Surrealistic Themes

The Metamorphasis by Franz Kafka has been shrouded in a haze of surrealism ever since the idea was introduced the first day we started reading the novel. Because events in the book are absurd and bizarre, there is a nightmarish quality about the story; I half-expect Gregor to be having a rather detailed and prolonged dream, wake up, kiss the ground, then get back to the usual grind. One reason I think this is because Gregor seems pretty calm when he realizes that he's transformed, which gives the entire story a dream-like quality.

 First of all, the family doesn't call police and there's no media attention; they're poor, but I'd expect more of a reaction out of them.

Second, Gregor goes into great detail and length when explaining to manager his faults; giving such a long explanation in a heated moment seems unrealistic, but since it's necessary for plot explanation, it fits as well.

Third, the family knows him as Gregor, then reject this idea. Gregor also repeatedly tries to get on good terms with his family, even though he is going to fail each time; these repeated attempts seem to serve to illustrate a point (Gregor misses his human life) rather than be a realistic portrayal of a difficult circumstance (I would think he'd realize what he's causing and give up eventually).

The surrealistic tones of the short novel made me less sympathetic to Gregor's plight. I wouldn't be surprised if a dragon broke through the roof and carried Gregor away to Middle-earth.  But the emotions that the family goes through make the novel truly gripping; even though I don't really care what happens to Gregor eventually, his family's situation has me fully invested in the book.

Cohntrary to Jake's Opinion

"I want to go to South America."
He had a hard, Jewish, stubborn streak. (18)

I saw Cohn coming over across the square.
"Here he comes."
"Well, let him not get superior and Jewish." (102)

"That Cohn gets me," Bill said. "He's got this Jewish superiority so strong that he thinks the only emotion he'll
get out of the fight will be being bored." (166)

This bias against Cohn's Jewishness doesn't seem to merit all of the hate he gets throughout the book. So why does everyone hate Cohn?

I want to point out that Cohn isn't such a bad person. Robert Cohn is just portrayed as an antagonist by the "gang" of Jake, Brett, Mike, and Bill, because he is so different from them.
1). Cohn has values that he defends, which is why he stands up for Brett's honor. These values also make him made when Brett goes off with Romero, because she isn't "absolutely fine and straight" (46). 
2) Cohn has passions and ambitions that the rest of the gang lack. For example, he wants to go to South America right after reading "The Purple Land" by W. H. Hudson. No one else in the expat gang has a passion to go anywhere or do anything.

I actually know Cohn's personality, satisfactions, and fears from Jake's description of him in the first chapter. This makes him a multidimensional character. I don't feel like I know Brett, Jake, Mike, or Bill in the same way. These characters seem to perform only a couple of actions throughout the novel and don't seem to exhibit any growth. Even though they marginalize Cohn towards the end of the novel, Cohn plays a bigger role than the gang thinks he plays. He serves as a moral benchmark that the rest of the characters do not meet.

Midnight in Paris

Before reading The Sun Also Rises, I had watched "Midnight in Paris" by Woody Allen at least twice. The movie portrays Gil (Owen Wilson), modern day writer, on a vacation in Paris. He's a little spacey, and he somehow finds a way to travel back in time to Paris in the 1920s. He meets all of the famous writers of that time, Scott Fitzgerald and Gertrude Stein, and they humble him. But Gil also meets Hemingway, who is much different from the different writers. As I read The Sun Also Rises, I always had the following two scenes in my mind; the plain yet descriptive prose of Hemingway's reminded me of these two clips:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kw9spMYA-XU 
In this clip, Gil is talking to Hemingway about writing, and Hemingway's masculinity and aggressiveness comes on very strong in this scene. I can really see Hemingway knocking out critics with his attitude in this scene.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1P1m5gNQuo  This long monologue by Hemingway really fits his prose style. He uses simple words that paint clear images and uses the word "and" a lot. At 1:36 in this clip, Hemingway begins to describe the passion in truly brave people, which reminds me of Jake's (and Hemingway's) deep respect for bullfighters. I think the filmmakers did a really great job with Hemingway in this movie.

Other than a portrayal of Hemingway, "Midnight in Paris" also  paints a complete picture of 1920s Paris for me. Gil, while following these famous writers, goes from cafe to cafe, just like Jake does. Also like Jake, Gil is part of an in crowd, the crowd of writers (who are like the expats in the book).



"Midnight in Paris" really shaped my view of Jake's Paris throughout The Sun Also Rises. As Jake ambled along the river, I could only picture Gil, with his hands in his pockets, staring off into the starry sky.