A good example of rise and decline between Gregor and his family would be when he is faced with his father upon arriving from work:
But really, really, was that still his father? The same man who had lain feebly buried in bed, when Gregor had set out formerly on a business trip [...] And now here he was fairly erect; wearing a smart blue uniform with gold buttons, like the doorman of a bank [...] under the bushy eyebrows, an alert and vigorous expression in his black eyes; his habitually unkempt white hair now briskly parted and combed into a shining tidy arrangement. (The Metamorphosis, 124)
This moment is portrayed as a revelation for Gregor who barely recognises his father who has been transformed from a weak old man to a strong and firm working man. Not only has he become the new wage earner of the house, but he has somewhat taken Gregor’s place. Subsequently, his stance and authoritative appearance place him above Gregor who has been reduced to a hideous insect who is no longer of any use to the family. Gregor’s awareness of his own inferiority is further marked as his father threatens him: “He probably didn’t know what he would do next; but even so, he raised his feet to an uncommon height, and Gregor was startled by the enormous size of his bootsoles.” (124-125) While this image -through the father - shows that the family cannot tolerate having Gregor in their sight, it also gives Gregor and the reader reason to believe that they would consider sacrificing him and beginning a new life. In fact this eventually becomes the case by the end of the story when Gregor dies and the family consider moving into a new apartment and feel a “confirmation of their new dreams and fond intentions” (146).
While Gregor struggles in the decline against his family, Ill is in a similar situation with the town’s people of Guellen: “Everyone’s wearing new shoes. New yellow shoes.” (The Visit, 49). This would actually imply everybody except for Ill, the sacrifice of whose life could restore the town and pay off any of its debts. Although the town has refused Claire Zachanassian’s offer, Ill soon realises that the town’s people are getting themselves into debt through unnecessary expenses, thus drawing them closer to considering Claire Zachanassian’s offer: “The town’s getting into debt. The greater the debt, the higher the standard of living. The higher the standard of living, the greater the need to kill me.” (50) As Ill descends further and further into a frantic state, it appears that the number of people around him slowly increases until he is surrounded by the entire town who follow him to the train as he is about to leave. At this point, Ill seems very small as he alone is faced with the entire town: “(The citizens of Guellen flock around Ill)” (61). Although there is no evidence confirming that the town is setting any barriers for Ill to get on the train, Ill displays sentiments of confinement: “I know. I know. Someone will hold me back. Someone will hold me back.” Ill implies that he feels powerless against the town’s people whom he believes do not wish him to leave town. In fact, this scene proves similar to the scene of Ill’s death: “Ill stops, turns round, and seeing lane close mercilessly in on him, sinks to his knees. The lane becomes a silent knot of men, swelling up, then slowly crouching down.” (97). Again Ill finds himself besieged by a mass of people. The mass becomes larger and larger as Ill draws closer to his hour. The image seems to represent the town as a force expanding in order to exterminate Ill who in contrast is sinking into helpless defence.
All the while however, Ill has accepted his fate: “You must judge me, now. I shall accept your judgement, whatever it may be. For me, it will be justice; what it will be for you, I don’t know [...] You may kill me [...] But I cannot spare you the task of the trial.” (81). At this point Ill has come to terms with his guilt and allows the town decide what will become of him. However, his attempt to leave town and to send a letter to the Chief Constable in Kaffigen for protection (60) earlier in the play suggests that his first inclinations were to fend for his life. This suggests that his newly-founded “acceptance” of dying was imposed on him as he found himself trapped within the town and realised his range of choices were limited. Ill chooses to let the town kill him rather than struggle against them, as his chances of winning are slim if not inexistent. Ill may accept his death, however it remains involuntary. This being the case, the scene revolving around Ill’s death develops the theme of persecution.
This is in contrasted to Gregor’s death which can be perceived as self-sacrifice: “He thought back on his family with devotion and love. His conviction that he needed to disappear was, if anything, still firmer than his sister’s [...] Then his head involuntarily dropped, and his final breath passed feebly from his nostrils.” Gregor values his family’s happiness over his life (this is also apparently reciproque for the family). Ironically, Gregor reflects feelings of guilt though his own metamorphosis occurrs by no apparent fault of his own, whereas Ill takes time to confront his guilt inspite of his past wrongdoing. Although Gregor has suffered from his family’s mistreatment and abuse, his last thoughts reflect his unconditional love and support, contrarily to Ill, who only considered the advantages his death represented for the town once they had decided to kill him. For Ill, it is more of a liability to die in order to benefit the town financially, as he owes them his life in return for indirectly causing them financial debt in the first place. Gregor, however, assumes it is his responsibility to die in order to liberate his family of moral discomfort and financial privation.
As Kafka and Dürrenmatt use secondary characters to portray a decline of the characters Ill and Gregor, the estrangement of these characters is emphasized. In Gregor’s case, it is his metamorphosed state as an insect and his behaviour which cause his family show fewer and fewer signs of affection and sympathy towards him. However for Ill, it is the town’s desire to be restored to its once more affluent condition which causes them to treat him so insensitively before his extermination. While Dürrenmatt depicts the behavioural influences of the town’s people on Ill, Kafka explores the influence of Gregor’s behaviour on his family as well as that of their behaviour on him. In either case both Ill and Gregor end up conforming to the expectations of the people surrounding them.
Word count: 1,440
Works Cited:
Dürrenmatt, Friedrich. The Visit. London: Jonathan Cape Ltd, 1962.
Kafka, Franz. Metamorphosis & Other Stories. London: Penguin Books Ltd, 2007.
