Franz Kafka was a talented writer who created numerous novels and stories, often
dark and absurd pieces that were inspired by the deep-rooted feelings found within himself. Metamorphosis tells the story of a young salesman who awakens as a large insect. He is unable to work, becomes a burden on his family, and undergoes feelings of humiliation, guilt, and isolation (Kafka, n.d, pg. 1). The transformation from human to an insect along with the feelings of isolation, humiliation, and guilt can all align with a bed bug infestation. From this, Franz Kafka would acknowledge bed bugs as an epidemic, a global issue, and a subject that can tremendously affect one's mental health.
A bed bug infestation can cause issues within families and a person may also face rejection. Not being able to attend and complete the usual activities they once were able to do causes significant issues with their mental health. Kafka’s upbringing was not always the easiest and he often felt feelings of rejection from his family on top of issues unfolding in his society. Kafka and his family were forced to live in a Ghetto because they were of Jewish descent. Kafka grew up with German culture but he and his family were still banished from creating relationships with German minorities (Felisati, D., & Sperati, G. 2005, pg 1). Rejection was always a part of his life. Kafka often projected his feelings of being a reject into the prints of his work. The novel, Metamorphosis “ highlights the fate of those who are judged to be different by society and how issues of alienation, impaired communication and rejection arise” (Beveridge, A. 2009, pg 1). We can make a connection between bed bugs and the main character who transformed into a huge insect which caused feelings of rejection, shame, and embarrassment.
Franz Kafka would sympathize with people facing challenges with bed bugs. His feelings of shame and rejection are shared with people who face bed bug issues. When Gregor Samsa, the main character in Metamorphosis, awakes as a huge insect, his family tries to communicate with him. The chief clerk from his job has also come to see why Gregor was absent from work. Many people with a bed bug infestation may miss work due to many factors like lack of sleep from severe itching, feelings of embarrassment, and overall attempting to decrease the spread of the bugs. “Bed bug infestations may lead to severe stress and anxiety. Increased stress and anxiety may exacerbate the perception of itching, or lead to ‘phantom’ itching. People may lose sleep, miss work, or become socially isolated” (Foster, n.d., pg 1). Similar feelings would be shared between Kafka and individuals suffering from these pests.
Gregor attempts to communicate with them but ultimately fails because as an insect his family and chief clerk cannot make out what he is saying. Due to his struggles with communicating, he breaks down and falls into a deep depression. “The sufferer finds it difficult to describe what is happening to them, while their relatives feel mystified. It is as if the mentally disturbed person is stranded in another world, whose language is not comprehensible to others” (Beveridge, A. 2009, pg 1).). The words “stranded in another world” must be acknowledged because this describes how a person experiencing a bed bug infestation would feel. “Individuals who experience bed bug bites and develop moderate-to-severe negative emotional symptoms should be identified by health professionals and targeted to receive appropriate mental health care” (Goddard and DeShazo, 2012, pg. 1). When reading through Kafka's works we can see the distress and uncertainty he felt. We can acknowledge that he suffered from some type of mental disorder due to his upbringing and societal issues. Unfortunately, Franz Kafka never received professional help just like many people don't get professional help for bed bug infestations. Kafka would recognize the struggle to reach out for professional help.
He would also agree that bed bugs are a societal issue among the population and the authorities in charge of each country could be making more of an effort to stop these pests. Kafka had three younger sisters named Elli, Valli, and Ottla who were all fallen victims of the Nazi concentration camps. It is said that Franz was the closest to his youngest sister Ottla and if he knew what had happened to her it would have pushed him over the edge even more. Franz had already passed before his sisters were sent to concentration camps. “In 1942 Elli and Valli and their families were murdered in Chełmno (Kulmhof) extermination camp. In 1942, Ottla was deported to Theresienstadt where she worked in a children’s home. In 1943, she accompanied Polish-Jewish children deported to the extermination camp in Auschwitz-Birkenau where she was also murdered” (Jewish Museum, n.d, pg. 1). The death of his sisters would cause Kafka to fully believe that the government and authorities could have done more to stop the deaths of his three innocent sisters. Wholeheartedly he would recognize that authorities should step up and take charge of issues happening in our societies, small or big like a bed bug epidemic. There's always more the government can do.
Franz Kafka would strongly agree with me that bed bugs can significantly affect one's mental health and a subject the government could take more seriously. He would also agree that there is a thriving bed bug epidemic that needs to be more acknowledged and talked about. When analyzing his work along with his life we see the humiliation, uneasy feelings, and tormentation he felt in his everyday life. Not only would Kafka agree there is a bed bug epidemic but he would sympathize with people who are facing issues with bed bugs.
English Composition II has been a great class filled with many ups and downs for me academically. This course surely had its work cut out for me and pushed me to be a better reader, writer, and listener. I say listener because, in previous English classes, I was always confident in my writing and believed nothing could’ve been done better. Now with all the help/ encouragement I got it from this class, it helped me be more open to writing in different ways. For instance, I would turn papers in quickly, without having a teacher or peer review it. I would in turn not get the best grades. Now with the knowledge I have gained and the resources available, I won’t turn in any assignments/ papers without having someone look over them. It’s important because you can hear other people’s feedback, which can help you later in the long run. I know that feedback I’ve gotten previously from peer workshopping has tremendously helped my writing skills. The essay that pushed me was Project 2; the essay where we picked an absurd author and wrote how they would acknowledge our topic from Project 1 as an epidemic. I struggled to find a connection but doing deep research and reading helped me. The hardest thing for me that I still struggle with is APA citations. At the beginning of the semester, I had no idea what that was since I’ve only used MLA. We were pushed to extend our previous knowledge on different formats and now I feel more prepared to write a paper in APA format. An example of me having trouble with my in-text citations is when I would finish quoting something from an article; I would then finish it with parentheses; inside would be the author's last name and date. The issue I had was I would always insert a period right after the quote, not after the parentheses. EX: “Quote”. (author's last name and pg number). It took me a long time to realize I was making this mistake until I kept getting corrected about it. Now I try my best to use correct punctuation and go back and make sure I don’t make previous mistakes. Not only has this class helped me write essays, but I can now confidently write short responses, long papers, stories, and analyses over whatever is required of me. I am grateful for Professor Hammet and all that she has done to make me a better writer.