Nothing Really Matters

(Gregor Clegane (right) the most monstrous bug)

It is said that the Eskimos had 50 words for snow. Not to be showed up Franz Kafka had four ways to say a guy woke up as a bug.

Gregory Samsa woke from uneasy dreams one morning to find himself changed into a giant bug.

• Diction- The characters full name is used, maybe to make it sound more normal to caucasian audience.  Uneasy dreams so something was off but he wasnt quite sure of what was off.  He found, like it was revealed to him.  Giant bug makes me think of a cockroach the size of a human.
• Syntax- There is medium length with no commas or periods to break it up.  It seems like a straightforward sentence.
• Imagery-  When you 'find' something it was hidden and then revealed to you.  A giant bug makes you think of an average bug but slightly louder.
• The most straightforward sentence that doesn't use fluff to make it more stylistic.

When Gregor Samsa awoke from troubled dreams one morning he found he had been transformed in his bed into an enormous bug.

• Diction- A shortened version of the character's name is used to be more intimate.  Troubled dreams meant there was a specific problem with them.  Enormous is even bigger then giant. Very possessive and narcissistic word choices 'he found he had' 'his bed'.
• Syntax- Active sentence structure that continues through without being broken up by commas or periods.  
• Imagery- Makes you imagine him waking up in a sweat from a bad dream.  Enormous bug is more like the size of a small building.  
• Refers to one specific instance in past tense, 'When Gregor Samsa awoke'.

As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.

• Diction- Uses shortened name again, and once again they are uneasy dreams. Emphasizes more that he was in his bed. Uses gigantic, still quite large, and insect which sounds more scientific than bug.
• Syntax- Present tense active voice.  Emphasizes two longer clauses, him waking up and him realizing that he was an insect. Still no breaks through commas in the sentence, so it is read through faster. 
• Imagery-  The emphasis on the bed makes you think more about him being a giant bug in his bed instead of just out in the open.  

One morning, upon awakening from agitated dreams, Gregor Samsa found himself, in his bed, transformed into a monstrous vermin.

• Diction-  Refers to one time in the past through 'one morning'.  Agitated shows that the dream made him angry. Uses shorter name again. Monstrous vermin makes him seem more evil, large, and disgusting.  Also vermin means it could be an insect or a rat or other vermin.  
• Syntax- The sentence is heavily broken up using commas to make the clauses and thoughts separate.
• Imagery-  The use of monstrous vermin this time makes it seem more evil and disgusting than any of the other ones. 

Analysis:

   On a basic level the quotes, in the order presented, are merely describing the same event in progressively more complex and specific details.  Each quote has the same basic aspects; the character's name is Gregor(y) Samsa, he woke up from bad dreams, and he realized that he was now a big bug. However the way this progression occurs is the most interesting aspects of the quote.   The people who translated the quote used a different choice in words to change how the sentence was portrayed.  Firstly, the first quote is the only quote that changes the name from 'Gregor' to 'Gregory', this was most likely done to normalize the character to English speaking readers who may be unfamiliar with Gregor as a name.  The other difference in word choice is how the dream is described, whether agitated, uneasy, or troubled.  All of these words are loosely similes to each other however the meanings are different enough to make the dream in each seem different from the other, whether the dreams made him mad, afraid, or confused.  Another small detail is whether or not the author mentioned that the author was in bed, which is assumed since he was sleeping but is not directly stated in one quote.  The last difference in word choice is how the scary bug is described.  The first three quotes describe the bug as being big and being some word for an insect.  The last quote by contrast described it as 'monstrous vermin' which is big, dangerous, and evil, which is much more aggressive than the first three which merely emphasized his size.  The next aspect that was different was the syntax and sentence structure.  The first three sentences are fairly straightforward with little unnecessary punctuation, in comparison to the four commas in the last translation.  The other most noticeable aspect is how active the sentence is.   The first sentence is very active and straightforward with 'Gregory Samsa woke from an uneasy dream',  the other sentences are much more passive with 'As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning'.  This difference affects how much power is associated with Gregor and how much he can control his life.  The most noticable difference in imagery is how he is portrayed to wake up.  Every time he wakes up in a bed, obviously, but it is only explicitly stated in three of the four translations.  In my opinion, explicitly saying that he woke up in a bed makes the whole idea of a giant bug waking up in a bed more entertaining and funny.  The other differences in imagery is the description of the bug, which as I aforementioned varies from portraying Gregor as a big bug to a monstrous creature.  

     In my personal opinion the first translation is the worst and the last translation is the best.  The first translation has the basic aspects, however the elementary way it was written makes it seem like this was translated to be used in a kid's book.  The last translation is on the complete opposite side of the spectrum.  It is so in depth and detailed that it painted a very clear image in my mind.  Firstly the sentence has most of the aspects of exposition, it includes where, when, and what of the event all in one simple sentence.  It also includes the graphic imagery of 'monstrous vermin' that makes this translation feel more in depth and accurate overall.  

    This exercise does a good job highlighting some of the major difficulties that arise when translating a text from one language to another.  The main difficulty arises when a word in one language has multiple translations in another language.  From this multitude of definitions, the translators get to pick the translation that best suits the image they have in their mind.  If they thought the dreams were more troubled than uneasy they can write that.  If they saw Gregor as a monster instead of a bug, they can write that.  This isn't the only example of this difficulty in translation.  The Jewish bible or Torah was originally written in old Hebrew, and when it is translated some issues pop up. For example, the first lines of the Torah can either be translated to 'In the beginning' or 'At the beginning'.  The implication of this difference is whether the beginning of the earth was the beginning of everything, or if the beginning of the earth occurred at the beginning, which assumes that there was already something there.  The difference in translations for this text also greatly affects the tone of the line.  In my opinion the tone of the translation is either used to make the occurrence seem childish and silly or dark.  By portraying him as one day waking up as a big bug it sounds like a plot for The Magic School Bus, when he wakes up from dark dreams as a monster it is more like an episode of Black Mirror.  

Wheewww, that was long.  So long in fact I might submit this instead of my Written Task.  Just kidding. Kinda.