The first line of the Metamorphosis, which describes Gregor Samsa’s transformation into some sort of vermin, essentially sets the dark, satirical tone throughout the story. Gregor wakes up transformed into a cockroach, and for some reason instead of being worried and concerned about his transformation, he worries about other irrelevant things, such as his job and his family’s financial situation. Gregor’s transformation not only impacted him, but also his family because eventually they would not be able to continue in life without the financial support that Gregor provided for them. Throughout this part of the story we learn more about Gregor’s human life, and how he felt so consumed by his job that he had become alienated from his family, and pretty much all humans. Gregor’s sudden and unexplained transformation gives the story a fantasy-like tone that is quite extraordinary and can be interpreted in many ways. Gregor Samsa was a travelling salesman who spent most of his time working in order to provide for his family. He has a teenage sister, a lazy and selfish...
‘’This internal lack of self-esteem and the insecurities it produces are heightened by the change in his body. One of the major problems to reading The Metamorphosis is accepting Gregor’s transformation as literal and not merely symbolic; he has really turned into an insect. The strangeness of this fact, along with his and his family’s reactions to it, is what makes the narrative so fascinating and rich in interpretative possibilities’’(Silet). In the Metamorphosis it’s quite odd the way his family reacts to him during his transformation from a human to a creature. They act as if it was something common like, a flu or something. The fact that Gregor initially greets his metamorphosis with a chilling calm suggests that he previously saw himself as vermin like. In the same sense even when he knew he was a bug all he could think about was not being late for work. And even though Gregor was not the best salesmen he made going to work a priority because he wanted to provide for his family, Gregor never missed
Franz Kafka’s beginning of his novel, “The Metamorphosis,” begins with what would seem a climactic moment: “As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.” From this point on, the reader is determined to make sense of this transformation. However, the reader later comes to realize that Gregor is actually not an insect, but this metamorphosis into a vermin was purely symbolic. It symbolizes the degrading lifestyle that Gregor leads to support his family. This leads the reader to understand Gregor’s absurd dilemma.
In the beginning of the novel, Gregor Samsa is seen as the sole breadwinner of the family. He goes to work every day, without even missing a day. He is working at the current place to pay off the debt his parents owe the boss. It isn 't even his own debt, but he is still adamant about paying it off for his family. He sees it as a responsibility from his side. He is so driven by this notion that he doesn 't go out in the evening. He is very quiet and entertains himself. I think the solitude comes with the job. As a travelling businessman, there isn 't much time for social events or routine in his life.
People today live in an absurd world, where they are constantly working and on the go, they forget what matters most to them like their dreams and aspirations and become work zombies. That is why the stories of the Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka and The Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy speak to me, they comment on the absurdity of mundane daily life and tasks that we have become accustomed to and make you think about the life that you are living. The main characters of the two stories, Gregor Samsa and Ivan Ilych, become overwhelmed by the amount of pressures that they put on themselves and by their families. The two characters epitomize what the workers of today have become and the worst part is they never realize how unhappy they have become until it is too late. I know many of us feel the burden of working to much and not living the way we want to. These stories are very bleak and don't offer hope for the main characters, they failed to adapt and perished because of it. The stories make you feel that as if there is no escaping the absurdity of life, as is the
The Samsa family consists of a mother, a father, a brother and a sister. Gregor Samsa was a loving son and brother. He contributed most of his time and money making sure that his family was well taken care of, essentially taking over his father`s position in the family. He gave his family the ability to enjoy the services of a live-in maid as well as a live-in cook. Gregor's parents did not work, as his mother was asthmatic, his father took Gregor's success and translated i...
Gregor’s relationship with his father shows resemblance to the relationship between Kafka and his father. Kafka, as a child, suffered abuse from his father. Kafka viewed his father as a forceful monster, which resembles Gregor’s father. Gregor wanted nothing more than the love of his family, especially his father, just as Kafka had wanted. His reason for writing “The Metamorphosis” could also relate to the situation which he lived in. He was a Jew raised in Austro-Hungarian Empire, modern day Czech Republic. He was a Jew in an area of the world which Jews were not well accepted. Gregor was described as cockroach, something that Jew were often equated to during this time period. Jews were treated like vermin, they were thought of a creature that was to be rid of. Gregor experienced similar treatment from his family. They discussed leaving or getting rid of Gregor during the story. Experiences of Gregor are similar to those that Jews would have experienced during Kafka’s life. “The Metamorphosis” could also demonstrate the issues that normal people face every day. People face trials and tribulations every day that change their lives dramatically, nobody has ever been transformed into a bug, but it does represent the extreme circumstances that may
Do the physical and emotional changes of other people have effects on the people around them? If they do change, will everyone still view them as the same person? Unfortunately, most people in the world today do not accept change in others. Even though the looks of people change and at some moments in their life, their emotions change, they are still going be the same person. The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka is a prime example of how one person’s changes can have an effect on the people around him. In The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, Gregor undergoes a metamorphosis that fills him with guilt and brings to the forefront the transformation of his family.
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
Helmut Richter analyzed the plot of The Metamorphosis in his essay. He depicts the main plot of the story to be Gregor’s failure at his work, which leads to his death. The climax of the story starts off early in the book. When Gregor wakes up one morning, he realizes that he has turned into a giant insect. Gregor was a salesman and his job required that he was very determined in his work. Kafka proves to us that Gregor did not do a good job as a salesman by transforming into a bug: a strong work force. Kafka’s use of this metaphor stresses the poor work that Gregor does as a salesman.
This particular introduction, unlike most other works contains the climax to the story. This paper will show the importance of these introductory lines. “When Gregor Samsa woke up one morning from unsettling dreams, he found himself changed into a monstrous vermin.” This line greatly moves the plot, more so than any other line. It is the climax of the novel, and everything following it helps build the conclusion of the story. The juxtaposition of “unsettling” and “dreams” is ironic, as dreams are peaceful and never unsettling, only nightmares are unsettling. Gregor has transformed into a “monstrous vermin.” The remainder of the first paragraph gives details of exactly what the monstrous vermin is.
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
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.
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.
The feelings of loneliness and betrayal are feelings that we all feel one too many. Some have these feelings for a few simple days, and then those feelings soon pass. For others, however, this is a feeling that is felt for most of their lives. Our loneliness may make us feel alone, when our loneliness is actually common. In The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, the topic of alienation is an ongoing theme from beginning to end. I have interest in this passage because it reveals the writers understanding of a feeling that we all get from time to time. This novella helps us relive these emotions with an understanding that we are not alone in our loneliness.
...uses symbolism to convey his message about humanity. The underlying message of the Metamorphosis is that it unfolds the truth about human nature; the story tells us that humans have lost their humanity. He uses the vermin, food, Mr. Samsa’s uniform, apple, his autobiography, and violin as symbols in the Metamorphosis. The word transformation does not apply to Gregor but also to all the family members of Samsa family. Grete was one of the members of the family, who transformed. For the first few weeks, she took care of Gregor and leaves food for him but then she transforms and she starts to hate Gregor because the family members thought Gregor was a burden to them and was worthless. The family lost the sympathy for Gregor.