Food’s Role of Foreshadowing and an Escape from Reality for the Protagonists of Metamorphosis and a Dollhouse

His boss tells him that he is causing his parents unnecessary worry, but his parents are not worried at all or they would have busted into his room to see if he was okay. Whilst in the middle of all of this Gregor is starting to get scared of what the change is bringing into his life and causing unnecessary worry. In chapter 2, Grete brings in food for Gregor and for a change he is being treated somewhat correct and they notice he has became a full time crawler. This causes the family to question what he is doing is not human and they are starting to fear his new abilities as a “bug”. As an example, his mother and Grete take out the furniture to give him more room to crawl. Losing all faith in Gregor they take the furniture out because the fear is too great they may never get their son back and they have to accept the fact Gregor is a nasty vermin.

When individuals are rejected by family and society, they tend to feel abandoned and unloved. In Franz Kafka’s, The Metamorphosis, Gregor’s transformation into a “monstrous vermin” (Kafka 1) results in him being psychologically and even physically abused by his family. Rejection from his mother, sister, and father leave Gregor feeling unwanted and feeling as if he is a terrible burden on the family and their well being.

When Gregor first turned into a bug, his sister Grete, showed him kindness by bringing him some food “She brought him, to test his taste, an entire selection, all spread out on a newspaper. There were old half-rotten vegetables, bones from the evening meal, covered with white sauce which had almost solidified, some raisins and almonds, cheese, which Gregor had declared inedible two days earlier, a slice of dry bread, a slice of salted bread smeared with butter… and out of delicacy of feeling, since she knew Gregor would not eat in front of her, she went away very quickly… Gregor could now make himself as comfortable as possible.” (Kafka 153) As the story progresses Grete becomes careless and no longer is sympathetic toward Gregor. In fact she hardly even feds him anymore “But even when the

Gregor woke up one morning noticing something strange. This so happened to be that he was a enormous bug. His family that he took care of did not know what to think of it so he just felt helpless. His sister is the only one that takes care of him and gives him rotted food, which he wanted. However his mother saw him on the wall and freaked out, and the father, thinking Gregor attacked his own mother, spin

Nora starts off the play essentially as Torvalds toy. She is obedient, she is cute, she rarely goes against his wishes, and she is nothing without her “owner”, Torvald. The reader, however, discovers early on that all is not what it seems to be. Nora is actually a very rebellious woman who enjoys going against Torvald’s wishes. There are scenarios where she does this out of the sheer enjoyment she gets. Nora loves macaroons.

Even when eating macaroons, Nora assures Torvald, "You know I could never think of going against you" (A Doll’s House 1242). Nora is a doll, a helpless little "lark", a "songbird", and over the course of their relationship, Nora has been molded into thinking she must be all those and does not want Torvald to think otherwise (A Doll’s House 1242). Because helpless songbirds did not save lives on their own, Nora could not let Torvald find out about her use of forgery to obtain money, because it would hurt his "masculine pride" and "just ruin their relationship”.

When Gregor transformed into a bug many of his physical appearances changed. Gregor could really only lay on his back and it was difficult to do anything because he had short stubby arms and legs. “Instead of these, however, he had only small limbs which were incessantly moving with very different motions and which, in addition, he was unable to control” (Kafka 140). When his mother wanted to talk to him he refused because he didn't want her to see what he has transformed too. Another reason why is because Gregor was unable to get up to open the door and when he finally could get up he didn't have hands to unlock it so he had to use his mouth. Gregor then had a hard time getting through the door because of his large and the weird shape of his body. He wasn't a human anymore so he had to figure out a way to get through the door. “But to continue was difficult, particularly because he was so unusually wide” (Kafka 140). Before all this happened Gregor was a traveling salesman, this was a good job and he was able to pay for lots of the family's bills and he

Gregor’s parents evade the situation and avoid touching the subject of Gregor’s transformation. His dad forbade his mother from seeing his son. On a cleaning day, mother and sister began to remove his furniture which scared Gregor and caused him to run away. When the mother sees him, she goes into shock and faints. This episode triggers Gregor’s dad’s anger towards him as he slams Gregor with apples causing him a severe wound. When the family finds themselves in economic hardship they rent out rooms for guests. Gregor causes some problems for his family becomes very depressed and stops eating. He believes that it will be best for his family if he dies freeing them from all the problems he has caused. The next day the maid finds Gregor dead and throws him in the

Gregor's existence before the metamorphosis was much like after it; limited to work and family, he went unnoticed by both. After changing into a cockroach one night, Gregor is forced to live a life of isolation with a family who is appalled by him. He is placed in a "dark bedroom, in the jumble of discarded furniture and filth" a " monstrous vermin, a grotesque, hidden part of the family" (Eggenschwiler 211). Shock and terror, resulting in Gregor being locked away, marked his family's reaction to his metamorphosis. His sister is the only one that, while frightened, would tend to Gregor's room and meals. She even took the responsibility so far as to get angry with anyone who

Another evident similarity between the two works is the treatment of the characters. Both Gregor and the hunger artist are treated inhumanely. This is clear in “The Metamorphosis” when Greta begins to think of Gregor as an “it” (Metamorphosis 51). Although Gregor has transformed physically, he is still human inside. Everyone around him fails to see that though, and only regard him by what they see, which is a bug. Likewise, the hunger artist is not treated as a human being either. The hunger artist is infatuated with being the best faster in Europe. This obsession deprives him from forming any social or long-lasting relationships. His alienation eventually accounts for his demise, along with the fact that he is constantly misunderstood. The people who come to see him, as well as the people who guard him, do not understand that he is not fasting for amusement. Fasting beyond the forty-day limit is important to the hunger artist, but no one can comprehend why, which creates a barrier between the hunger artist and the outside world. Because of this barrier, people treat him as if he is just another animal in a cage. When he joins

The first instance that food plays a part in the story is when Gregor, after having been changed into his new form, finds a bowl of sweet milk with a piece of bread floating in it(Kafka 467). But Gregor is disgusted by the offered meal, and now finds that he can no longer enjoy one of his favorite beverages. This first sign of food in the story is a symbol of how things can change for a person in their life. How things that were once important for someone no longer have the same meaning anymore and lose their value. It is also a symbol of motherly love. His sister has now taken on the role of

In this play, Nora’s eating of macaroons against Torvald’s wishes foreshadows her later rebellion against him. Imagery is apparent from the beginning of the play in the stage direction. For example, one passage describing the scene reads, “Near the window are a round table, arm-chairs and a small sofa. In the right-hand wall, at the farther end, another door; and on the same side, nearer the footlights, a stove, two easy chairs and a rocking-chair; between the stove and the door, a small table” (Ibsen, 1879/2014, p. 769). From this description, the

The macaroons in A Doll’s House come throughout the play as a symbol of Nora’s freedom. This freedom is a disobedience to her husband, Torvald, who is very controlling over Nora. When the play is opening, Nora is eating macaroons, while she is alone in the living room. It is in the stage directions that give away Nora eating the macaroons as she tries to hide it from Torvald: “Just this minute. [She stuffs the bad of macaroons in her pocket and wipes her mouth.

Chirpy Nora Helmer of A Doll’s House begins the story coaxing her husband Torvald to gift her money for Christmas, hinting to the audience that she has a questionable fascination with money (Ibsen 3). Similarly, she raises suspicion about the sincerity of their happy marriage when she lies about snacking on macaroons, something so insignificant that it seems pointless to lie (Ibsen 4). Later in Act I, an old friend Mrs. Linde visits, shares her troubles, and calls Nora

From the beginning of A Doll’s House, the reader can view Nora’s desire for independence through the symbol of the macaroons. As an illustration, Ibsen notes in the stage directions in Act One, that Nora surreptitiously takes a packet of macaroons out of her pocket and eats one or two. When her husband, Torvald, gets home, Nora “Puts the bag of macaroons into her pocket and wipes her mouth” (Ibsen 4). Torvald has forbidden Nora eating macaroons because he thinks that her teeth will decay, rot and become unattractive to him. This shows that he thinks she is acting like a child, that she is not capable of making sound decisions and that she needs someone like him to show her what the correct behavior is. Furthermore in Act One, Nora asks Dr. Rank if he would like some macaroons. Dr. Rank replies with “What macaroons? I thought they were forbidden here.” Then Nora replies with “Yes but these are some Christine gave me.” After that Christine acts surprised and says “What I ــ”. (Ibsen 17) Nora is telling a lie when she explains to Dr. Rank that Christine gave the macaroons to her and she eats them even though she's not allowed to. This indicate s that Nora is disobedient to her husband and it foreshadows that she has a desire to break away from his hold on her and from the rules set by society. Thus, the demands set by men on women are recurring through the symbol of macaroons.