It’s not only him who is having the metamorphosis, but everyone around him.
－Edward Watson
“The Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka is the iconic satire discussing the existentialism after it was published in 1915.
Gregor Samsa is the backbone of the economy in his family. His life is surrounded by the train station, the coffee stand, manager and his home. Maybe it’s due to the burden from the debt, Gregor’s parent always seems so indifferent and cold. The only member who is lively is Gregor’s younger sister, Grete.
Grete had been wishing to enter the ballet academy. The time when Gregor comes back home with some gifts of the ballet products every day is her happiest time. As for Gregor, even if he’s tired after work, he would appreciate her sister dancing in front of him delightfully- he knows, he may be the only person who enjoys the dance of his sister.
Life has changed dramatically at the moment when he turns into a monstrous vermin. 》
When his family discover that Gregor is twitching in the form of a giant insect, they all scream, panic and run out of his room. His father even grabs a stick to drive Gregor and shut the door while Gregor is trying to crawl to them.
A while after calming down, Grete decides to try to accept Gregor’s new body and his new form. She goes into Gregor’s room with a plate of milk without her mother’s noticing. At first, Grete only dares to look at his brother far away; soon after, she starts to be able to touch his body and to embrace him. They also discover that once a human can only accept fresh milk, now he treats spoiled food as a delicious meal.
Young Grete still lives her life as it was before. She would carry the phonograph to the door to enjoy the music with Gregor together, or to use her dance to mimic how her brother twitches.
The relationship crashes once one starts to have the responsibilities. 》
As Grete grows up, she starts to share the burden of the family as well.
Life with burden let Grete begins to not be able to treat Gregor as a brother to whom she looked up to; instead, a trouble to the family and a creature that she despises.
What is the existence of Gregor?
Does he lose his “value” of being a family member the moment he loses the ability to work and to contribute? If so, what is the meaning of the existence of his body, and what is the meaning of his existence in this world?
Maybe to his family, the value of Gregor only lives when his body serves as a “tool” that can share the house chore.
The pain coming from the family is crueller than the myriad cuts. 》
The only person who still treats Gregor as a human being is the cleaning maid. Although she is grumpy and rough, she is the only one who would go into Gregor’s room, touch him and talk to him. The maid even draws the curtain apart to brighten the room, stretches his limbs and cleans his body after Gregor is shouted and driven back to the room by his younger sister.
However, no matter how humanely the maid treats Gregor, it wouldn’t change the fact that Gregor is suffering from the hatred of his family.
He recognizes the meaning of his value from the vision of other people. His existence is defined and interpreted by others; yet, the one who is going to endure the interpretation is he.
The performance of beauty and cruelty. 》
Philosophy is attractive; it’s still not as seductive as Edward Watson’s performance.
Needless to say, Edward’s body movements are difficult to surpass. It seems that every piece of the muscle, fingertips to the end of the hair is alive. Without redundant costumes, Edward’s dance emphasizes the elegance of the human body under the constant movements; plus, I am convinced that the male ballerina in front of me has transformed into a nonhuman creature.
At the same time, through the choreography of Arthur Pita, Edward perfectly interprets and enormous insect and the tragedy of the relationship in “The Metamorphosis”.
Without doubt, I think the most brilliant part of this ballet is the expression in Edward’s eyes that worth a thousand words. Looking into his eyes, I can deeply sense the torture and pain of Gregor, and understand the struggle that he tries to explain but not be able to open his mouth. Especially, I am extremely stirred when seeing Gregor decide to jump off from his window because he couldn’t bear the acrimony from the family anymore.
