Franz Kafka's 'Metamorphosis'

609 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Kafka analysis the judgement

The Metamorphosis Journal
Kafka starts off the novel by describing how Gregor Samsa wakes up one morning and all of a sudden he is not a human, but a bug. The first question that I had and I couldn’t get an answer to is how did he just wake up being a bug? Reading on, I realized that Kafka did this intentionally as the most important event in this book is the transition that Gregor and his family go through, not how it started.
Going back to the novel, Gregor looks around in discomfort and tries to fall back asleep, however he soon realizes that this is permanent and he needs to get adjusted to what is going on. He doesn’t have a proper voice anymore, he can barely control his body and he is disgusted just by looking at himself. On top of …show more content…

While his sister is playing the violin for the 3 renters living with them, Gregor goes to take a look and the renters notice him. While at first they are just amused, soon enough they feel discomfort and they leave the next day without even paying for rent. All these events clearly show how the Samsa family clearly fails adapting to Gregor’s new life and eventually they agree that he cannot stay in the same house as them. The moment they realize that he has left his room three times, they think of these actions as his attempts to taking over the apartment and they clearly agree that this bug doesn’t reassemble to their beloved Gregor at all.
After seeing that he is nothing more than a worthless insect he thinks that it is better for his family if he was to just disappear. Even though he has to suffer with the fact that he isn’t a human anymore, he also has to see his family while they suffer too. Eventually he dies alone in his own room due to self starvation and the cleaning lady finds “its” body and announces it to Mr. and Mrs. Samsa. After confronting the fact, the whole family seems to be relieved and they take a day off to leave the apartment and go out.
Throughout the book we saw the metamorphosis of how Gregor, who used to be the manly figure in the house and the breadwinner, ends up being a powerless insect. His family who used to be so powerless compared to him is now made up of completed individuals who actively work and try to make ends

Show More
Related

  • Isolation in Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis

    876 Words  | 2 Pages

    Gregor’s father demotes societal views of himself by his actions. Gregor’s father depends on Gregor for the income for the family. When Gregor morphs into a bug, Mr. Samsa reluctantly becomes the sole provider for his family. Getting a ...

    Read More

  • Analysis of Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis

    1748 Words  | 4 Pages

    with all his might" just to liberate himself from the bed (Kafka 9). Freedman recognizes that since getting out of bed is such a formidable task to Gregor, Gregor's spatial world has already shrunk immensely. Until he manages to fling himself out of bed, Gregor's habitable world consists only of the bed. Another limitation to the world that Gregor is capable of inhabiting in his current state is foreshadowed when Gregor "fixed his eyes as sharply as possible on the window" but is not able to distinguish anything because of "the morning fog" (Kafka 7).... ...

    Read More

  • Examples Of Outsiders In Metamorphosis By Franz Kafka

    674 Words  | 2 Pages

    “What sorts of excuses people had used on that first morning to get unable to ascertain. Since he was not comprehensible, nobody, not even his sister, thought that he might be able to understand others.” (Kafka, 154) He is the humanoid beetle that doesn't fit in with the rest of the Samsa family. This is where the misunderstood part begins to take place. Gregor is bewildered in the fact that he fell asleep human and woke up as a bug. His family tends to think that it is not even him, and misunderstands how he could have turned into a bug. Things are not the same, because nobody can comprehend what has happened and why. One reason Gregor is so misunderstood, revolves around a feeling of hate. Gregor is the one who did the work to pay for his family. The father was lazy, and the mother has bad asthma. Gregor payed all the bills. Once he can no longer work, his family may think that he did not want to pay the bills, therefore, they pushed him away as if he was never there. Also important, near the end of the story, we find out just how little Gregor is cared for. One of the most important parts of this

    Read More

  • Franz Kafka's Metamorphisis

    958 Words  | 2 Pages

    Gregor Samsa’s mother, whose name is never revealed, is a physically and constitutionally weak woman. She cares dearly for Gregor which is first shown by her distress as Gregor does not wake up at his usual time. It is evident that Gregor’s mother has the hardest time coping with his transformation. She can not bear to lay eyes upon Gregor. Though she has trouble adjusting, she doesn’t stop loving her only son. As Gregor’s mother and sister begin to move furniture out of his room, his mother stops to contemplate whether this is the right course of action. As Sheldon Goldfarb states in his critical essay, “When his mother and sister start removing his furniture, his mother's second thoughts provoke him to resist: he does not want to give up his human past and the possibility of returning to it” (Goldfarb). On the outside, Gregor’s mother reacts with repulsion at the sight of the bug, but on the inside still cares deeply about her son underneath. Gregor is able to see this and it gives him new hope.

    Read More

  • The Metamorphosis as a Depiction of Franz Kafka's Life

    1200 Words  | 3 Pages

    When comparing Franz Kafka and his personal life to The Metamorphosis it is obvious in more ways than one that he was writing a twisted story of his life. The emotional and physical abuse Gregor goes through are similar to what Kafka went through in real life. They were both abused and neglected by their fathers when they were disappointed with them. Kafka uses Gregor transforming into a bug as a way of exaggerating himself, trying to express his feelings and point of view. When writing, Kafka felt as if he was trapped in his room which he referred to as "the noise headquarters of the apartment". Gregor was an exaggeration of this because he could not leave the house to escape the noises and abuse.

    Read More

  • Existentialism in Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis

    615 Words  | 2 Pages

    One morning, Gregor awakens to find himself with the body of a beetle.  Although it never explains how Gregor morphed into a beetle, or shows that Gregor gives much thought to having the body of an insect, Kafka gives the strong impression that Gregor is extremely devoted to his work and is the sole support for his family, none of whom work themselves.  Gregor devoted himself to a life of work and self sacrifice, following ...

    Read More

  • The Metamorphosis by Kafka

    1497 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...orm of a bug, a form that knows nothing but work. By ignoring the purpose of being an insect, Gregor defeats the purpose of living in his new form of life, and in effect, dies.

    Read More

  • Comparison of Themes in The Yellow Wallpaper and the Metamorphosis

    729 Words  | 2 Pages

    Similar to the woman in Gilman's story, Gregor, in "The Metamorphosis," watches as his life slowly deteriorates. He woke up one morning to find himself to have taken the shape of a bug. But early on he tried to continue in his normal activities; he focused on how he was going to make it to the train station so he did not miss his train, and how his employer would be upset with his absence from work. Then he begins to realize that he is a bug, and he cannot live his life the same way he used to. His sister begins to take care of him, and he loses touch with everything human that he used to know. His mother and father take away all of his furniture and other possessions. Gregor's family come to the agreement that the bug must be eliminated, it...

    Read More

  • Betrayal In Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis

    936 Words  | 2 Pages

    The parents of Gregor ultimately failed to care for him in a time where he needed the emotional support. They also neglected Grete as well and handicapped her true potential as a musician. The biggest betrayal of all; however, took place after Grete quit believing in Gregor and left him to die. While Gregor changing into a bug did put new stress on the family, it was the betrayal of each other that lead to their demise. In conclusion the Samsa family proved to be unloyal amongst each other, and Gregor happened to lose his life because of

    Read More

  • Gregor Samsa's Transformation In The Metamorphosis

    268 Words  | 1 Pages

    In the novella The Metamorphosis, it is apparent that Gregor Samsa’s transformation as a bug had a stupendous effect on his overall identity as an individual, creating a change from his past life to his present life. Gregor’s past life was filled with powerful work ethic as well as a positive attitude that was able to drive him to work every day. His strong identity is what drove his will during the early stages of being a bug; however, this all changes when his family first see what he has become after he opens the door for them. His identity of being a strong, independent man turned to an isolated, unwanted bug. This is the first glimpse of his identity shift as his strong character is quickly overthrown by his reveal to the outside world.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Metamorphosis

    931 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Those had been beautiful days, and they had never come back afterwards, at least not with the same splendour, in spite of the fact that Gregor later earned so much money that he was in a position to bear the expenses of the entire family, expenses which he, in fact, did bear. They had become quite accustomed to it, both the family and Gregor as well. They took the money with thanks, and he happily surrendered it, but the special warmth was no longer present.”(Chapter 3, page 35) He felt the only way to really be free and find himself is to completely separate himself from who he once was, accentuating the already deep resonating feelings of not being valued and looked at in the meer way that one looks at an object. The metamorphosis didn’t have only negative effects though. We see the positive effects on the family as they are now more independent. Gregor’s slow departure forced his family to be able to survive on their own and reinvent their lives and needs together. In the end, you find Gregor finally finds his peace and he drifts off into eternal

    Read More

  • Theme Of Self-Sacrifice In The Metamorphosis

    1410 Words  | 3 Pages

    Family’s ignorance has also quickened the process. In exposition of The Metamorphosis, Gregor is presented as a relatively successful citizen. He and his family live in their own house, although Gregor is the only one working, they still have a maid to work for them. Nonetheless in the end, Gregor dies alienated and involuntarily. As “his head involuntarily sank down altogether” (Kafka 49), his destruction as a human is determined. Kafka reveals to readers the process of Gregor’s self-destruction throughout the story. Some would argue that the story begins with a climax, which is most biggest sacrifice Gregor made: He is transformed into “an enormous bug” (Kafka 11). As he did not make sacrifices to the family, he is still considered as an individual with all the human attributes as the rising action develops. He is able to think logically; there is a detachment between his bug body and human mind, as “each time he rock[s] back into the supine position” (Kafka 11) when he wants to move. He is also able to see. However as the rising action develops, the family begins to ignore him as Gregor but see him as a monster, he is forced to make sacrifices and compromises to wards the family. His human qualities begin to destruct. He has more connection with the body, and starts to enjoy “hanging up on the ceiling” (Kafka 32) like a bug. He also “no longer derive[s] the slightest pleasure from eating” (Kafka 32) when Grete starts to neglect him. When the story getting closer to the climax, Gregor loses more humanity when he sacrifices his room into a cave where a bug lives. His last confrontation with the family is when he comes out to save his sister from the lodgers. He has almost no humanity at the time; to others Gregor is only a giant bug. Grete eventually declares that “[they] have to get rid of it” (Kafka 47). The declaration can be

    Read More

  • Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis

    1780 Words  | 4 Pages

    Within family there will always be sacrifices each member makes. Sometimes we dread making these sacrifices because they prohibit us from doing things we would rather do with our time or because they simply make us unhappy, but regardless of the resentment, we are able to say that we do things for our family, which gives us a sense of pride. In the novella, “The Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka, the ability or inability to sacrifice one’s time for work or for the well being of one’s family create a divide between the family members. Through Gregor’s transformation from human to bug Kafka shows the family’s divide via the inevitable need for the family’s changes in roles, indirect implications of Gregor’s human disappearance, and symbols that Gregor

    Read More

  • Self-Esteem In Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis

    401 Words  | 1 Pages

    Gregor’s self esteem went down, when his family was afraid of him. He didn’t know how to move, and he was afraid to for anyone to see him. “The thing he wanted to do was to get up in peace without being disturbed,to get dressed, and most of all to have his breakfast.” Although if I turned into a bug I wouldn’t want anyone to see

    Read More

  • Change In Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis

    717 Words  | 2 Pages

    In light of, the event that occurred in the Samsa’s household not only affected Gregor but his whole family. As for his family change was sudden with their only breadwinner out of the picture not being able to work no more they were financially unstable and needed to make a change if they still wanted food on their table. Every member of the family is forced to get a job to withstand their financial problems. Mr. Samsa, for instance, was reincorporated into the workforce always looking “as if he was ready for service at any moment and even here only at the beck and call of his superior”(Kafka 32). For Ms. Samsa, she is “devoted her energy on making underwear for strangers,” as for Grete, she became a sales girl for the meantime to help out the family financially (Kafka 38). For the most part, all of them have dehumanizing jobs and the household always seemed depressed. With the Samsa’s new lives they began to switch feelings towards Gregor with the burden of having Gregor in the household being a major problem for the family due to the reason that they want to sell the house but with Gregor

    Read More

More about Franz Kafka's 'Metamorphosis'

Open Document