##torical Analysis Of 'I Know Why The Caged Bird Cannot Read'

He supported his mother, father and Grete. Now that he cannot work, his family is desperate for money. The father decides to go back to work to bring home money. To make some more money on the side, they rent their apartment out to three lodgers. One night while the lodgers were there, Gregor was seen, which made the lodgers freak out and leave. This marks a turning point in how Grete feels about Gregor. She comes to realize that he has no humanity left. The reader sees this when Grete explains to her father, “It has to go,’ cried his sister. ‘That’s the only answer, Father. You just have to try to get rid of the idea that it’s Gregor. Believing it for so long, that is our real misfortune” (Kafka 1107). Grete no longer thinks of him as Gregor, but refers to him as “it”, showing that she really has no regards for him. This ultimately adds to the decision that they should get rid of

In Francine Prose’s essay “I Know Why the Caged Bird Cannot Sing” Prose tends to evoke her unsureness on why schools use certain books to teach students their moral values. Prose argues that certain books should be taught in English classes, that in fact, teach students their values. Prose uses several literary examples, such as Frankenstein, How To a Kill A Mockingbird, The Great Gatsby, etc. She also provides several controversial opinions, such as using different books to try and teach students, like The Diary of a Young Girl, Teaching The Novel, and many more that she has personally read in her lifetime. She also claims that teacher should start teaching curriculum that has meaning and that will provide skills that a student would

Grete undergoes a change in perspective to such a degree that by the end of the novella it is she who declares, “we must get rid of it” (84). This change in perspective shows how Kafka believes that members of society often stop sympathizing with the isolated group when it becomes inconvenient for them to continue doing so. Gregor’s mother reacts in an initial manner somewhere between the father and sister since when first seeing him she “went two steps toward Gregor and collapsed right in the middle of her skirts” (23). These conflicting desires continue through the novella, such as when Mr. Samsa tries to kill Gregor, “she begged him to spare Gregor’s life” (65) but at the same time she is repulsed by him. This illustrates how she wants to help him and tries to think of him the same way she did before his transformation, yet is unable to. This resembles the idealists in society who theoretically support the alienated person but often succumb to social pressures when they are forced to face the problem. These three reactions to Gregor’s transformation as a result of the initiation of his isolation by the manager demonstrate the spectrum of reactions. From the immediate acceptance of the hierarchy represented by Mr. Samsa, to the true compassion of Grete and the idealism of Mrs. Samsa, Kafka shows how a wide variety of reactions is expected from society, and how people often change their opinions.

Grete starts to neglect her duties of feeding and cleaning up after Gregor because she is no longer interested. “No longer considering what she could do to give Gregor a special treat, his sister … hurriedly shoved any old food into Gregor’s room with her foot” (41). Grete shows her disdain for Gregor by not giving him any special treats. The special treat once symbolized love because it was a way for Grete to reach out and try to communicate with her brother to see what he likes to eat. Now, it shows that she is no longer interested in understanding him. Grete does not care about Gregor’s well being either because she is unaffected if he eats or not. “The cleaning up of Gregor’s room … could not be done more hastily … she must have seen the dirt as clearly as he did, but she had just decided to leave it … which had in fact infected the whole family … ” (41). The treatment Grete shows Gregor is dehumanizing because he has to live with dirt in his room and can only eat the old food he is offered with no consideration of whether he likes it or not. Kafka creates a metaphor comparing Grete’s emotions and actions to an infection, to express how she has greatly affected the family. This causes a direct relationship between Grete and her parents. With Grete’s influence, the entire family starts to dehumanize Gregor, seeing him as a

But, as time goes on his sister Grete, who had been the one to care for him the most, begins to lose faith in his humanness. She says to her parents, "You must just try to get rid of the idea that this is Gregor. The fact that we've believed it for so long is the root of all our trouble." This same idea is reiterated when Gregor finally dies and his mother says, "Well, now thanks be to God." His family was convinced after a short while that it wasn't even their own Gregor underneath that hard exoskeleton.

Some literacy issues are becoming more and more prevalent in recent times. In the day and age we live in; we have access to the newest data and notions regarding literacy in the current education

After his incident of coming out of his room and listening to his sister play the violin, his family is furious and decides to get rid of him completely. The family changes they way they address Gregor by calling “him” an “It”, the sister yells, “We have to find a way to get rid of it!” (Page 48), while the father agrees by saying, “It has to go” (Page 49). The family believes that the vermin is no longer Gregor and that “it” is trying to take over the family. After this major event Gregor “... [is] left completely on his own” (Page 50), which leads him to go back into his dark and lonely room. Through the family treating Gregor as a burden he becomes notably isolate physically and mentally from the

Gregor hears what his sister says and realizes it is time for him to go. His last thought before he dies is, “He thought of his family with tenderness and love. The decision that he must disappear was one that he held to even more strongly than his sister, if that were possible” (Kafka 814). Because

When the Samsa’s family first discovers Gregor’s repulsive transformation, Grete is the only person that tries to takes care of Gregor. Grete and Gregor hold a strong and close relationship from the start of the story that deteriorates as time passes. Grete looks up to her old brother because he is the only one that believes in her musical ability. Grete perceives Gregor physically as a critter, but emotionally, Gregor is still her brother and she shows pity toward him and becomes Gregor’s primary caretaker. Grete is Gregor’s only emotional connection to the family, and to all humanity itself. Internal conflicts begin to arise as Gregor begins to feel isolated from his family and confined by his room which he refers to as “imprisonment.”(25) Although Grete is the only one that shows sympathy toward Gregor, Grete perceives Gregor differently than how Gregor perceives himself. Gregor feels distanced from his family because of his physical appearance, something Gregor cannot change, which causes his family to try and think in the perspective of an insect rather than to take Gregor’s human emotions in account. Grete and her mother begin to “[clear] out his room; depriving him of everything that he [loves]”(33) not realizing Gregor’s emotional turmoil as everything from his human life was being taken away from him.

“They were emptying out his room, taking away everything that he was fond of… he crawled up to [the picture] in haste” (35). Choosing between his physical comfort of having more room and his emotional comfort of saving his last connection to his old life, a decision one may never have to make in the real world, Kafka presents Gregor with the absurdity that develops from his separation of his human mind and vermin

We can come to this understanding by examining the ostensibly “intimate” relationship that Gregor has with his sister, Grete. We are told that prior to his metamorphosis, “with his sister alone had he remained intimate” (95).* The reader would be quick to assume that the usage of the word “intimate” implies our conventional definition, which deals with the close and personal bond that two people can share. Our quote has a layer of duplicity to it because of the fact that it assumes Gregor’s point of view concerning the relationship; therefore, we are going to accept Gregor’s definition of “intimate” rather than the conventional definition. His definition can be clarified when we look at Grete’s reaction to Gregor clinging onto the picture frame: “‘Gregor!’ cried his sister, shaking her fist and glaring at him. This was the first time she had directly addressed him since his metamorphosis” (106). Grete does not strike us as someone who had ever maintained an intimate relationship with Gregor due to her lack of compassion for his dire situation. Rather than assuming a sympathetic tone with a flustered Gregor, she “shak[es] her fist and glar[es] at him.” It seems peculiar for her to act in this manner if they did, in fact, share an “intimate” bond. She makes no attempt to relate to him, but rather, she alienates him even further. Oddly enough, when she calls him by name, we are told that “this was the first time she had

When Gregor inexplicably becomes an insect his family is primarily worried about how this will affect them, and their financial security. The morning Gregor awakes as a ‘monstrous vermin' is the first day he has missed work in five years; his family's immediate concern is for Gregor's job. His father begins to admonish him before he can even drag himself out of bed. When Gregor hears his sister crying at his door he thinks, "Why was she crying?? Because he was in danger of losing his job and then his boss would dun their parents for his old claims?" This is very significant to their relationship; he considers himself close to his sister, but feels her emotion spent on him is related to money. Gregor has been the sole breadwinner for years; working at a job he abhors only to pay his fathers debts. The family leads an extremely comfortable life of leisure; the father sits at the kitchen table and reads all day, the sister wears the best clothes and amuses herself by playing the violin, and all even take a mid-day nap. Gregor is extremely pleased and proud to provide them with this lifestyle; however, his generosity is met with resentment by his father and indifference by his sister and mother. Once the family grew accustomed to this lifestyle they no longer felt the need to be grateful, "they had grown used to it, they accepted the money, but no particularly warm feelings were generated any longer." At one point Gregor is deeply

Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Maya shields herself against the confusion of St. Louis by reading fairy-tales and telling herself that she does not intend on staying there anyway. Vivian works in a gambling parlor at night. Maya pities Mr. Freeman because he spends his days at home waiting for Vivian to return. Maya begins sleeping at night with Vivian and Mr. Freeman because she suffers from nightmares. One morning after Vivian has left the bed and the house,

Ever since the metamorphosis, Gregor’s perception of himself begins to change as his family sees a bug more than their own son. Gregor does nothing but lock himself in his room.

During the time that Gregor was forced to live out the remainder of his existence in his now prison like room, many family matters occur. For one his younger sister whom he is used to taking care of now trades places with him as far as roles in responsibility go. She now after years of good loving and nurturing feels obligated to repay Gregor for all his years of dedication. Since Gregor in his current metamorphosed state cannot do his every day activities, she sees to it that he is feed and his room is kept clean though she personally finds it hard to look at him for undisclosed reasons. While she is doing this it is interesting to see how much utter disgust and loath his father looks at him with, and not for just physical reasons either. This after years of