Retrospection

"ItseemedremarkabletoGregorthatamongthevariousnoisescomingfromthetable
hecouldalwaysdistinguishthesoundoftheirmasticatingteeth,asifthiswereasigntoGregor
thatoneneededteethinordertoeat,andthatwithtoothlessjawsevenofthefinestmakeone
coulddonothing.'I'mhungryenough,'saidGregorsadlytohimself,'butnotforthatkindof
food.Howtheselodgersarestuffingthemselves,andhereamIdyingofstarvation!'"(Kafka,
43)
TheMetamorphosis
(1915),writtenbyFranzKafka,iscenteredaroundtheabsolute
agonyofthehumanexperience.Thisfactmakesthenextfactastounding:Kafka's
The
Metamorphosis
drawsquiteafewparallelswithCharlotteBronte's
JaneEyre
,especiallywith
theirusesofthethemeofhunger.
Inthispassage,weseeGregorSamsayearningforwhathecannothave.Janedidthat
constantlyin
JaneEyre
aswell.Inthispassage,Samsaremarks,"I'mhungryenough,butnotfor
thatkindoffood."Samsasayshe'shungry;thatmeansheneedssatiation.Butnotfromfood
sowhatishehungryfor?Samsamakesthisremarkattheactofhisfamilyeatingtogetherand
conversingasagroupwithouthim:Samsayearnsforhumancompanionship.Jane,likewise,
wantsasimilarthingknownasahumanrelationship.ThisisseeninJane'sexperienceofbeing
atMr.Rochester'sparty,andherobservanceoftheseeminglyamicablerelationshipbetween
MissIngramandMr.Rochester.Janelooksonattheirinteractionsinlonging,wishingthat
shouldconversewithRochesteraswell.
Althoughboth
JaneEyre
and
TheMetamorphosis
havepowerfulthemeshunger,they
arestillquitedifferentnovels.Theirsensesoflongingarequitedifferentfromeachother:Jane

cravesromanticlove,whileSamsacravesfamiliallove.Additionally,
JaneEyre
endswith
success,while
TheMetamorphosis
doesnot.ThisshowsthedifferingviewsofBronteand
Kafka:Brontebelievesthatlongingisrewarding,whileKafkajustviewsitashell.These
differencebringacompletelydifferentmeaningtotheword"longing"ineachofthetwo
novels.
Thedifferencebetweenthetypesofhungercanbeexplainedbythetimeperiodduring
whicheachpiecewaswritten.
TheMetamorphosis
waspublishedin1915,ayearintothefirst
worldwar.
JaneEyre
waspublishedin1847,ayearbeforetheSenecaFallsConvention.
The
Metamorphosis
'sviewoflongingisdismal;itisneversatiated,anditisendedbyone'sdeath.
Thisreflectsthedismalstateoftheworldduring1915:familieswereeithertornapartbydrafts,
orwerestarvingduetotheextremepovertythatWorldWarIinflictedonEurope(Kafkalivedin
Germany).Anypersonwholongedforanormallifewasnotgoingtogetit.Ontheotherhand,
JaneEyre
waswritteninatimeofheightenedwoman'sright'sactivity.It'sonlynaturalthat
JaneEyre's(awoman's)longingswouldbesatiatedthroughhardworkanddedication.
JaneEyre
and
TheMetamorphosis
bothshareathemeoflongingintheirnovel.
However,
TheMetamorphosis
'sviewoflongingismuchmoredismalthanthatof
JaneEyre
's.
Thisisnaturalthough,asitshowsthestateofmindduringthetimeinwhicheachnovelwas
published.