Reaction Paper to Kafka and Mann

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Reaction Paper to Kafka and Mann In reading Death in Venice and The Metamorphosis one can truly see the beauty and unbelief of something that in every day life would not be considered the norm. In Death in Venice Gustav von Aschenbach has become obsessed with a young boy named Tadzio. This obsession keeps him in the city of Venice despite the fact that a serious illness is ravaging the city. The aestheticism of the novel is truly in the fact that Gustav is sick but the beauty of the boy keeps him engrossed and therefore he is willing to remain in the city that eventually will be the death of him. Unfortunately in the story The Metamorphosis the main character Greger Samsa also dies in the end. The Metamorphosis is an early magic realism work which allows the reader to vision a man who simply could not work anymore and was actually overly tired. Unfortunately despite all his hard work he is seen as a monster that nobody wanted to look at. His sister tried her best to still care for the man, but in the end even she had given up. With both stories the reader is able to place themselves in some parts and is better able to understand why the characters react to certain situations the way that they do. Although both stories end in the death of the main character, each story has its own style. Death in Venice focused more on the Aestheticism form of writing. Aestheticism allows for the author to focus on a particular beauty. Gustav was running from the horrors of his life in Europe and also a case of writers block, so he decided on Venice. Gustav became obsessed with a boy in Venice and pursued the boy during his entire time in Venice. It was odd that before deciding to visit Venice, Gustav had time to think back on his past decisions. Gustav had “stumbled in public, made false moves, made a fool of himself, violating tact and good sense in word and deed”
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