The Black Dog

Oscar J. Miranda

Predicting the future is a theory, which some find ridiculous while other cultures rely on it. The power of knowing what is ahead of us is immeasurable and intrigues us all. Having the control on our actions is our desire after all. From our freedom to our desperate needs, we are designed to crave what do not own. Knowledge is the key. Being able to predict our future can seemfun but it can become a tedious and dangerous task; after all, our days are counted and most of us walk every day with a clock on our head. Every second that goes is a waste. Death always wins. The best we can do is just enjoy our life and not worry about thoughts of endings. Death is a strong word, one that causes discomfort in ears when spoken. For centuries, writers have used it as a themethrough their stories. Examples are plenty, but “The Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka, “A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty, and “The Management of Grief” of Bharanti Mukherjee stand for their use of death as a central theme for the stories. The authors previously mentioned used the symbol of death to highlight the conditions and situations on which each story is being developed. Kafka uses death as aphysiological axis for his tell. He expresses the passing away in cases is not the end, but the simple rebirth that makes individuals stronger. In regards to “The Management of Grief”, the author uses the sense of dying constantly through the story. She expresses how death affects people in a whole and individually in particularly the Indian society, and how these characters react to it. In the case ofthis specific work of Eudora Welty “A Worn Path”, death is expressed through situations and symbolism. The characters are based with a simple target: describing a society that was rotten to its core.

In “The Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka, it can be found the various circumstances that arise from an unprecedented situation, culminating in the death of the main character Gregor. This book is thestory of a man named Gregor who sees his life changes radically after becoming an insect. Gregor had a good job; he was a traveling salesman and carried the weight on his entire family. He suddenly wakes up one morning transformed into an insect. As a result of this, he stays in his room for fear of being seen by his family. After everything that happened, Gregor is abandoned by his family, onlymaintaining a small relationship with his sister and his mother. Above all, he feels guilty because he was the only person who maintained the family economically. Without him, the family is exposed to economic hardship. At this point, Gregor chose to die humbly by not eating anymore. The death of the insect is a release for the family, which, after all, ends up being more united and full of newplans and hopes. Kafka uses the character of Gregor to express the horror of the everyday living (or the daily dying) that the society is involved in. How Gregor feels attached and to his whole family, providing for them. His discomfort to this situation it gets to such a critical point, that even when transformed into an insect he finds peace with himself. On the other hand, is admirable as theauthor plays with a series of symbols to take you deep into the reading, he uses an insect, but does not necessarily means that Gregory has become this, he rather implies that Gregor could have sickened or entered in a state of schizophrenia. What makes him go deep into his room where he begins to forget or lose his humanity. Another unique symbol is the paragraph where the father hurts Gregor“An apple thrown without much force glanced against Gregor's back and slid off without doing any harm. Another one however, immediately following it, hit squarely and lodged in his back.” The apple that wounds him symbolizes the rejection that he had to go through, the contempt of which he is a victim by his own family, thus leading him to die of grief. Paradoxically, we are shown a reproach...