Other than being a traveling salesman, Gregor also has the role to provide for his family, but that changes when he becomes a bug. His job prevented him from having an emotional connection with his family since he was never home, yet he provided for them, maintaining them in a certain class system. He was “proud of himself for having been able to provide his parents and sister with a life like that, in such a beautiful apartment” (Kafka 25). This passage shows that as a bug, Gregor finally sees the life he has been able to give to his family. He feels like he has done a good job and is proud. However, once Gregor transforms into a bug, the family’s main concern was their finances, not Gregor. The Samsa family only saw their son as a source of …show more content…
The family dynamics are based around performing roles, unlike a traditional family, whose family is based on concern and affection, later leaving to neglect. This results in Gregor’s father becoming the new provider for the family. It is depicted when he walks into the room dressed like a messenger, wearing a blue uniform with gold buttons (Kafka 37). There is a big contrast during this section of the novella since when Gregor was the provider, his father was described as lazy and weak, but he is now the new authority figure of the house, replacing Gregor's role as the provider. This is also shown when in part one, when Gregor’s father clenches his fist, making him return to his room. Out of the family, Mr. Samsa is the one who despises Gregor the most, wanting to get rid of him. He no longer sees him as his son anymore, just a pest. He is also is mad that he had to take over Gregor’s role to provide. His father sees him as a burden and wants to get rid of him, so he bombards him by throwing apples at him: “his father has decided to bombard him, (…) [he] was throwing one apple after another” (Kafka
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 ...
Gregor Samsa, a hard working salesman providing for his family in need, has sacrifice his own freedom for the sake of the survival of his family. As a provider, his family is expecting him to work, be successful, and bring home the wealth. Although Gregor doesn’t enjoy his tedious job in the slightest, he still agrees to do it. This is more influenced by his father’s debt rather than his own morals. “If it weren’t for my parents, I would have quit long ago, I would have gone to the boss and told him off” (Kafka 2). This shows that he is a frustrated individual. Gregor is someone who would likely hold in his own personal feelings to preserve the family name. A night of nightmares later, Gregor awakes to see his many little legs flailing about. He isn’t initially shocked by this horrid transformation and however terrible it looks to him, his primary focus is how is he going to get to work? In spite of everything, he is still in the mindset of working no matter what the cost. After all, he doesn’t want to lose the tr...
“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
But everyone’s family bonding is quite different. As far as Kafka novella, this family state has lack of communication and feelings. However, when it comes to financial support, the Samsa family depends on Gregor. Sadly, while the oldest child is the family breadwinner, he is better yet the most divided one. But overall, he would rather have his family live a better life than having them worry about anything.
Mr. Samsa, Gregor’s father, whose failed business has cast him into a lifestyle of weakness and despair, reacts very distinctively to the metamorphosis. At first, Mr. Samsa, after his initial shock, seems to be the least affected by Gregor’s nauseating state. It seems that Mr. Samsa feels that he must protect the rest of his family from this abomination living in his flat. Unlike his mother and sister, Gregor’s father no longer recognizes Gregor as his son. This is made clear when Mr. Samsa attacks Gregor by pelting him with apples; the catalyst that ultimately led to the death of Gregor.
A caged animal will go crazy in captivity, no matter how nice that cage may be. Gregor Samsa from The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka is that creature in captivity. After transforming into a large insect Gregor’s connection to the outside world and his family disintegrates. The loss of appetite, insomnia, and human interaction work to destroy Gregor’s humanity, leaving an empty shell of what the salesman used to be. The isolation of Gregor Samsa after his metamorphosis leave many negative repercussions on his mind, just like it would do to any other sane person.
It is unusual to say the least to open a book and the first line is about the main character waking up as a large insect. Most authors’ use symbolism to relate the theme of their work, not Franz Kafka. He uses a writing method that voids all aspects and elements of the story that defy interpretation. In doing this, he leaves a simple story that stands only for an objective view for his own thoughts and dreams. Kafka focuses the readers’ attention on a single character that symbolizes himself and his life, not Everyman as some authors do. This method is displayed in most of his literary works. To understand how this method is recognized, readers must study the author’s background during the period of writing and basic history to understand this author’s motive. In his short story, “The Metamorphosis”, there are multiple similarities between Kafka’s true life and Gregor Samsa’s.
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.
Gregor as a human loved and would do anything to help his family, even if the same affection was not reciprocated to him. As a bug, he attempted to stay true to his human values, even if he was no longer human. This can be seen in the very beginning of the story, when Gregor was anxious to get to work to support his family, even though he was a bug. But, as the story progresses, Gregor becomes less human and more buglike, as seen in this quote: “‘I hereby declare,’ the middle lodger said, raising his hand and casting his glance both on the mother and the sister, ‘that considering the disgraceful conditions prevailing in this apartment and family,’ with this he spat decisively on the floor, ‘I immediately cancel my room. I will, of course, pay nothing at all for the days which I have lived here; …’ In fact, his two friends immediately joined in with their opinions, ‘We also give immediate notice.’ At that he seized the door handle, banged the door shut, and locked it” (Kafka 66). In this scene, the three lodgers staying in the Samsa home spot Gregor for the first time, because Gregor was supposed to stay locked in his room always, and wasn’t allowed out. In coming out of his room, Gregor has betrayed his parents, and therefore also betrayed himself. Gregor as a human would never dare to disobey his parents, because he cared too deeply for them. But, as a bug, Gregor openly disobeyed them, and betrayed his own human values in doing
The problem of money played a major role in the Samsa household. It is clearly evident in many of Gregor’s actions. After discovering he was a bug, his first thought was about getting to work. Gregor is so overrun with thoughts of debt, he has lost concern for himself. After gaining so much debt from his father's failings, the entire family is burdened with this problem as well. Many of the conversations shown in the narrative are based upon the finances. It is mentioned when the father is explaining the economical situation of the family causing more grief to Gregor. The rest of the family takes on jobs, fire the extra help of employees, and rent out their home to boarders. The final conflict that leads to Gregor's death is about the loss
When first reading a story about a family, the reader typically thinks of the perfect usually family that is portrayed in many movies and television shows to come. The father works and loves his family, the mother is a stay-at-home mom and takes care of the whole family, the son goes to college to make a life for himself, and the daughter goes to school and excels in everything she does. In the short novel The Metamorphosis written by Franz Kafka, the family is not portrayed in this way. The father stays at home and is abusive not only physically but emotionally as well, the mother does stay home but only to take care of the father, their son Gregor is the breadwinner of the family but he has no say in anything, and the daughter Grette stays in her room to avoid trouble. Kafka wrote all of his stories to express his emotions, but The Metamorphosis expressed it on a whole new level by
“It will be the death of you both. I can see it coming. People who have to work as hard as we do can't stand this constant torture at home. I can't stand it anymore either.”(Kafka 343) Gregor is viewed as a strain by his family, especially his sister. Handicapped people are often seen as a nuisance and “good for nothing”. They believe it would be best for them if they got rid of Gregor. When Gregor dies, his father is joyous. “Well”, said Mr. Samsa, “now thanks be to God.”(Kafka 345) Mr. Samsa says relieved his son is now dead and that he doesn't have to worry about him anymore even though it was like he was already dead because his father paid no attention to Gregor as bug besides when he was abusing and injuring him. No father should be happy his son is dead. “Ableism has been historically present in schools as well as in society at large and is tied in part to the medical model that seeks to “fix” people with disabilities.” (Storey 9) Gregor was never accepted for who he now was, he was only ever compared to the able bodied Gregor. He was ruled “unfixable” and then treated like garbage, like he was not even a human anymore despite his mental capacity. Even though his outside changed into a bug, mentally Gregor was still human with emotions and feelings. Gregor, for as long as he was a bug, he was a damper on the overall vibe of the Samsa household because his family did not accept him for who he was.
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
Samsa takes this role as a function to forbid Gregor to take any step to attempt to be human-like. Firstly, Mr. Samsa is the direct reason for Gregor’s alienation. Gregor says “[i]f I didn’t hold back for my parents’ sake, I would’ve quit ages ago” (Kafka 5). Mr. Samsa is the reason that Gregor works in order to pay off his father’s debt which is the prevailing reason for his isolation from society in the first place. Not only is it clear that Mr. Samsa’s despicable nature comes to life from placing his debt on Gregor, he also lacks gratitude for all of Gregor’s devotion to his work. “Gregor’s disappointment over the lack of appreciation is one the few critical thoughts he thinks about his father...but he quickly dismisses the thought by saying that no doubt his father knew best”(“Metamorphosis”). This is important to note because Gregor is once again submitting to authority. Even though Gregor longs for appreciation, he sacrifices his own wishes because he feels inferior to his father and he hopes to please him. Gregor submitting to the superiority of his father is a dominant reason why Gregor is so isolated from society. He works for the appreciation and love of his parents. Not only does Mr. Samsa show no appreciation for Gregor’s devotion to his work, but he also ensures that Gregor should stay in his isolated place as vermin. After the situation with Gregor’s boss coming to his house, Mr. Samsa, out of rage, “gave him one
In the beginning of the novel “When Gregor Samsa woke up one morning from unsettling dreams, he found himself changed in his bed into a monstrous vermin.” After the transformation of Gregor, the family as a whole also undergoes transformation. Before the transformation the whole family was dependent on Gregor. Gregor was responsible for providing for the family and his family's dilemma of paying off debts, motivates him to work hard to bring money home to satisfy his family. Once Gregor transforms he is unable to work and unable to meet his family's needs and as a result loses his family's dependency. His family, in consequence, is forced to change and become independent from him. Gregor’s father had done no work for past years and didn’t want to work but after his son turned into a bug, he had to work and earn for the family. “His mother in spite of the manager’s presence she stood with her hair unbraided from the night, sticking out in all directions” Gregor mother was old and not capable to work, after the transformation of Gregor into a bug she is very shocked. Gregor’s sister, Grete changes from a young woman to an selfish adult over time in the book. These changes in the family that occurred through Gregor’s transformation have left the family with a pessimistic attitude about their life. They think life will continue to get worse. The family views change as a bad thing and believes that now everything will be harder and frustrating a...