Similarly in Metamorphosis, the many images of food and eating could also be symbolic of change in Gregor and his surroundings: from the strained relationship with his family to his transformation into a cockroach. Initially after Gregor's transformation, his sister had brought him milk. The fact that she brought him milk is significant because it is a clear gesture of her compassion and support for Gregor. This is emphasized by the fact that not only is milk his favorite food, but milk is a very nutritious food that we commonly associate with the care of children. However he did not drink it "his sister was promptly startled by the sight of the full dish" 2. His sister, Grete, is startled because the milk was left untouched, although it was one of Gregor's favorite foods before the transformation, and that he had not eaten for days. His abandonment of his favorite food could be a suggestion that the transformation has changed Gregor more than just superficially but has fundamentally altered his physiology. This idea that Gregor's change is manifested in his diet is further developed when Gregor consumed a vast array of food waste Grete brought for him. The food waste included "[Cheese that] Gregor, just a few days ago, declared unfit for human consumption" 1 but Gregor still "sucked avidly.... eyes watering with satisfaction"2. Kafka created this strong image by juxtaposing the rotten food with the image Gregor's felicity. The effect of the image is of disgust towards Gregor. This image seems to signify both self-acceptance of his metamorphosis, as well as his family spiritually disowning him as a family member. He embraced his identity as a cockroach because he accepted food that is "unfit for human consumption" 3 showing that he has now succumbed to his animalistic impulses and no longer sees himself as human. The stark contrast between the milk and the garbage shows the change in Grete's and the family's attitude towards Gregor: from loving him to treating him as a caged animal. At this point, he has completed his metamorphosis because now he not only has the body of a monster but the mentality of one too. Like the cat in The Wind-up Bird Chronicle the food represented change in the protagonist's environment however the change in flow in The Wind-up Bird Chronicle did not fundamentally change Toru.
In The Wind-up Bird Chronicle, Toru uses a rope ladder in his first trip to the bottom of the well. He goes into the well for reconciliation and crosses over to the other world. The rope ladder represents a 'bridge' between the two sides. It is literally his lifeline and the only thing keeping Toru in touch with the normal world. He describes the ladder as "unquestionably sturdy"4 and puts complete faith in it despite the intimidating environment of the well he was entering. But despite his lifeline being considered robust, it mysteriously disappears and causes Toru to panic. It is later revealed to be a cruel prank perpetrated by May Kasahara on him. This could be a representation of Toru's thin connection to the real and normal world.
This is paralleled in Metamorphosis, as Gregor's furniture being removed by his family. Gregor's room was furnished with many of his personal effects that are immensely important to him, most notably the magazine clipping on the wall. The two women want to remove all the furniture from his room; this was unacceptable to Gregor because of his emotional attachment to many of the objects and his fear of losing his humanity along with the last remnants of his human existence. The furniture was some of Gregor's last connections to the normal world and his past self. The furniture is as important to Gregor as the ladder was to Toru. What the women planned to do was like what May threatened to do to Toru - cutting all connection to the normal world. Gregor even explicitly challenged the women, through the indirect discourse narration, "was it
his wish to have his cozy room... transformed into a cave merely so he could crawl around it freely, even at the expense of rapidly and utterly forgetting his human past?"5
This rhetorical question is strengthened by the metaphor of his room becoming a cave because it delineates how his life is now empty and that he has returned to the primitive ways of the past. This is further enforced with "no one would take away this picture... [he would] never surrender it." 1
This idea of self-defense is shared in The Wind-up Bird Chronicle as the baseball bat Toru stole from the musician. After acquiring the old Miyawaki land and with it, the well, Toru spends many meditation sessions down in the well and left the bat down in the well to help make himself feel more secure. "the touch of the scarred old bat... fills me with a strange sense of peace"2 He uses the bat to protect himself while in the other world, and the disappearance of the bat marked the time he was most vulnerable and nearly drowned.
In both texts, the protagonists often have little control over their fate, possibly due to large outside forces. In The Wind-up Bird Chronicle Nutmeg's computer embodies this idea. Nutmeg's computer was custom-built and programmed by Cinnamon and hence creates a virtual world that is almost completely under his control. "Cinnamon was absolute ruler over this three-dimensional subterranean labyrinth"3, and Toru's technological illiteracy in Cinnamon's maze reveals the protagonist's helplessness and outside forces at play, just as Gregor's fate lies in the hands of his family. Locked in his room, Gregor cannot feed himself and has to wait for Grete to clean up after him and feed him. Towards the end, the duty is neglected, and he becomes immobile after being struck by the apple. Ultimately, Gregor was not even in control of his own death, being killed by the maid.
In conclusion, the use of objects is an indispensable tool for Murakami and Kafka to show changes in the protagonists and their surroundings. Changes in the environment were manifested in the cat and the wig in The Wind-up Bird Chronicle, showing how the flow has changed while food in Metamorphosis represented fundamental change of the protagonist's body and mind. The furniture in Metamorphosis as well as the rope ladder, Cinnamon's computer system, and baseball bat in The Wind-up Bird Chronicle show the protagonist's vulnerability and the strong external forces at play. These are just some of the many objects that manifest transformation in the two novels.
Bibliography
Murakami, H. (1995), The Wind-up Bird Chronicle. London: Vintage. Originally published as ??????????. Translated from the Japanese by Rubin, J (1998).
Kafka, F. (1915), Metamorphosis in Metamorphosis and Other Stories, London: Penguin. Originally published as Die Verwandlung. Translated from the German by Hoffman, M (2007).
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Chun-Chen Jim Lu 001407-033
A1 HL English - World Literature 1
Jim Chun-Chen Lu 001407-033
A1 HL English - World Literature 1
