Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis Essay

922 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Narrative writing on metamorphosis

To be human does not mean to be a physical part of the human race. In The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, the characters showed many examples of human and inhuman characteristics. The Metamorphosis features travelling salesman Gregor Samsa and his family, and explores how they dealt with Gregor’s sudden transformation into a bug. His father seems least affected by the transformation. On the contrary, Gregor’s sister Grete and his mother, Mrs. Samsa, show a lot of compassion with how they deal with this abrupt change in their lives. The character development of each character is shown through their acts of compassion. According to The Metamorphosis, to be human means to care for others, or to have compassion, as seen through Gregor, Grete, and Mrs. Samsa over the course of the novella.
Gregor Samsa showed how much he cared about his family in several ways. Working as a travelling salesman, Gregor is trying to pay off his parent’s debt to his boss. In part I Gregor says, “...once I’ve got the money together to pay off my parent’s debt to him - another five or six years I suppose” (Kafka 2). This shows that not only is he working to pay off the debt so his parents do not have to, he is also doing a job he does not enjoy. He also says he wants to send Grete to music school. This shows that he would be willing to spend a lot
Samsa throughout The Metamorphosis. Before he turned into a bug, Gregor showed numerous caring qualities, and he worked to pay off his debt and earn money for his family. He even did his best to make their lives easier when he turned into a bug. Grete took on most of the responsibility of caring for her family and also was very compassionate towards Gregor, and Mrs Samsa did her best, despite her fragile state, to continue to support her family and Gregor. To be human means that caring for others will always be an instinct, no matter what the circumstances

Show More
Related

  • Family Relations in The Metamorphisis

    498 Words  | 1 Pages

    Family Relations it The Metamorphisis In The Metamorphosis Gregors new state both scares and angers his father eventually resulting in Gregors death. Gregors father has been long free from working to support the family and this burden has now been restored by Gregors metamorphosis. Mr. Samsa’s dependency on Gregor is shown in his first appearance in the book were he immediately seems furious that gregor has so little as missed a train. In an incredible display of hypocrisy he says “ He’s not well, sir, believe me, what else would make him miss a train!”

    Read More

  • The Theme Of Betrayal In The Metamorphosis By Franz Kafka

    963 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka is the story of Gregor Samsa, his turning into a bug, and his ultimate death. In the beginning of the novel Gregor wakes up as a bug and struggles to become used to his new body. Gregor is locked in his room and late for work; he is the only one who works in his family, so it is important that he shows up and earns money to pay off his parents debts. His office manager shows up wondering where he has been and everyone is shocked to see Gregor’s transformation when he finally makes his way out of his room. Upon seeing him, his father shoves him forcefully back into the room, scraping Gregor’s back. Grete, Gregor’s sister, is his primary caretaker throughout the book and she makes certain he is receiving the food he wants and is the only one to clean his room for him. Gregor’s mother and father do not pay much attention to him at all throughout the book. The mother occasionally checks on him, but can barely stand the sight of him. Eventually, Grete starts working and stops taking care of him too, leaving Gregor all by himself. Betrayal is evident in The Metamorphosis and contributes to

    Read More

  • Franz Kafka's Metamorphisis

    958 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis

    1103 Words  | 3 Pages

    Franz Kafka had explored two conflicting ideas with the use of his protagonist Gregor: unity and isolation. Gregor’s transformation formed a whole life in which he could not escape. But on the other hand his family members were able to improve from his isolation. Especially Grete who went through a metamorphosis of her own

    Read More

  • The Transformation Of Humanity In Gregor Kafka's The Metamorphosis

    1232 Words  | 3 Pages

    The world lies on a thick plate of morality, love, sympathy, opinion, and vitality – all of which are contributions to what shapes humanity. Humanity overtime has strengthened in fluctuating wavelengths through infinite trials and tribulations. In ‘The Metamorphosis,’ the protagonist of the novel, Gregor Samsa, transforms into a vile, repulsive insect: a cockroach. This occurrence strikes a test for the Samsa household, playing a role on their behaviors and the meaning of “humanity” itself.

    Read More

  • Betrayal In Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis

    936 Words  | 2 Pages

    and Mrs. Samsa. Gregor describes throughout the novel his sister’s passion for music. He also points out the fact that their parents do not assist Grete in pursuit of this type of career, “Often during Gregor’s short days in the city the Conservatory would come up in his conversations, but always merely as a beautiful dream which was not supposed to come true, and his parents were not happy to hear these innocent allusions” (Kafka 26). The Samsa’s hindered Grete’s potential which forced her into a path she did not want to follow. Another example is how she was forced to become the primary caregiver for Gregor.

    Read More

  • The Greatest Gift Of Mental Change In The Metamorphosis By Kafka

    1185 Words  | 3 Pages

    Gregor is the focal point of the family, he provided for them when they needed the money. Gregor also brought the family into turmoil with his change. Just as Gregor brought them into turmoil he brought on growth for the family. His death gave his family a new life. Before Gregor’s metamorphosis, his family was a helpless and selfish. There was little meaningful interaction among them. Once Gregor had become a creature the family had to become resourceful, they learned valuable skills. Gregor gave his family something that could bond them together, they discussed what to do about Gregor almost every night. Gregor’s tragedy brought his family together. Gregor served as a “savior” for his family, he played the same role that Jesus did for the world. Gregor’s life was taken so that the rest of his family may achieve salvation. His family had changed from a selfish and lazy group of people to a loving and caring family. As Gregor grew closer toward death, his family grew closer to

    Read More

  • Justice and Mercy in The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

    898 Words  | 2 Pages

    Kafka’s The Metamorphosis takes on an wide variety of main themes. One of the most important of these is the collapse of morality and mercy, even among those people who are expected to be most fair and compassionate. Gregor’s metamorphosis is indeed terrible, but more terrible still is the psychological corruption of Gregor’s family. Their inability to adapt to the changes that have occurred signal a total breakdown in the family structure, and offer a cautionary tale about the fragility of notions of justice and mercy and how a certain change can change a persons perception of them.

    Read More

  • Gregor Samsa's Metamorphosis in The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

    1283 Words  | 3 Pages

    People want their family to love and support them during times of need, but if they are unable to develop this bond with their family members, they tend to feel alone and depressed. In the novel The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, Kafka describes the theme of alienation and its negative effect on people and their relationships with the people around them. This theme can be shown through Gregor Samsa, the main character in The Metamorphosis. After Gregor’s metamorphosis, or transformation, he is turned from a human being into a giant bug which makes him more and more distant from the people in his life. The alienation that Gregor experiences results in his eventual downfall, which could and would happen to anyone else who becomes estranged from the people around them. Gregor’s alienation and its effect on his relationship with his family can be shown through his lack of willing interaction with his family members due to his inability to communicate to them, the huge burden he puts on the family after his metamorphosis, and his family’s hope to get rid of him because he is not who he was before.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Betrayal In The Metamorphosis

    966 Words  | 2 Pages

    The story of The Metamorphosis starts out simply, with a human waking up no longer human, but rather as a giant bug. This existential novella is filled with absurdity, as well as betrayal. When Gregor Samsa, the main character, wakes up one day as a bug, his first priority is getting to his job, in order to make money to support his family. But as the story goes on, he is betrayed by the family he loves so much, but worse, he betrays who he is as a person. Betrayal in the novella The Metamorphosis contributes to the overall message of the story that anyone will betray you, regardless of if they are family, enemies, or even yourself, through showing the actions of Gregor’s father towards Gregor, Grete’s actions against Gregor, and Gregor’s own

    Read More

  • Gregor's Selflessness In The Metamorphosis By Franz Kafka

    1422 Words  | 3 Pages

    Gregor Samsa is the protagonist in the famous novella The Metamorphosis, written by the Czech author Franz Kafka. Gregor goes through a physical metamorphosis during his sleep, awaking to find himself entrapped in the body of a giant insect, not knowing how or why it happened. Yet, throughout the story you see that Gregor’s humility, as a human and as an insect, shows that he truly cares for his family in the 1915 classic. Through Gregor’s love for his now neglectful family, we can ask this question: is Gregor actually more human than his family? This question can be answered by looking at one of Gregor’s greatest attributes, his selflessness.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Dehumanization In The Metamorphosis By Franz Kafka

    1143 Words  | 3 Pages

    His family used to care about him but after the transformation, they were no longer concerned for him. Every time the family talks about money, Gregor feels guilty and embarrassed because he can no longer provide for them. When he was able to work before, he had brought money home and “They had simply got used to it, both the family and Gregor; the money was gratefully accepted and gladly given, but there was no special uprush of warm feeling” (Kafka Ch 2 pg 6). Now that he can no longer provide, the family had to come up with ways to keep up with finances. Gregor is dehumanized each time his sister Grete walks into the room to look after him because she cannot bear the sight of him so he hides each time. Each day following Gregor’s transformation, the family’s behavior towards him became more cynical and resentful towards him. They do not allow him to leave his room and worry about how they can go on living with him. They think of him as being a creature, losing their view of him as a human being and no longer important. When Grete decided to take his furniture out of his room, Gregor feels he is dehumanized because they are taking away the link to his humanity. When it came to Gregor’s father, Gregor would “run before his father, stopping when he stopped and scuttling forward again when his father made any kind of move.” His father then threw at apple at him which ‘landed right on his back and sank in; Gregor wanted to drag himself forward, as if this startling, incredible pain could be left behind him” (Kafka Ch 2 pg

    Read More

  • Psychological Transformation In Gregor's Metamorphosis, By Franz Kafka

    1045 Words  | 3 Pages

    Franz Kafka illustrates in his book the struggle that most humans have throughout their life: ‘Who am I?’ He demonstrates this through his radical and exaggerated formation of The Metamorphosis, a man becoming a bug; or a bug always thinking he was a man, then realizing that he is and always has been a bug. This bug, Gregor Samsa, goes through an immense psychological realization at the beginning of the book; he had been deceived by his own mind from the beginning of his life. Throughout Gregor’s Metamorphosis, Gregor experiences the loss of his self actualization, recognition, belonging, security, and physiological needs. His situation had taken away all the basic psychological needs of any human as illustrated by Maslow’s Hierarchy of

    Read More

  • Family Dynamics in The Metamorphosis

    740 Words  | 2 Pages

    By Mr. Samsa’s stowing his pain in his proverbial soul effects his actions in life and the people surrounding him including his children. His childhood equally lacked a health structure. When family coexists under the same household, especially children, they begin to take on certain roles in the family. Grete’s role in the family structure was the one as the initiator. She’s the one who suggested killing Gregor or disposing of him and the father followed pursuit in agreement.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Alienation In The Metamorphosis

    961 Words  | 2 Pages

    Isolation and alienation of one's own choice and others can lead to the dehumanization of a human. In Kafka’s short novel, The Metamorphosis, the character Gregor Samsa experiences isolation and alienation. Gregor is never recognized by his family for his efforts, but is instead taken for granted. The moment he becomes a bug, his family begins to realize that they can no longer rely on him for support. Due to Gregor’s loss of usefulness and his hideous outer appearance, it leads to isolation and alienation.

    Read More

More about Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis Essay

Open Document