexually. Santiago Nasar just like his father abuses Divina flor, this is why Divina's mother, Guzman admits from the bottom of her heart that she wants Santiago dead. In short, Victoria Guzm wants her daughter's freedom and that can only be achieved after Santiago's death. Page 11 Divina flor confessed to me on a later visit, after her mother had since died, that the latter hadn't said anything to Santiago Nasar because in the depths of her heart she wanted them to kill him Furthermore, Kafka and Gabriel make it extremely explicit in their novels that selfish reasons for punishing people can ironically lead to independence and relief, hence benefitting other people considerably. Gregor's family and the Vicario twins inflict pain on the protagonists, they nonetheless do not feel guilty of what they did. After Gregor's death, a new way of living emerges. Every member of the Samsa family is relieved. Then all three left the apartment together, which they had not done in months, and took a trolley to the countryside on the outskirts of the town age 51. The entire family becomes hopeful. A congenial atmosphere is created within the family. They got up, went to the window, and stayed there hugging each other. Page 51 The family achieves new heights of workmanship, unity and responsibility. They all find wellfitting jobs, something they could have done long before which would have benefitted Gregor and the family as a whole. Gregor's mother becomes a seamstress, his father becomes a bank messenger and his sister Grete, a salesgirl who is also matured enough to marry. On the other hand, Angela Vicario is finally relieved since she does not have to disclose her actual perpetrator. Although she feels guilty for making Santiago Nasar culpable of her devirgination, she conceals the truth. In short, she accuses Santiago for taking her virginity in order to escape shame and her mother's punishment.

Additionally Mr. Gregor Samsa and Victoria Guzman punish Gregor and Santiago respectively according to their past misdeeds. Mr.Gregor Samsa punishes his son for stealing his position as the breadwinner of the house. He gains his power after Gregor's transformation and punishes Gregor by heaving apples at him. One of the apples embeds at Gregor's back and was meant for Gregor to go through pains and also to remember him of his past unatoned sin. ne weakly lobbed apple grazed Gregor's back and harmlessly slid off. But another, pitched directly after it,actually lodged itself in Gregor's back page 36. As Mr. Samsa punishes Gregor for stealing his responsibility as the head of the house, Santiago Nasar is punished by Victoria G man for abusing her daughter. he grabbed my whole pussydivina flor told me. page 18.She punishes him by refusing to disclose the upcoming murder to him. Victoria G man punishes Santiago Nasar to protect her daughter from being abused by Santiago Nasar. Lastly, both character's punishments lead to their ultimate deaths but how they die differ considerably from each other. The twins murder Santiago because of their family's honor. The townsmen should have stopped them even if Santiago had an apparent connection to Angela Vicaro. They instead endorsed the twins plan of murder since they were of the notion that honor merits vengeance. Page 63 I can imagine, my sons ,(...) onor doesn't wait Santiago Nasar is brutally murdered by the Vicario twins after the whole townspeople refuse to tell him about the plan of Vicario twins since they believed the severity of his crime merits a severe punishment. Some of the townspeople thought that they were bluffers and others thought they were drunkards. page 56 when i saw them i thought they were nothing but a pair of bluffers In contrast, Gregor samsa dies as a result of the dejection, betrayal, isolation and maltreatment from his family. The disgusting insect, the bug was something none of the family members had anticipated that they would be living with. This explains a countless time why they were shocked and appalled to see him at first. It's a burden to the family and it increased their urge to eradicate him completely. They punish him to tell him indirectly that he longer belongs to the family. He final death was due to his self-punishment. He felt his absence will make the family happy. As a result he isolates himself by locking himself in his room and passes away. In conclusion, when the novels Chronicle of a death foretoldby Gabriel Garc Marquez is compared to he metamorphosisby Franz Kakfa, countless similarities and dissimilarities can be drawn. Among the similarities are how the protagonists are punished for selfish reasons and how they die as a result of their punishments. The major dissimilarity is why these characters were punished. As Gregor is punished for being unable to assist his family anymore, Santiago is punished for taking Angela Vicario's virginity. The reluctancy of the townspeople to stop the Vicario twins from putting their plan of murder into action is extremely indistinguishable to the Samsa family's reluctancy to support their beloved son by working. Almost the entire society know about what is really on the Vicario twins mind, they however make no effort to stop them or inform Santiago. On the other hand, None of Gregor's relatives considered taking on a job to help run the affairs of the family.