Role of Appearances in William

¶ … Role of Appearances in William Shakespeare's Hamlet and Franz Kafka's "The Metamorphosis" While we may hate to admit it, society and its conventions govern our thoughts and actions. Almost every day, we make decisions based on false or insufficient evidence and, almost every day people are judged and misjudged by this evidence. Appearances are crucial because so much emphasis is placed on them.

However, it is wise to step back and examine people and circumstances before rushing to any judgments because, as we all know, looks can be (and often are) deceiving. Because art imitates life, we can learn about the consequences of judging others and circumstances without making the mistakes ourselves. Two stories that illustrate how appearances can be deceptive are William Shakespeare's Hamlet and Franz Kafka's "The Metamorphosis." Each story provides examples of how people and circumstances are misjudged because of how they appear rather than how they really are.

In Hamlet is a play that revolves around the appearance of things and the confusion that brings. Individuals suffer because of differing views or opinions of the truth. Because individuals interpret reality differently, reality (or perception) has many people baffled. Characters in Hamlet become victims of skewed perceptions of truth and that perception changes reality. Hamlet does not see the marriage of his mother in a decent manner and because he has such hostile feelings toward his mother, he cannot look at Ophelia the same way, either.

Hamlet's perception of reality is altered because of his grief. He can barely see beyond his father's death without being forced to look at his mother's remarriage. His mother is sleeping between incestuous sheets and "it cannot come to good" (Shakespeare I.ii.162-3). Here we see how Hamlet cannot think clearly - even about his own mother. To make matters worse, he encounters a ghost that confuses and frightens him. He is unable to behave normally and must leave Denmark because of his circumstances.

Ophelia is affected by Hamlet's treatment and that skews her perception. Suddenly he does not love her when before he did. Ophelia is Hamlet's victim. When he tells her, "I love'd / you not" (III.i.113-114), he is upsetting her interpretation of reality. Her life changes drastically because of this and when she discovers that Hamlet is responsible for her father's death, he reality is crushed because the two men she had faith in are either gone or not what they were supposed to be.

Her duties as a daughter and girlfriend come to an end when loses her mind and takes her life. The uncertainty of the real world becomes too much to bear. In Kafka's "The Metamorphosis," Gregor is also a victim of skewed perceptions. For example, almost everyone Gregor comes into contact with treats him differently because his or her perceptions of him have changed. Gregor, the person, has not changed at all.

However, it is important to note that every character in this story has a skewed perception of reality at one point or another. Gregor experiences it first when he realizes what has happened too him. Gregor undergoes an uncertainty of what is real and what is imagined for some time. In addition, his family's definition of what is real and what is not suddenly changes. Gregor's appearance changes everything in his life even though the person inside the shell has not changed at all.

His family no longer sees him as a family member. For example, his parents feel no paternal instincts toward their son at all - his mother "fell on the floor" (Kafka 20) at the sight of and his father "covered his eyes with his hands and wept until his great chest heaved" (20). His sister also allows his appearance to get the best of her as she tries to convince the family to "try to get rid of it" (48).

Here we see how all of the characters in this story have a skewed perception of reality because they have a hard time remembering what is actually real. Gregor's duties and responsibilities are severely affected by his transformation and that causes him to come to some serious realizations about his life and his family. First, he begins to understand that he is nothing more than a source of income for his family. He thinks he should "provide for my parents and sister" (21).

Even though he grasps this notion, he still feels obligated to fulfill his obligations. We read that he wants to work although getting out of bed "proved too difficult to move" (14). His mother still intends on calling where Gregor works because the Samsas cannot afford for Gregor to miss work. Gregor's reality was shaped by his job and his family and how those two operated together.

When one element was taken out of the equation, there was not much for Gregor to believe in and he realizes that his idea of what is real is greatly misshapen. Gregor's family moves through several stages in the event of their realization of what is imagined and what is real. They are in shock for awhile, then they become frustrated with him and the burden he makes for them, and, finally, they are relived when he is finally gone. Through bizarre circumstances, Kafka illustrates the complexity of family.

The commentary is not a good one because even those whom we are the closest too can be affected.