Ben Leger
English 4-03
Mr. Volding
3/31/14
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.
Gregor, prior to his metamorphosis, is stuck in a cycle of suffering. He is a slave to his obligations and is alienated emotionally from the outside world. His life, ruled by his families dependence on him, around a job he neither choose nor enjoys. Gregor’s work so engrosses his life that there is no time for rest. He has not “had a day’s illness in his five years at the firm.” and that “if it weren't for my parents I’d have handed in my notice long ago.” (Kafka 1967) Gregor lives alarm clock ...
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...s he is stuck in a cycle of suffering caused by his obligations to pay off his family's debt, which causes him to become alienated creating a dependence on his obligations in order to interact with his family. His metamorphosis initially breaks him out of this cycle of suffering only to be thrust into a new one, living confined to his room and completely depending on them for his sustenance and well being. This dependence alienates him further from his family as his care and appearance become to much to bear for his family, leading to his death. in his death he is finally freed from the suffering that plagued his life as well as freeing his family from the burden of caring for him. Gregor's metamorphosis allows him to see the conditional nature that the love his family has for him. In death Gregor is finally freed from the cycles of suffering that plagued his life.
... to do this every day Gregor would have had to have some sense of time. His dwindling human aspects are prominently marked in two places: the first when Gregor is incapable of communicating with his family and the sales manager and the second when he takes pleasure in rutting about in dirt and filth. Lastly, Gregor's loss of consciousness causes a polar change within his family. As Gregor is no longer able to earn money to support the family, everyone else is forced to take action to bring in capital. The most obvious change is in the father who transformed from a dead weight into a zealous worker. Despite Freedman's employment of flawed logic to formulate some of his theories, the majority of his conclusions are quite valid and probe deeply into the meaning behind Kafka's writing.
In the story Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka portrays Mr. Samsa, Gregor’s father as a cold-hearted parent who experiences his son’s transformation into a giant bug; worried only by a sense of lost financial support, Mr. Samsa has little to no concern towards his son’s welfare. On the other hand, Bram stoker, the author of Dracula sketched Van Helsing as a righteous hero character trying to save humanity by leading a group of courageous men and women to hunt down an evil vampire. Comparing a kind hearted, knowledgeable and fearless leader to an insensitive, selfish and broken Oldman, these two characters present two completely different traits of the characteristic; moreover, through the characteristics of both characters, the authors revealed their
In Kafka’s Metamorphosis, there are numerous transitions in all of the characters, both physically and mentally. At the beginning of the story, the family appears lopsided, as they desperately rely on Gregor for economic stability. Therefore, he holds much of the authority in the family, contrary to the traditional paternal authority in most families. Although the family begins in a discombobulated and static state dependant on Gregor, they gradually evolve into more independent individuals, until they ultimately experience a rebirth and become hopeful for the future. Immediately after Gregor 's metamorphosis, they gradually evolve their perception of reality to become more self sufficient, and the responsibility of the family returns back
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.
In the context of The Metamorphosis, Gregor Samsa is being isolated from his family and the rest of society. Gregor was isolated from his family and society long before he turned into a bug. He was isolated before because he was was the traveling salesman who rarely saw his family. Gregor was hardly eating. He believed that it was because he had become depressed and unhappy about his room. His room had become the catch all for everyone else’s things (Kafka 42). The only attention that Gregor had been receiving from his family was all the assorted items that they kept placing into his room. In his analysis of The Metamorphosis, O’Connor considers, “It would appear that the truly deformed characters are the supporting cast of Metamorphosis. Indeed, the hero of the story contains more pathos and more human qualities than any of the other characters who are free of being transformed into cockroaches” (59). The deformed characters that make up Gregor’s family are causing harm to Gregor. His morale is so low in result of his family the low morale is causing Gregor to quit eating. Gregor’s family is isolating and alienating him. The separation between Gregor, his family, and society is detrimental to Gregor’s life because it is inhumane to cause him to feel this
In The Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka manifests naïveté of Gregor Samsa by prolonging his realization of societal banishment due to underexposure. Revelations made by Samsa later prove his ignorance of his purpose in the eyes of his family. In addition to the many instances in which Gregor is trialed, Kafka’s continuous stream of distractions mimic Gregor’s persona.
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.
He suffers mental and physical pain, including weapons and hurtful words, but, by the end, Gregor recognizes that he is never truly wanted and that everyone fakes compassion for him. Gregor dies in peace knowing that his family will move on without him and that satisfies him. All he wants is for his family's life to be easier, because he loves them. And despite all the cruelty done by both weapons and mental actions, Gregor finds a way to forgive his loved ones and dies to make their life
Kafka used his work, The Metamorphosis, as a tool to express the theme of physical and mental illness present throughout his own life. The most disturbing thing about Gregor’s transformation into a giant insect is that this is an auto portrait that Kafka means to paint of himself. The main reason for the creation of Gregor’s transformation is because Franz Kafka thought of himself as a vile vermin in his later days. Kafka was afflicted with many illnesses throughout his lifetime including: insomnia, recurring coughs, night sweats, and similar difficulties, all of which are symptoms of tuberculosis. This later caused him to spend much of his time in a sanitarium with only his journals to keep him company. With his illness and isolation, Kafka felt like the very vermin he describes Gregor to be, going to the length of referring to himself as “Ungeziefer,” (vermin) in his unpublished “Letter to His
One of the themes of The Metamorphosis is that the protagonist, Gregor Samsa becomes alienated from his own family. Gregor Samsa awakes in his bed one morning only to discover that he has transformed into a large insect. Gregor, a traveling salesman has overslept and receives a visit from his office manager. Inevitably, Gregor’s transformation directly causes him to lose his job as the office manager flees upon seeing him. Although on the outside Gregor is unrecognizable and hideous, he still retains some of his humanity and inner-self but struggles to reconcile it with his physical condition. Gregor is set to remain in this state for the rest of his life. At first sight of Gregor’s metamorphosis, his mother fainted and his father cried. However, his father instantly turns hostile as he chases Gregor into his room with a cane and slams the door shut. The father shows no concern or sympathy for him whatsoever. It is suggested that Gregor’s estrangement with his father in the novella is a representation of Kafka’s real-life relationship with his father. Although Gregor never says that he hates or resents his father, it is obvious that he works as a traveling salesman to make up for his father’s business failures. Gregor’s father sympathizes the least with him out of all the novella’s major characters and is most hostile toward him. Unfortunately,...
From the beginning of The Metamorphosis Kafka offers a comical depiction of Gregor’s “squirming legs” (Kafka 13) and a body in which “he could not control” (7). Gregor’s initial reaction to this situation was the fact he was late to his dissatisfying job as a salesman, but Gregor knows that he has to continue his job in order to keep the expectation his family holds upon him to pay of the family’s everlasting debt. When Gregor’s family eventually realizes that Gregor is still lying in his bed, they are confused because they have expectations on Gregor that he will hold the family together by working. They know if Gregor was to quit his job there would be a great catastrophe since he is the glue to keeping their family out of debt. The communication between his family is quickly identified as meager and by talking to each other from the adjacent walls shows their disconnection with each other. Kafka introduces the family as lacking social skills in order to offer the reader to criticize and sympathize for Gregor’s family dynamics. Gregor’s manager makes an appearance quickly after experiencing the dysfunction within the fami...
His burden of existence has led his family to the wish of the removal of Gregor’s life entirely. “‘We’ve only harmed ourselves by believing it for so long. How can it that be Gregor? If it were Gregor he would have seen long ago that it’s not possible for human beings to live with an animal like that and he would have gone of his own free will’” (Kafka 40). Soon after, Gregor is found dead in his room and the family celebrates, fires the cleaning lady, and leaves to rejoice in their relief of misery. The reader is left baffled at the absurdity that has just unraveled before them. Susanne Klingenstein wonderfully captures the reality of this story in her critical essay of The Metamorphosis: “What remains real about Kafka’s story, however, is the moment of pain when Gregor understands that he is no longer himself, a person, but a thing. At that point, … the story stops being a joke, metaphysical, psychoanalytical, or
‘When Gregor Samsa woke up one morning from unsettling dreams, he found himself changed in his bed into a monstrous vermin’. Kafka begins his most famous work of literature with a peculiar yet effective first sentence. The statement is simple in nature but its meaning is much bolder and as a result Kafka is able to grab his readers’ attention. The reader has to contemplate what this could mean and consequently ask ‘why’ such an incident took place. Kafka is very effective in engaging his audience into his text and therefore readers go on to find out more about the peculiar man who turned into a ‘monstrous vermin’.
Gregor’s boldness about his desires to vacate his employment acts as a satirical commentary on his inability to make his achievable urges a reality, both before and after his transformation. The dissonance between Gregor’s aspirations and his actions during his human life is manifested by the literal discord he experiences after his metamorphosis. For example, the morning of his transformation Gregor found it difficult to get out of bed because he couldn’t control his “little legs.” Although he would try to bend them they would instead stretch themselves out. Gregor’s mind was incapable of forcing his body to cooperate with his desires, just as Gregor was incapable of acting on his wishes before his transformation. Gregor also finds that he is no longer comfortable with his sleep position, just as he was uncomfortable with his position at work, however now he cannot ignore the discomfort because it prevents him from sleeping. The literal metamorphosis of Gregor is Kafka’s representation of the choices that lead to Gregor’s dehumanization before his transformation. Although Gregor is trying to relieve his family from debt, he has allowed his job to take control of his life and hinder his human identity. Therefore, Gregor’s metamorphosis represents a loss of human identity in modern
In Franz Kafka’s short story, Metamorphosis, the idea of existentialism is brought out in a subtle, yet definite way. Existentialism is defined as a belief in which an individual is ultimately in charge of placing meaning into their life, and that life alone is meaningless. They do not believe in any sort of ultimate power and focus much of their attention on concepts such as dread, boredom, freedom and nothingness. This philosophical literary movement emerged in the twentieth-century, when Kafka was establishing his writing style in regards to alienation and distorted anxiety. A mirror to his own personal lifestyle, this story follows the short and sad life of a man unable to break out of the bonds society has placed on him. These bonds are not only evident in the work place, but at home too. Being constantly used and abused while in his human form, Gregor’s lifestyle becomes complicated once he becomes a giant insect and is deemed useless. Conflicts and confusion arise primarily between Gregor and his sister Grete, his parents, and his work. Each of these three relationships has different moral and ethical complications defining them. However, it is important for one to keep in mind that Gregor’s metamorphosis has placed him into a position of opposition, and that he has minimal control over the events to take place. Conflicts will also occur between family members as they struggle with the decision of what to do with Gregor. In the end they all come to the agreement that maintaining his uselessness is slowly draining them and they must get rid of him.