1 Matching Annotations
  1. May 2016
  2. www.seethingbrains.com www.seethingbrains.com
    1. obviously with some memory or other of the satisfaction which that used to bring him in earlier times.

      I chose to write about this particular scene because I thought it was a pivotal moment of melancholy and almost acceptance from Gregor regarding his bizarre and unfortunate predicament. In Muir's translation, the line is written as "Obvioulsy in some recollection of the sense of freedom that looking out of a window always used to give him." On the other hand, Johnston writes the same scene as "Obviously with some memory or other of the satisfaction which that used to bring him in earlier times." I do admire both translations of this section, but I believe that between the both of them, the Johnston translation really didn't do the gravity of the scene justice. I say this because Muir's translation refers to Gregor's inner feeling as being "in some recollection of the sense of freedom that looking out of a window always used to give him", whereas the Johnston translation merely describes it as "some memory or other of satisfaction". I believe that only Muir's translation really accurately captures the deep emotional turmoil, whereas the Johnston translation just simply writes it off as "satisfaction".