OPE+on+Metamorphosis+YJ+(Jenny)+J.

//

The Metamorphosis// & //The Death of Ivan Ilych// In both novellas, //The Metamorphosis// by Franz Kafka and //The Death of Ivan Ilych// by Leo Tolstoy, the main character goes through a stage of self-discovery through dramatic isolation. Although the actual circumstances that lead to the isolation are different, the process is similar in the fact that they are both caused by an unexpected, sudden event that almost immediately creates a barrier between the protagonists and their respective families and occupations. In //The Metamorphosis//, Gregor finds himself transformed into a “monstrous vermin” in just one night; in //The Death of Ivan Ilych//, Ivan “made a false step and slipped,” creating the fatal wound – as can be seen, both events are unforeseen and instantaneous. By this *rather random progression of events, both protagonists find themselves completely blocked out from the society that they had originally been a part of. Gregor, unable to move out of his room yet alone his bed, cannot go to work or communicate with his family. As for Ivan, his later stages of severe illness leads to hot temper and queer symptoms, which makes his already-indifferent family members even more distant, and bars him from his colleagues. By spending time alone, Gregor and Ivan gain an opportunity to examine their inner selves. Gregor begins to spend time thinking about his past and the life that he has been leading until the metamorphosis, and realizes that he had always been an aloof character in his house. He has been living without any true ‘social life’ – he had devoted all his life in “providing such a life in so nice an apartment for his parents and his sister” that he didn’t take any time for his own life. As for Ivan, he had thought of his life as “decorous, correct, and proper”; however, as he felt himself slowly dying, he struggles with the truth that the “it” inside of him is providing. He realizes that he has been leading a superficial and meaningless life, but doesn’t want to admit it to himself. In the concluding sections of both stories, the protagonists meet a peaceful end with themselves. Gregor sees that he is only an obstacle and a “nothing” to his family, as he had always been, and dies in restfulness. Ivan, in the last moment of his life, reaches inner tranquility and enlightenment – and is satisfied. As illustrated, both protagonists go through a stage of personal discovery by an isolation from society.

- Is "rather" not a good word to use in here?