The characters in Aimee Bender's “The Rememberer” and Franz Kafka's “The Metamorphosis” are all adjusting to life after their love ones started to change. On each story the characters behaviors change and the reaction to each citation take a different perspective on life. Bender’s “The Rememberer” the narrator and Ben are lovers presenting a physical and intellectual connection to each other sadness “He was always sad about the word. It was a large reason why I love him. We’d sit together and be sad and think about being sad and sometimes discuss sadness” (Bender 101). The narrator becomes sadder as Ben transform from a human to an ape, and finally a sea turtle. She is aware that Ben is somewhere inside the ape. At first she wanted to find the reason for the transformation. She becomes his protector, telling strangers and coworker he was ill, she did not want anything to happen to Ben. Then she fells lonely and she want to “to take care of my lover like a son, a pet” (Bender 102), hoping to retain Ben as long as she could. But the reality was that he is gone and she could not see him again. She finally realizes she have to let him go, because it was difficult for her to continue to see Ben in these conditions and without a sign of the human being she love so much. The characters of Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis” are similar in the aspect that the family members of Gregor the main character are going to a transformation as well. But they take a different approach than the Narrator and Ben in Bender’s “The Rememberer”. In Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis Gregor is traveler salesman that becomes a giant insect. He is his family providers and this transformation jeopardizes his job. As he struggles with his physical condition and worri... ... middle of paper ... ...ntil people do not become familiar and educated they do not know how to handle such situations. These histories have a relation to people suffering with mental or physical conditions. The person affected by such personal change may do not understand what is happening to them, while the family and friends may do not how to approach changes. They may feel alone and make difficult decisions like separate them for the ill person. Instead of providing the love and comfort on times of need we become cowards and look the other way pretending nothing is happening. WORK CITED Bender, Aimee. "The Rememberer.” The Story and Its Writer. Charters, Ann. Compact 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/ST. Martin's, 2011. 100-102. PRINT. Kafka, Franz. "The Metamorphosis." The Story and Its Writer. Charters, Ann. Compact 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/ST. Martin's, 2011. 471-505. PRINT.
Gregor Samsa awakes one morning to discover that he has been transformed into a repugnant vermin. One may never know what initiated this makeover, but the simple truth is that Gregor is now a bug, and everyone must learn to live and move on in this strenuous situation. In Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, the characters that interact with Gregor, including his mother, his father, and his sister Grete, must come to terms with his unfortunate metamorphosis, and each does so by reacting in a unique way. Gregor’s family members are constantly strained by this unusual event, and all three of them are pressed to their breaking point.
The Metamorphosis is said to be one of Franz Kafka's best works of literature. It shows the difficulties of living in a modern society and the struggle for acceptance of others when in a time of need. In this novel Kafka directly reflects upon many of the negative aspects of his personal life, both mentally and physically. The relationship between Gregor and his father is in many ways similar to Franz and his father Herrman. The Metamorphosis also shows resemblance to some of Kafka's diary entries that depict him imagining his own extinction by dozens of elaborated methods. This paper will look into the text to show how this is a story about the author's personal life portrayed through his dream-like fantasies.
Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis is a masterfully written short story about Gregor Samsa, a man who devotes his life to his family and work, for nothing in return. Only when he is transformed into a helpless beetle does he begin to develop a self-identity and understanding of the relationships around him. The underlying theme of The Metamorphosis is an existential view that says any given choice will govern the later course of a person's life, and that the person has ultimate will over making choices. In this case, Gregor?s lack of identity has caused him to be numb to everything around him.
2. Franz Kafka, "The Metamorphosis," The Metamorphosis, The Penal Colony, and Other Stories, Trans. Willa and Edwin Muir (New York: Schocken Books, 1975), 67—132.
The Metamorphosis is a among Franz Kafka’s famous stories. The story is about a haunted man who changed into an insect. The author has written the story based on various theories such as Marxism, existentialist and religious views. It is also a reflection of a hostile world with major themes being abandonment, self-alienation, and troubles relationship. It reveals people’s struggles while in the modern society where one is neglected in the time of need (Franz 8). The cultural and social setting of the story helps in supporting the major themes of the story. In as much as the story is a dramatic fiction, it is necessary to explore the interior monologue style in order to inform the audience what the protagonist is thinking.
Kafka, Franz."The Metamorphosis." The Longman Anthology of World Literature. New York: Pearson/Longman, 2009. 253-284. Print.Works Cited
Stephens, J. “Franz Kafka’s personal life reflected in the Metamorphosis” The Kafka Project. 1999-2002. 13 November 2002. .
There are many parallels and differences between Franz Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis” and "A Hunger Artist". Kafka portrays these differences and similarities very effectively through his utilization of elements such as transformation, dehumanization, and dedication to work. Through his works, Kafka communicates with the reader in such a way that almost provokes and challenges one’s imagination and creativity.
In the story, each character's mental and physical health changes, whether it is prominently obvious or not. Their health declines – whether it be a rapid decline, as in the father's case, or a graduating descent, like the the rest of the family – and they become older and less attached to the real world, more attached to each other. They retain their habits from the camp and it affects the way that they live amongst other people, in the outside world. The permanence of the changes is evident in each character and will strongly affect the way they live the rest of their life from that point.
New York: Vintage International, 1988. Print. Kafka, Franz. The Metamorphosis. Trans.
In The Metamorphosis Kafka illustrates a grotesque story of a working salesman, Gregor Samsa, waking up one day to discover that his body resembles a bug. Through jarring, almost unrealistic narration, Kafka opens up the readers to a view of Gregor’s futile and disappointing life as a human bug. By captivating the reader with this imaginary world Kafka is able to introduce the idea that Gregor’s bug body resembles his human life. From the use of improbable symbolism Kafka provokes the reader to believe that Gregor turning into a bug is realistic and more authentic compared to his unauthentic life as a human.
Klingenstein, Susanne. “The Metamorphosis: Overview.” Reference Guide to Short Fiction. Ed. Noelle Watson. Detroit: St. James Press, 2009.
A “Critical Essay on ‘The Metamorphosis’.” Short Stories for Students. Ed. Jennifer Smith. Vol.
Using symbols, Kafka illustrates the story which is not just about Gregor’s transformation but it is more than that. The entire Metamorphosis is an allegory about Gregor changing into a vermin, symbolize that he wanted to free himself from his family obligation. “As Gregor Samsa awoke from unsettling dreams one morning, he found himself transformed in his bed into a monstrous vermin” (Kafka 7). He thought his transformation was a dream but he soon realizes that it was reality. Gregor was the source of the income for his family and was employed in a job he did not like. “What a grueling profession I picked! Traveling day in, day out” (Kafka 7). This is ironic because Gregor was forced by his father to choose the alienated career. Mr. Samsa was indebted to his boss; working as a traveling salesman he would have pay off his father debt. Working as traveling salesman made Gregor alienated socially and mentally. The word transformation does not only app...
Kafka, Franz. The Metamorphosis and Other Stories. 1st ed. Translated by Stanley Appelbaum. New York: Dover Publications, 1996.