Introduction
Over the years, the analysis and critique of works of literature has adopted different dimensions. In simple terms, critics of literature works have adopted different approaches when it comes to analyzing and understanding these works. Some have chosen to explore individual elements within the work to detect a piece of literature is a classic or whether is poorly articulated. This has therefore resulted in varying opinions among different critics about the nature of certain literature pieces due to the lack of a standard approach or model of understanding literature. However, Vladimir Nabokov in his book “Good Readers and Good Writers” presents a unique threefold schema for understanding great authors and great literature. This schema, when utilized properly, can help literature lovers to understand the brilliance of an author and a specific literature piece. Nabokov proposes three viewpoints from which an author can be considered. The author can be considered as a storyteller, a teacher and finally as an enchanter. Good authors are able to combine these elements in a literature piece but it is the enchanter that usually predominates, and that makes one a major or a great writer. Therefore, in Nabokov’s view, a great literature piece is a story, a lesson and a magic act at the same time but the most important out of these is the magic. The novel “Metamorphosis “by Franz Kafka and the play “Long day’s Journey into Night” by Eugene O’Neill are classic works of literature that combines the elements of storytelling, teaching and enchanting at the same time but whose main element is enchanting and which can therefore be considered as great literary pieces. This essay aims to look at these two literature pieces, identify these three primary elements and, therefore, prove their absolute greatness and brilliance as per Nabokov’s view.
The first element of Nabokov’s model that presents itself is that of storytelling. According to Nabokov, readers turn to the story teller to be entertained, to be mentally excited, to participate emotionally and to enjoy the pleasure of travelling to the authors’ world which may be a remote region in time and space. Readers can find a lot of these aspects in Kafka’s “Metamorphosis”.
In this novel, Gregor, the main protagonist is transformed into a giant insect right at the beginning of the novel. This is indeed a very good premise that sets off the reader on an adventurous journey. It takes the reader into the world of an insect. Gregor, now an insect had to readjust his living style in his house where he adopts new behaviors and pattern of living including climbing up the walls, feeding on rotten food remains and hiding under floors and furniture. The readers, in this case, benefit from Kafka’s storytelling who takes them into the world of an insect that actually exists right amidst the world of humans.
The story is filled with a lot of adventure, and this mentally excites the readers and thus once again depicting the story telling prowess of Kafka. The reader also gets to participate emotionally in various occurrences in the novel; which is one again an exhibition of the story-telling ability of the author. A good author is the one who tells a story in such a way that the reader can emotionally participate, that is, the different emotions running through the story can resonate with the reader. This aspect is brought out in several events in the novel.
The first is at the beginning when Gregor’s family realizes that he has been transformed into a giant insect. The reader cannot help but share in the emotions the family after they realize that their primary breadwinner has been transformed into a giant useless insect. The mother for example faints on seeing Gregor in his new form and this is quite understandable. In addition, the reader cannot help but feel sympathy for Gregor as his father pushes him back into his room using a rolled paper and a cane and ultimately locks the door.
The next event that brings out emotions is one where Gregor realizes that he has lost the taste for milk and his sister sympathizes with him and brings him some rotten bread crumbs which he eats happily. The reader also identifies with the emotions of Gregor who does not want to frighten his sister and who, therefore, hides under the couch when she brings him food.
The feelings of alienation also resonate with readers who cannot help but feel pity for Gregor, who can no longer engage in conversations with his family but instead has to listen to their conversations through walls. This mental participation and emotional indulgence of the reader that is evoked by this novel is what makes Kafka a great story teller.
Kafka can also be viewed as a teacher. According to Nabokov, readers look for moral education as well as direct knowledge that includes simple facts in a piece of literature.
There is a lot of valuable information as well as simple facts that can be derived from the novel “The Metamorphosis”. In simple terms, there are a lot of valuable lessons depicted by the author of this book. The first of these is the family financial degradation after the loss of a main provider. It appears that the family was wholly dependent on Gregor when he was still human. He was the sole provider for his family and after his transformation, the family could no longer fend for itself. This is indeed a very important lesson that should be learned by all.
A family should not be wholly dependent on one source of income as it can easily be cut off leaving this a family in a dire financial situation. The other members of Gregor’s family should have attempted to get jobs to augment the total family income and not totally depend on Gregor. As it is shown, the financial situation of the family gets messy after the transformation of Gregor.
The story also teaches another important lesson, and it is that of the tendency of humans to abandon an individual after he ceases to be useful to others. This aspect is perhaps brought out by the behavior of Gregor’s father who completely isolates and alienates him and even at one instance injures him permanently by throwing an apple at him. Although his sister remains faithful for a while, his father has no concern for Gregor after his usefulness to the family in terms of providing money ceases.
Here, the author teaches an important lesson about human nature, and this is that humans forget quickly what one has done for them and will quickly abandon a person who is going through misery and who no longer has the ability to assist others. These lessons depict Kafka as a teacher which according to Nabokov is one of the elements of a great writer.
However, the greatness of a writer is mostly told by his ability to enchant the readers. Here, the reader is enthralled by the genius and style of the reader and the pattern of his literary piece. At this front, Kafka performs brilliantly. His style and genius are able to enchant the audience right from the start to the end.
The biggest element that funnels this enchantment is an act that happens right at the beginning of the story, and this is the transformation of Gregor into a giant audience. This is an unusual direction for an author that is without a doubt meant to enchant the audience. It is a representation of magic where a man is reformed into an insect overnight.
At this point, Kafka captures the attention of audience fully. There is no doubt that the audience will want to take part in this magical journey of Gregor and see how his life will turn out after this massive transformation.
As mentioned, this is an enchanting act by Kafka and displays him as a great author. It is, in fact, what separates him from other authors. For example, as mentioned earlier, the book is partly based on his own life where he felt that the dominance of his father ultimately made him feel small and irrelevant in his own house.
Kafka could have chosen to write the story in its literal form strictly using humans to bring forth this message. This is, in fact, the direction that many authors would have taken. However, he adopts an entirely new direction by incorporating an element of fantasy into his story through the transformation of Gregor into an insect. This aspect clearly brings out his enchantment skills. He is able to enchant the audience by using an insect to bring out human themes such as guilt, isolation, and alienation. As an insect who understands humans but cannot speak their language, the author hugely enchants his audience.
Throughout the story, readers are able to witness the various events and tribulations that this insect goes through, therefore enchanting them even more. The transformation of Gregor is nothing short of magical.
There is a higher likelihood that if the author decided to use a normal human being, for example, a small child in place of an insect, there would not have been much interest in the on-goings of the novel. However, by introducing a magical aspect right at the beginning of the novel where a human is transformed into an insect, the audience is enchanted and it craves to find out what is in store is for this insect.
“Long Journey into Night” is play by Eugene O’Neill that depicts that the author is a great storyteller, a teacher, and an enchanter. Once again, the aspect of enchantment stands out in this novel although not as dominantly as in Kafka’s Metamorphosis.
As a great story teller, O’Neill is able to entertain his audience and take them through an emotional whirlwind which they all take an active part in. In addition, the reader is able to be part of one family’s journey and tribulations as they battle drug addiction. The writer is able to integrate both past and present events and show how they have contributed to the current status of this family.
James, the father, and head of the family is a struggling actor who was typecast in a singular role for a long time and who, therefore, lost his relevance in the acting world. His wife is a recovering drug addict who has just returned and who is suspected to have started using again.
Furthermore, their youngest son, Edmund is suspected to be suffering from tuberculosis. Obviously these are events that capture the emotions of the reader, and they somehow sympathize with the family. This emotional involvement of a reader that is evoked by an author is an element of good story telling.
In addition, there is a lot of comical action throughout the play that is bound to not only entertain but also mentally excite the reader. For example, the two sons Jamie and Edmund are constantly taunting each other and planning to steal their father’s alcohol. Jamie is particularly a drinker just like his father. It is, therefore, ironical that they are worried about their mother relapsing into drug use yet they also have their own drug problems.
Moreover, the whole family is anxious about the impending results of Edmund’s tuberculosis test and these are not revealed until quite later on in the novel. These are aspects of great storytelling that make the reader emotionally invested in the play and depicts the great storytelling ability of a writer.
The play is characterized by various lesson and teachings especially on family life. The author is also able to teach a lot about drug use and how it can lead to family trouble.
For example, the main woman of the house, Mary becomes belligerent and is always rebuking and accusing her sons of being disrespectful because of her drug habit. She seems to have completely abandoned her motherly duties or does not seem to know how to do them properly anymore.
She is simply disillusioned and through this, the author passes along a very important lesson about drug use in the society. Her behavior also seems to have rubbed off on her sons and husband who are also drinkers and the main lesson in this that drug use can lead to family dysfunctionality.
The element of enchantment is also brought out in this play. The enchantment itself is brought out by the characters of the novel and their interesting traits. Although it has been seen that drugs play a huge role in the behavior of the different family members in this tale, their traits from the outset enchants the reader and their characterization leaves the reader wanting to know more.
When James is mentioned as former actor, one would have expected him to have retired successfully and to have made enough savings but the author brings out the irony in that his family is in a financial chaos and is almost disintegrating.
The family is also plagued by drug use, especially the mother who is supposed to be a homemaker but who instead is a habitual drug user. In addition, her sons cannot stop quarreling.
These behaviors and traits of the character enchant the reader and reveals the style of the author. It is not major events that form the core of this novel, but it is rather the behaviors and traits of the main characters that are quite unpredictable and that, therefore, enchant the reader throughout.
The above discussion has used Nabokov’s model for analyzing literature pieces to show that “Metamorphous” by Franz Kafka and “Long Journey into Night’ is by Eugene O’Neil; are great pieces of literature. Both pieces have been subjected to a deep analysis using the Nabokov’s model that explores the storytelling, the teaching, and the enchanting skills of an author. It has been shown that that the authors of both pieces espouse these three elements in their works, particularly the latter element which is enchantment. Therefore, it is fairly safe to conclude that both are great works of literature.
