The Metamorphosis and Ethan Frome
The routine of life can bring some people a sense of stability and happiness. For others this routine can be the cause of immense discontent and a feeling of entrapment. The main characters of the books The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka and Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton both experience this feeling of being trapped by their everyday responsibilities and environment. Family obligation, societal expectation, and their internal and external appearances trap both Gregor Samsa and Ethan Frome.
One main cause for Gregor being trapped is his obligation to his family. His financial obligation alone is enough to put a great amount of pressure on him. His job and his secret plan to put his sister through school also place a demand on him. Gregor is solely responsible for repaying his parents’ old debts. The weight this puts on him is demonstrated when he says, Well, I haven’t given up hope completely; once I’ve gotten the money together to pay off my parents’ debt to him-that will probably take another five or six years-I’m going to do it without fail(Kafka 4). Even after discovering he has turned into a bug he still feels his obligation to his family.
Society also has expectations of Gregor that he cannot escape even when he is locked up in the room that eventually becomes his grave. On one of his agonizing sleepless nights he is still thinking of his workday and of people he mingles with on a daily basis. He realizes that instead of helping him and his family, they were all inaccessible and he was glad when they faded away(Kafka 43). Gregor receives no help from the society that he is so loyal to.
Gregor is obviously trapped by his external appearance. His physical limitations deepen his feeling of futility. His external appearance mimics his internal feelings, as he now feels helpless by not being able to physically carry out his responsibilities.
Ethan was also trapped by obligation to his family. It trapped him when he wanted to go off with Mattie and it trapped him for the rest of his life after the accident. Zeena was the main source of the futility of Ethan’s existence. This is shown when Ethan reflects grimly that his seven years with Zeena seemed to Starkfield ‘not so long’(Wharton 64).
Ethan was an intelligent man, he had high dreams for himself as an engineer, and he wanted to have a life away from the ceaseless drudgery of life in Starksville. When his mother died leaving Zeena without a place to go, Ethan, being the kind man he was, offered to marry her because he felt obligated to do so. This decision however shut out his hopes for a better life. In order for Ethan to get an education he must have money. In order for Ethan to get money he must sell the farm. And with a new wife to take care of he could not possibly manage it. Ethan's decision to marry Zeena had fettered his social mobility and had brought about the backlash of Zeena's discontent.
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 novella about Gregor Samsa, a man who devotes everything to fulfilling the needs of his family. Kafka’s existentialist perspective on the meaning of life is illustrated through the use of the protagonist of Gregor Samsa. Existentialism is a philosophy concerned with finding self and the meaning of life through free will, choice, and personal responsibility (Existentialism). Gregor is unable to fulfill the existentialist view of finding meaning in one’s life; he acted according to what his family wanted. Kafka’s belief that there is no meaning to life and that the individual has to create his own meaning in life is entirely missed by Gregor. Kafka uses the juxtaposing mindsets of Gregor and his family members to express the importance of an individual fulfilling his own needs.
First and foremost Gregor was betrayed by his own parents who failed to care for him after his transformation. The initial reaction of the parents, especially his father, set the tone for the whole novel. Instead of trying to resolve the issue with a reasonable solution, his father physically abuses him, “when from behind, his father gave him a hard
Throughout literature, the consequences of isolation and alienation are exploited to display the requirement of personal interaction and social inclusion for society. Similarly, Franz Kafka seeks to uncover the potential damage of social rejection through Gregor's transformation within The Metamorphosis, which leads to his separation from both his family and his past life. Within a healthy life lies the power of communication; however, Kafka in The Metamorphosis captures the effects of isolation and its deadly consequences through the alienation caused by Gregor’s lack of communication.
Gregor’s new life is now controlled by others. His room serves as a microcosm for his life, which he could once control but missed his chance to do. He cannot not decide between an empty room, which would
There was no room in Gregor's life for people other that his family and as a result was condemned to a life without love or caring not to mention basic companionship. He worked diligently to provide for his family and that remained his only goal in life. Gregor's family relied on him to be the "breadwinner" of the family, but gave him nothing in return. The life that he had led until now was one fully of obligations and loneliness; he came home to empty hotel rooms or his apathetic fam...
Through the incorporation of figurative language in both Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka and Equus by Peter Shaffer, they set the characters in isolation during the experience of hiding emotions and focusing on other’s needs in order for the undergoing of self-discovery and peace within self. Therefore analyzing the behavior that occurs during the process and the aftermath of their seclusion will determine the success of their accomplishment with the breakthrough of peace. When comparing the two texts along with their historical context of sense of loss and alienation of individuals, the main characters, Gregor Samsa and Alan Strang, undergo the allusion of isolation and finds the understanding of self. Through the merging of characterization, it signifies the main characters difference among others in society. The exposure of Gregor and Alan’s point of view depicts their own moral belief of their priorities in life. Also in the course of their journey, they realize their epiphany which guides them in overcoming the tragedy that occurs. The overall purpose then concludes to the experience of secluding self assists an individual on a better understanding of their own identity.
To his surprise it takes him much longer to get up from his bed, and so he starts worrying and overthinking about his job as a salesman and how he is going to finish paying off his parents debt if he gets fired from his job. Gregor is now overwhelmed with thoughts that keep protruding out like how, “he thought back on his family with deep emotion and love. His conviction that he would have to disappear was, if possible, even firmer than his sister’s” ( Kafka 51). The cruelty involves Gregor having to get out of bed on his own with nobody caring to help him, and, to top it off, he does not worry about being late as much as not getting to work, which could lead to him getting fired, and, therefore, he will not be able to pay off his parents’ debt. When Gregor reveals himself to his parents, his mother faints, and his father, on the other
Hence, after his unexpected transformation, the family’s financial situation, as well as the parents and sister themselves, change drastically; what were once three people who used to depend on Gregor for every single penny now find themselves all working to sustain themselves. By the same token, it can be seen that Gregor, in a way, depends heavily on the family himself; this dependence can be seen in his need to be their caretaker, an identity he then loses in his transformation. In the time that follows Gregor’s identity loss, he deteriorates, and eventually dies, due to his inability to form an identity shaped to benefit his now self-sufficient family. It is thus by this sort of “identity dependence” aspect of Gregor that ultimately leads to his downfall as caretaker and his family’s ascension into self-sufficiency. This notion is better expressed in Inez Martinez’s article on unconsciousness and survival in The Metamorphosis, who says, “Gregor is a portrait of a human so invincibly unconscious that even if an unconscious identity is revealed to him through a literalized transformation, he continues to garner his sense of who he is from without rather than from within.” A safe assumption, then, may be that Gregor has been experiencing an existential crisis in the entirety of
As Gregor struggles to get up and prepare himself for work he realizes that he is already late. As he looks around his bed room he thinks that’s he is just dreaming and attempts to go back to sleep. After many failed attempts Gregor realized that he could not turn over on his side, which was the only position he could sleep in. Moments later, each of his family members knock on his door in an effort to see what is taking him so long. Unable to control his numerous legs, Gregor next tries to move his lower body, but finds out that it is almost impossible to move due to the unbearable pain.
Sadly, Gregor's family treats him like the beast that he truly has become. Seeing the damages as irreparable, they strip him of his worldly possessions and leave him in a "naked den fit for a beast." The struggle that he puts forth when his furniture is taken is symbolic of his struggle to return to human form.
The theme of isolation is present in Franz Kafka’s “The Hunger Artist” and “The Metamorphosis” as a result of his childhood experiences of separation from the typical culture. From an early age, Kafka’s aspirations of being a writer set him apart from his mother and controlling father. In “The Metamorphosis”, Gregor Samsa transformed into a bug he is separated from the rest of his family and those he cares about. In ‘The Hunger Artist”, Kafka created a story of a man who set himself apart from society through the misunderstood qualities of fasting as an art. Franz Kafka’s experience as a child with isolation influenced his writing as the theme of being detached from society is seen through “The Metamorphosis” and “The Hunger Artist”.
...fact that his condition requires aid and later is upset that his parents devote more time to the alien “roomers” than to him (45). Guilt also dominates Gregor’s thoughts, causing him to feel stressed because of his inability to thank his sister and parents for their care. Ironically, Gregor’s “vacation” from work seems to add to his anxiety more than his stressful job had. Perhaps the only way to find enduring peace of mind is to abandon everything, both the good and bad, Kafka suggests; introducing the word peaceful into his story just four pages from the end. After realizing that “his conviction that he would have to disappear was... firmer than his sister’s,” Gregor at last dies in “peaceful reflection,” realizing that his darkness is “beginning to grow light” (51). Having nothing, being nothing, wanting nothing- what a sigh of relief! I would rather stay anxious.
Due to his current state as a bug, he wants to keep his distance from his family as they are already afraid of him. It states, “In order to spare her even this sight, one day he dragged the sheet on his back onto the couch (this task took him four hours) and arranged it in such a way that he was now completely concealed and his sister, even if she bent down, could not see him.” This shows that he is isolating himself for his family from being able to see his body as a bug. He is confined to himself under the couch or under sheets so he can solve his problem of this conversion by himself. Gregor has to physically hide himself from the tenants who come into the house so they do not run away due to fear. This shows the theme of isolation because he can not get out of hiding or else people will fear him. The novel demonstrates his struggle as a bug since he is forced to isolate himself due to the perspective of