caterpillar

The study of The Metamorphosis continued all week. It is so packed full of symbolism and metaphor, it took forever to analyze. There is so much to take in at once with this story, but it is all relevant to society. Reading Nice to Eat with You and Nice to Eat You with the act of eating into a whole new perspective for me. It also connected to The Metamorphosis really interestingly. The act of eating is so much more intimate that I ever realized. I feel uncomfortable eating around most people, few people can I comfortably eat with people, and eat messy foods or a lot of food. Gregor does not eat with his family, he watches them eat through the crack in his hideaway of a door. His little sister brings him food, and runs away so that she wont have to watch him eat. The do not for a community as said in the quote, "Generally, eating with another is a way of saying, 'I'm with you, I like you, we form a community together.'"(8). Gregor cannot form this community with his family. 

Gregor inability to eat with his family makes for his disconnect that leads to his demise. It is not normal for a family to react the way they did upon learning Gregor had been turned into a bug. Most would freak out, rush him to the hospital, or try to help him. Instead Gregor's family locks him away. The parents aren't concerned with the fact that Gregor needs to eat in order to survive. The sister is the only one who feeds him, and even she cannot stand to share the act of eating with him, or be in his presence while he does so. In Nice to Eat With You, it says, "We're quite particular about with those whom we break bread. We may not, for instance, accept a dinner invitation from someone we don't care for."(8). Gregor's family cannot break bread with him, the bread that he provided for his family.