Conformity and Kafka

There are two main forms of conformity. One is when you don't want to do something, such as smoking or drinking, but you do it anyway in order to fit in with a certain group of people. The other is when you do something without realizing it, such as dressing a certain way, because you have been influenced or pressured. The second is much more unconscious than the first. Gregor demonstrates the second because his family is what pressures him into working as hard as he does. In Heart of Darkness, the Europeans conform to the wilderness and freedom of Africa. This is also more like the second type of conformity because the Europeans did not mind giving up their civilized ways and they did not even realize that they were doing it. The Europeans continued to believe that they were helping the Africans become more civilized; Marlow is the only one who seems to realize how much the Europeans have actually conformed to savagry. The Europeans conform and then they go to extremes; similarly, Gregor also conforms to his society and goes to the extreme by turning into an insect.