English World Literature Essay: The Outsider and The Metamorphosis
Comparisons between the relationships that the protagonists had with
their parents and how these defined their characters.
In the novels, The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka and The Outsider by
Albert Camus, there are many important relationships that help define
the protagonists. The protagonist in The Metamorphosis, Gregor Samsa,
and the protagonist from The Outsider, Meursault, both had significant
relationships with people that helped develop and define their
character, the most important of these being their relationships with
their parents. I will compare the two protagonists in their
relationships with their parents and explain how these relations
define aspects of their character.
Firstly, in the novel, the Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, Gregor Samsa
is a travelling salesman who hates his job but is forced to keep it in
order to support his family and pay off his father’s debts. Gregor has
only one sister, so their family is quite small. Immediately at the
beginning of the book, Gregor is transformed into a giant insect. He
never comes to terms with his metamorphosis and struggles with intense
feelings of guilt as if his inability to support his family were his
own fault. Though he is now free from having to go to work, Gregor is
now a liability to his family who keep him locked up in his room.
Isolated and neglected, Gregor is a metaphor for the human being
oppressed by capitalism and alienated from work, family, and himself.
In the novel, The Outsider by Albert Camus, Meursault is a young man
who lives alone and is emotionally indifferent to most things in his
life. He cares only for physical pleasures, things that he experien...
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...not my fault” when
he informed his boss he had to take two days off. So this is a key
difference between the two characters. Their sense of duty. We also
see that in different ways, Samsa’s duty to his family, and
Meursault’s lack of emotion towards his mother, both end up causing
their demises.
So Meursault’s mother and Samsa’s parents are important in defining
their characters. Meursault’s mother shows his lack of emotion his
outlook on life and his inability to lie, while Samsa’s parents show
that he was once a provider but throughout the book he loses that
ability. The fact that Samsa was living at home working to support his
family and that Meursault had sent his mother away to a rest home is a
clear example of the different ways in which these men think, and even
though Meursault sent his mother away, he felt he was being kind to
her by doing it.
“Nobody could understand him…nobody thought he could understand them.” Gregor, the protagonist in Metamorphosis, faces one of the most difficult issues in any society. Barriers. Language barriers, psychological barriers, emotional barriers, and overall communication barriers. Gregor is described through details, images, and rhythms as a caring, concerned character that makes others’ issues his priority, despite his metamorphosis. However, the longer he remains transformed, the more distant his family becomes, and one of the biggest complications that he faces is his inability to connect with his family and communicate to them how thankful he is. Gregor’s response demonstrates the greater meaning that intensifying barriers can completely sever relationships, even when undesired.
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.
The Metamorphosis is a among Franz Kafka’s famous stories. The story is about a haunted man who changed into an insect. The author has written the story based on various theories such as Marxism, existentialist and religious views. It is also a reflection of a hostile world with major themes being abandonment, self-alienation, and troubles relationship. It reveals people’s struggles while in the modern society where one is neglected in the time of need (Franz 8). The cultural and social setting of the story helps in supporting the major themes of the story. In as much as the story is a dramatic fiction, it is necessary to explore the interior monologue style in order to inform the audience what the protagonist is thinking.
what has happened to him, and begins to rant "what an awful job I've picked! Day in,
In the novella “The Metamorphosis”, Franz Kafka focuses on the topic of alienation and considers its underlying effect on the human consciousness and self-identity. The alienation Kafka instigates is propagated towards the main character Gregor Samsa, who inevitably transforms into a giant cockroach. The alienation by family relations affects him to the extent that he prioritizes his extensive need to be the family’s provider before his own well-being. This overwhelming need to provide inevitably diminishes Gregor’s ability to be human-like. Kafka also enforces the idea of the ability to resurrect one’s self-identity following psychologically demanding events. In this essay, I utilize Gregor Samsa’s metamorphosis to address that alienation, in its various forms, is instrumental in the dehumanization process and can also oppositely induce a restoration of self-identity. The metamorphosis acts as a metaphor to express the inhumane change of state that occurs to a victim of alienation; it also formulates Gregor’s epiphany. He suffers through three forms of alienation: exploitation, violence, and neglect. The joint presence of these three external forces deprives him of a human distinctiveness, but in turn, influences a final realization that enforces the restoration of his self-identity, and therefore human identity.
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.
Frank Kafka is considered one of the most influential writers of all time. Helmut Richter would agree with this statement. Richter agreed that Kafka was a very prominent figure in world literature and was amazed by his mechanics and word usage. I feel that his essay is supportive of Kafka’s writing, but also leaves out many important details in its brevity. Richter did not include Kafka’s flaws and tendencies in his essay.
...immediately gives an impression of a lack of emotion towards the demise of his mother. This lack of emotion highlights the existentialist ideal that we all die, so it doesn't matter what life we have while we are alive. We simply exist, as did Meursault. It becomes apparent, as the novella unfolds, that Meursault has acquired an animal like indifference towards society. His interactions with his neighbour Raymond are an example of his indifferences. It never dawns upon Meursault that society does not condone his interactions with the pimp, avoided by his community. Meursault simply acts to fill his time. Being a single man, he has a lot of time to fill, and finds the weekends passing particularly slowly.
In Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis, Gregor Samsa's sudden transformation into a cockroach is appalling to all that encounter him, but none attempt to cure him of his affliction. The acceptance of his condition by Gregor and those around him highlights the underlying existentialist and absurdist perspective within the characters' attempt to come to terms with this circumstance. In the face of this dramatically absurd metamorphosis, Gregor does not blame a higher power, nor himself. As time wears on, he not only refrains from questioning his transformation but, at times lavishes in it and embraces it. His adjustment, and the adjustment of his family members, is not one of questioning his new life, but rather attempting to accept it for exactly what it is. In this way, Gregor and his family, particularly his father and sister, epitomize rationalization and freedom of choice in the face of absurdity.
When reading a story or watching a movie we automatically fall in love with the animal characters and have a closer bond more than the human characters in the story. When our favorite animal character dies, we are more heart broken. I know when watching a movie and just knowing that my favorite animal character dies breaks my heart. I then do not want to continue watching the movie, but have to watch the ending, so then finally find out that my animal friend comes to life, it brings me into joyful tears and finally decided that I really like the movie again. For example, when I was watching the television series The Seven Deadly Sins and when the pig character Hawk dies, I got so upset that cute character dies, I then watch the last episode
“The sun was beginning to bear down on the earth and it was getting hotter by the minute.” (pg 15) A few minutes after the funeral Meursault was getting irritated by sun more and more as time went by. Meursault is very detached when it comes to his feelings he never showed them. For example during his mother funeral Meursault didn’t show no emotion he stated “It occurred to me that anyway one more Sunday was over, that Maman was buried now, that I was going back to work, and that, really, nothing had changed.” (pg 24) He was saying that although his mother had died nothing really would change and that this tragedy wouldn’t change his daily routine at all. That quote was very important because it shows you how distant and indifferent Meursault was. Furthermore the society that he was living in believed that one should mourn over death and because he didn’t mourn that only made him an outsider or a monster. You only have one mother so why would Meursault act so calm and okay when at his mother funeral. Also at the very beginning of the book Meursault didn’t even know the day that his mother had died on he said “Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe. I don’t know.” (pg 1) By reading this quote it is understood that he didn’t care how or when his mother died he just accepted that she was gone. This story was told from the perspective of Meursault which was told without any emot...
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 in a time of need. From this story, one is able to infer that suffering is a necessary component of life. Gregor Samsa, the protagonist, was plagued with the metamorphosis that occurred one morning while he was awaking to prepare himself for work, as a traveling salesman. It is his metamorphosis that’ll set the ball rolling for post events that take place throughout the novel. In modern societies, one who usually feels an obligation to an unpleasant task and one who has others dependant on them often translate into the concept of them being those who have a sense of purpose. Hard work and self-sacrifice are two examples of what often enable us to have reverence and respect for people. It is almost as if it is a human need that makes one feel venerable. Part of Gregor’s reason for this need was because he needed to pay off his parent's debt; Kafka lets the readers understand this very quickly from the starting of the book. It is this need which was Gregor's motivation for pulling through a job which he despised so much. The metamorphosis has disabled him from fulfilling this particular need, and when he later hears of his family's decision that he is in no way a human being and must be gotten rid of, he realizes that this need will be unattainable forever, he then completely gives up on hope and dies. Kafka was able to portray these societal constructs of normality and venerability through his usages of motifs and centralized themes in order to dehumanize Gregor and force the rest of his family to undergo metamorphoses as well.
Nonetheless, the first thing on his mind was about his job and was worried more about missing the bus to attend work rather than himself. In the text, Gregor says: “It’s a lot more stressful than the work in the home office, and along with everything else I also have to put with these agonies of traveling-worrying about making trains, having bad, irregular meals, meeting new people all the time…” (Kafka 118). Gregor was more concerned about missing work rather than accepting the fact that he had lost his form as a human being. But, he was not the only one who was concerned about his well-being, but his family as well. The problem was his family only viewed him as the money maker; without him, the family will likely be poor without his support. Gregor’s family relied on him to provided them since his salary helped them a lot due to his traveling as a sales person. Kafka writes, “‘Gregor,’ a voice called-it was his mother- ‘it’s a quarter to seven. Didn’t you have a train to catch?’” (Kafka 120). The mother was concerned about Gregor not leaving the house on time to go to work. Although, readers/audience may assume that the mother was performing her role as a mother and checking on her children. But, if the mother was concerned about her son, she would of helped him instead of relying on him all the time. Gregor’s identity had been revealed when he is no longer
Existentialism is defined as a philosophical movement that human beings are completely free and responsible for their own actions. Existentialists will try not to cause waves and remain completely uninvolved with anyone because they do not want to hurt anybody. There is absolutely no such thing as an existentialist because he would have to be so uninvolved to the point where he would not be able to live at all. Although the two stories: The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka and The Stranger by Albert Camus are very different in approach, their endings are similar in that they both support the basics of existentialism.
Life is a never-ending metamorphosis. It is always changing, always transforming. Sometimes a change is followed by positive results, but on the darker side, a metamorphosis can lead to damage or suffering. But of course, the concept of metamorphosis can also be related into the wonderful yet unrealistic world of magic and sorcery. Metamorphosis can mean a rapid transformation from one object to another or a distinct or even degenerative change in appearance, personality, condition, or function. The concept of metamorphosis is commonly used in pieces of literature to describe an extreme change in character or form.