First off, I think I put too much of the machine's destruction on the squeaky gear--I really should go back and look at it again. I think you're right about that, Bryan. As for the contradiction, going off my previous assumption that one bad gear was the cause of the downfall, two things can be concluded:
1.) The cause of the machine's (society's) destruction is is the squeaky gear (person who does not conform). So, the deviant individual is the one that is at fault, and the entire society suffers. Thus, nonconformism creates bad consequences. The obvious conclusion? Fix the wheel.
2.) So, the machine's job is to fix the wheel (non-conformist person). It does this, but it mutilates the body, and since the body is a physical representation of humanity, all of humanity is destroyed through forced conformance. So, correcting the wheel simply yields another bad consequence.
If both of these are bad, what is the solution? And can you assume Kafka to be speaking through the explorer's perspective? (I don't think so) The explorer is not a member of the society the machine governs/represents. Does his presence cause the malefunction, if the squeaky wheel doesn't?
I'm confused. It made perfect sense in the shower yesterday--I'll go take another one right now.

posted by Eunice   [3:28 PM]

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