Andrea Zuzack 8 March 2011 Saft English 12 Happiness Crawls Away Humans enjoy suffering. We want to be victims, whether or not we’re conscious of that desire. Even the lucky ones, whose work day ends at 1:00 PM and are still able to afford chic, tasteful attire and their own places; even the gifted ones, who are born with effortless talents and intelligence and can afford to devote hours every day to their lifelong passion; even the attractive ones, considered handsome and charming by friends, with no shortage of love interests; are, in their own minds, often the lowest, most despicable creatures on Earth. Franz Kafka, who had all of these blessings, saw in his literary looking-glasseinem Ungeziefer--an insect, vermin. Few have an outlook as extreme as Kafka’s, but we all tend to perceive our circumstances as less than positive from time to time. Though the author insists that fate dangles dazzling gifts before us only to rip the illusion away and leave us broken and alone, he neglects to account for his own penchant, and the natural human tendency, to relinquish those gifts willingly. Human beings are predisposed to unhappiness; regardless of how comfortable or how tortured, an individual will gravitate towards dissatisfaction, depression and hopelessness. Humans crave pity, the acknowledgement or approval of others, and surprisingly, discontent has become the evolutionary edge that furthers the human race. In Kafka’s interpretation, humans are doomed to be unhappy not because of their own choices, but often in spite of them. In Kafka's NovellaThe Metamorphosis,Gregor Samsa is the model son. He is somewhat prodigal at his occupation, having been elevated “practically overnight…from a minor clerk to a traveling salesman…his successes at work translated directly
into cash that he could lay on the table at home before his astonished and pleased family” (Kafka
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