An additional theme that Kafka introduces is estrangement. After Gregory’s transformation into an insect, it creates an emotional gap between and those around him. His mother faints upon seeing him and his father even lodges an apple in his backside. His sister cares for him in the initial stages of his transformation, but loses that compassion over time and he even loses his job. Gregory’s transformation has even cut him off from his own kind, humans. Gregory’s mind operates as that of a human, yet he is stuck in the body of an insect that restricts him from interacting with his own race. This can be related to Kafka because as he transitioned from law to literature, he lost much of the respect from his family. His father continued to ignore him such as Gregory’s father did and his mother failed to understand him as Gregory’s mother did. He lost all his siblings and his purpose in life for himself was on par with Gregory’s. Kafka most likely was happy when he was dying because he felt that his death was contribution to society. The majority of Kafka’s feelings and life are condensed into the entirety of The Metamorphosis.
The first would be Gregory’s metamorphosis into an insect, the second would Grete’s metamorphosis from a girl to a woman, and the third would be the family’s transition to a stable lifestyle. Gregory’s transformation assisted Grete’s transformation into womanhood and symbolizing the strength of the female race as well as the renewal of the family’s hope. The renewal of the family’s hope is identical to what would have happened with Kafka’s family had he not died after his parents’ deaths. Kafka’s father was wealthy so his family was well-off, however, families of that time with status such as Kafka’s family loathe the prospect of their children taking up a career in literature rather than a position that was
Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis is so strikingly absurd that it has engendered countless essays dissecting every possible rational and irrational aspect of the book. One such essay is entitled "Kafka's Obscurity" by Ralph Freedman in which he delves down into the pages of The Metamorphosis and ferrets out the esoteric aspects of Kafka's writing. Freedman postulates that Gregor Samsa progresses through several transformations: a transformation of spatial relations, a transformation of time, and a transformation of self consciousness, with his conscious mutation having an antithetical effect on the family opposite to that of Gregor. His conjectures are, for the most part, fairly accurate; Gregor devolves in both his spatial awareness and his consciousness. However, Freedman also asserts that after Gregor's father throws the wounding apple, Gregor loses his sense of time. While his hypothesis certainly appears erudite and insightful, there really is no evidence within the book itself to determine whether if Gregor has a deteriorating sense of time. If Freedman had only written about Gregor's spatial and conscious degradation, then his entire thesis would be accurate.
I read “the metamorphosis” by Kafka about 10 years ago, and really did not enjoy the book at that time. I have never considered that a book about a bug could be so appealing and full of deep meaning and thoughts. But I changed my viewpoint after reading the book again, I felt a strong connection with the main character in the book. Right away I noticed how extremely similar in many aspects, Gregor Samsa story sound like what my uncle went through when he became ill, but, yet also have unique differences.
In Kafka's Metamorphosis, Gregor Samsa, whose life is controlled by his work and family, wakes up a giant insect. Prior to this metamorphosis, Gregor obsequiously goes about his life of routine, despite his hatred for his works and a complete emotional disconnect between Gregor and the family which he works so hard to support. Gregor's metamorphosis marks an important transition in Gregor's life as well as an escape from the monotony of his previous life. Sokel theorizes that Gregor's metamorphosis allows Gregor to express previously repressed feelings of rebellion while not being held accountable for his these tendencies stating "The metamorphosis enables Gregor to become free and stay "innocent", a mere victim of uncontrollable calamity."(206). While his metamorphosis does allow him to free himself from some of the suffering, it traps him in a new cycle, trapped by his families obligation to help him. Throughout his life, Gregor is plagued by a cycle of suffering caused by his families dependence on him which leads to further alienation leading to a dependence on his family's dependence. Though Gregor is broken out of this cycle in his metamorphosis he does not find true freedom until his death.
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.
Angus, Douglas. Kafka's Metamorphosis and "The Beauty and the Beast" Tale. The Journal of English and Germanic Philology, Vol. 53, No. 1. Jan., 1954, pp. 69-71. Print.
The metamorphosis very possibly was written by Kafka as an outlet for his feelings of isolation and helplessness. In it, the protagonist, Gregor Samsa, awakens one morning to find himself spontaneously "transformed in his bed into a monstrous vermin." The story continues from there in a most realistic fashion: his family rejects him, and he stays cooped up in his room until he dies. Although interpretations of the story differ, my opinion is that Kafka wrote this story as a protestation, whether consciously or unconsciously, of his own inner needs not being met. Franz Kafka suffered from severe mental disorientation. This man suffered severe tragedies as a child: as the first child of Hermann and Julie Kafka, he lived to see two brothers born and die before he was six years old. Although they were eventually replaced by three new sisters, Kafka began his life with tragedies which most people do not experience until they are much older. Kafka lacked parental guidance, as he and his sisters were brought up mostly by governess. He was a Jew, and lived in Czechoslovakia, but he went to German schools. Therefore Kafka masked himself twice, at the bidding of his father. His father had made himself into a successful businessman, and expected Kafka to do the same. Most of Kafka's stories contain or center around an over-domineering, almost frightening father figure. Kafka obeyed his father. He remembered his high school education as being meaningless and dull, but, out of obedience to his father, he completed it, and passed with flying colors. This switching to a less offending option in order to offend no one characterizes Kafka very well. He possessed a wonderful mind but rarely, ...
In Kafka’s Metamorphosis, the book begins by the author describing, “One morning, as Gregor Samsa was waking up from anxious dreams, he discovered that in bed he had been changed into a monstrous verminous bug”. It is the body, the form that has transformed and no...
Kafka, Franz. The Metamorphosis. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama and Writing. Ed. X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 7th Compact Ed. New York: Longman, 2013. 268-98. Print.
When first reading a story about a family, the reader typically thinks of the perfect usually family that is portrayed in many movies and television shows to come. The father works and loves his family, the mother is a stay-at-home mom and takes care of the whole family, the son goes to college to make a life for himself, and the daughter goes to school and excels in everything she does. In the short novel The Metamorphosis written by Franz Kafka, the family is not portrayed in this way. The father stays at home and is abusive not only physically but emotionally as well, the mother does stay home but only to take care of the father, their son Gregor is the breadwinner of the family but he has no say in anything, and the daughter Grette stays in her room to avoid trouble. Kafka wrote all of his stories to express his emotions, but The Metamorphosis expressed it on a whole new level by Kafka used to write letters to his family, and his hatred towards his abusive father is shown in his letter Brief an den Vater (Letter to His Father).
Kafka 55. Gregor's father felt relief from the economic burden of supporting his son. Even though the exact story told in Kafka's The Metamorphosis could not occur outside the domain of fantasy, it represents the real course of events of a worker being abandoned by his employer and family, after becoming unable to work and support them financially. Examining the novella from a Marxist perspective, the underlying theme of the story shows a conflict between proletariat and bourgeoisie. Economics replaces everything else in a capitalistic society, a citizen who is unable to labor and earn wages is quickly abandoned.
He used space to give the reader a sense of how physically close Gregory is to his family. However, emotionally Gregory seems to be very distant from them. Kafka also used point of view as one of his formal elements because the whole book is written from Gregory’s point of view. Lastly, language plays an important role in this text because Kafka chose his words carefully. For example, he chose to use the word vermin to describe Gregory’s physical state, which can be translated as an insect. Nonetheless, the language in this text plays a large role because it was what tied the idea of his family being the true vermin and Gregory the true
The story, Metamorphosis, is an unusual story to say the least. The very first sentence one meets the main character, Gregor Samsa. This sentence really shows how different this story is when compared to other books in this class. Throughout the story the author, Franz Kafka, wants the reader to sympathize with Gregor. ‘When Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from troubled dreams, he found himself changed into a monstrous cockroach in his bed’ (87), is the first sentence, and already the author wants the reader to feel sympathy for Gregor. This is no dream either, he is really a bug, and Kafka makes sure there is no confusion. This is just one of many examples that I will discuss where Kafka wants the reader to sympathize with Gregor.
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.
...regor dies, while Grete lives. We as readers will never know the true reason behind Kafka’s Metamorphosis, but it is a masterpiece. It relates surprisingly well to today’s society even though it was written between 1912 and 1915. The topic of metamorphosis is really universal, we as humans are constantly changing, growing and evolving.