The Essence of Betrayal “Love is whatever you can still betray. Betrayal can only happen if you love.” John le Carr. The novel Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka is a story about the transformation of a man named Gregor who turned into a bug. The story takes place inside an apartment and describes the struggles Gregor goes through with his life and family. Throughout the entirety of the writing he is met with different challenges and obstacles. Grete, his sister and his parents have a unique bond that is not always the strongest. Gregor has not been close with his parents for awhile, but Grete especially at the beginning was the only person who truly cared about his predicament. This conflict results in the desertion of Gregor and the downfall …show more content…
and Mrs. Samsa. Gregor describes throughout the novel his sister’s passion for music. He also points out the fact that their parents do not assist Grete in pursuit of this type of career, “Often during Gregor’s short days in the city the Conservatory would come up in his conversations, but always merely as a beautiful dream which was not supposed to come true, and his parents were not happy to hear these innocent allusions” (Kafka 26). The Samsa’s hindered Grete’s potential which forced her into a path she did not want to follow. Another example is how she was forced to become the primary caregiver for Gregor. The family discovery was shocking to the the whole family and there inevitably was going to be an adjustment period. That being said, generally the adults in the household would step up and handle the situation, but teenage Grete was left to do this task, “During the first two weeks, his parents could not bring themselves to come in to him.” (Kafka 29). This was extremely unfair burden to put upon Grete who is already going through many changes in her personal life. Mr. and Mrs. Samsa once again betrayed one of their children and negated the possibility of Grete’s seemingly bright …show more content…
Grete at the beginning of Gregor’s transformation turned into the primary caregiver; however by doing this her inexperience ended up hurting Gregor. A decision was made to remove Gregor’s possessions by Grete despite quarrel from her mother, “Into a room in which Gregor ruled the bare walls all alone, no human being beside Grete was ever likely to set foot.” (Kafka 32). This was understandable considering she was the only one that was helping Gregor, but Grete let too much power go to her head. Unlike this unintentional pain she caused Gregor, she purposely began to abandon him and chose to give up hope. She renounced the idea that Gregor could actually still be there. Despite hesitation from her father Grete demanded his removal, “It has to go… that’s the only answer father” (Kafka 49). This illustrates that he went from a person to a thing in Grete’s eyes. The lack of remorse she displays after his death further solidifies her feelings. Gregor was betrayed by the person he least expected and it was one of the main influences in his
It is this need which was Gregor's motivation for trudging on through a job which he despises. He is like a bottom-feeder for other people's love and respect. He maintains a spark of real intimacy for his sister, which later surfaces when he hears her playing the violin to the guests. At that moment he realizes what he has been starving for as he plays out in his mind the fantasy of keeping her in his room, having her play to him, kissing her, and telling her his plans of sending her to a music school. This gaining of Grete's love and appreciation is the reward Gregor feels he has earned through his suffering. When he hears his family's decision that he is in no way a human being and must be gotten rid of, he realises that his hope will never be realised. He dies alone shortly after this, as if he is giving up.
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
It is notable that Grete is a very good violin player. We see that Grete seems to take care of Gregor in a way, but that leads to her starting to act like his owner, and that he is a piece of property. “She had grown accustomed, certainly not without justification, so far as a discussion of matters concerning Gregor was concerned.” (Kafka, 161) Though, near the end of the story, Grete begins to care less and less for her older brother, and eventually decides to let him go. ““He must go,” cried Gregor’s sister” (Kafka, 176) It's just another example of Gregor never fitting in. He is stereotypically, just a bug. A quote, more than less an example that really hits it
In Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, the transformation of the character Gregor from a man to one of the most hated insects, a vermin, may seem exaggerated and ridiculous, becoming more so over the course of the story the action builds and the emotions and ideas of the characters in the story begin to change and become more prominent. Kafka’s intention, however, is to expose and explore the impoverishment of human psychology with respect to the ways in which changes in one’s circumstances and conditions reshape notions people have of the way they believe in justice and mercy which will be explore further in this analysis of Gregor Samsa.
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka has a reoccurring theme showing the drive for freedom and the need for breaking free. Gregor Samsa experiences the drive for freedom every day that he goes to work to provide for his family. Gregor is a typical struggling salesman, under the burden of his job, attempting to pay off his family’s debts. Gregor Samsa undergoes a metamorphosis that changes his physical appearance from a human into a “monstrous vermin.” When Gregor starts to wake up, he feels strange and out of place in his bed, “lying on his back as hard as armor plate...vaulted brown belly, arch- shaped ribs, and many legs.” (3) Gregor, unsure of what has happened to him, feels helpless in this situation and tries desperately to get out of bed to open his door and explain to his family and business partner what horrible travesty had just taken place. The author shows this struggle by explaining that Gregor had “…rocked onto his back…” (3) trying to leave his bed, including that “ He must have tried it one hundred times.” (3) Gregor is trapped in this new body unable to take action on his human desires. Gregor is incapable of completing most human tasks as a bug that will grant his freedom, creating this new sense of “useless (ness)” in Gregor to his family and workplace. This fall of Gregors freedom results in the rise of power from another family member. In chapter one this theme is portrayed throughout the first stages of his metamorphosis. Mahatma Gandhi once said, “Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.” While this metamorphosis is not Gregors fault, as he woke up not having a clue wh...
The story of The Metamorphosis starts out simply, with a human waking up no longer human, but rather like 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 whether 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 actions against himself and his family.
As the story plays out, you can see that Gregor was the only who was transformed into a “monster”. Gregor is actually the one who stays pretty constant throughout the story. Yes, he does start acting like an insect, but his thoughts were always human-like, unlike the rest of his family. They went from being compassionate and dependent to cold-hearted and independent. They saw no use in Gregor, so they potentially cut him off from the family. They went from trying to understand the transformation to wanting him dead and out of the
...trayed by his family, he is imprisoned in his room; however, he "thought back on his family with deep emotion and love". His affection for his family results in his conviction that he must disappear, so that he can bring them happiness and peace. Gregor sacrifices his life and dies during the night to save his family from hardship. He loves them unconditionally, like Jesus loves his people, and does not criticise them for betraying and mistreating him. Gregor's final sacrifice of his life is the strongest comparison of his Christ-like attributes.
Gregor is only seen as a handicapped individual, only his physical is judged, his mental capacity is never tested. “His parents didn't want Gregor to start any more than a sister did, but perhaps for them to be directly involved in his feeding was more than they could bear, or perhaps a sister wanted to shield them even from what might prove to be no more than a minor
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
Grete is the only one who offers to help Gregor in some way, but even then it is very difficult for her. Later in the story, Gregor becomes somewhat comfortable with himself, however, his family hasn’t improved their attitude towards him. Gregor understands that it’s quite difficult for them to witness him in his new form, so anytime one of them comes into the room Gregor tries to hide himself, “One day, in order to spare her even this sight, he spent four hours carrying the bedsheet over to the couch on his back and arranged it so that he was completely covered and he would not be able to see him.” (Paragraph 52, Kafka.
Franz Kafka illustrates in his book the struggle that most humans have throughout their life: ‘Who am I?’ He demonstrates this through his radical and exaggerated formation of The Metamorphosis, a man becoming a bug; or a bug always thinking he was a man, then realizing that he is and always has been a bug. This bug, Gregor Samsa, goes through an immense psychological realization at the beginning of the book; he had been deceived by his own mind from the beginning of his life. Throughout Gregor’s Metamorphosis, Gregor experiences the loss of his self actualization, recognition, belonging, security, and physiological needs. His situation had taken away all the basic psychological needs of any human as illustrated by Maslow’s Hierarchy of
In The Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka, Gregor’s evolution to an insect symbolizes the loss of thorough communication, representing the disconnection of the individual from his family and his surroundings. Through this metamorphosis, the once loving family begins to remove itself from any past interactions with Gregor. In addition, the setting and surroundings of Gregor completely overcome him and persuade him to lose hope. The family and surroundings, not the change to an insect, lead Gregor towards death. Not only do the uncontrollable surroundings change Gregor, but so does the family.
Gregor’s family continuously displays their rejections towards him throughout the entirety of the novel. Gregor’s father is the biggest contender of this after the transformation because he takes on the role as man of the house once again, putting Gregor down. When Gregor first encountered his family as a beetle, he came out into the living room and his father attempted to force him to go back into the room. When trying to, Gregor got “stuck fast and would not have been able to move at all by himself, the little legs along one side hung quivering in the air while those on the other side were pressed painfully against the ground. Then his father gave him a hefty shove from behind which released him from where he was held and sent him flying, and heavily bleeding, deep into his room. The door was slammed shut with the stick” (Kafka 19-20). His father, not only, forcefully shoved Gregor into his room causing him great pain, he also, shut him away from the family by slamming the door behind him. This shows how Gregor’s father held no concern for his feelings and well-being, he was only concerned about getting Gregor away from the rest of the family. Gregor’s father is not the only one rejecting him as his sister contributes to this, too. When overwhelmed with the responsibility of taking care of Gregor, Grete, Gregor’s sister, began to push him away, too. She tells her mother and father, “I don’t want to call this monster my brother, all I can say is: we have to try and get rid of it”(Kafka 52-53). By referring to her brother as “this monster” and “it”, Grete demonstrates her view of Gregor changing to nothing more than a thing, and no longer as her brother. She wants to get rid of him and she feels it is necessary for the welfare of her family. Therefore, Gregor’s family has come to the point of denying him as family and no longer viewing him as human. This goes to show how in
Grete is a character who appears to have the most tolerance for Gregor shortly after his metamorphosis. Gregor was apparently rather fond of his sister and had hoped to finance her education in a conservatory. He was also rather mesmerized with her violin playing. His inability to follow through with these planned acts of kindness may have led to a faster deterioration of Grete’s maintenance of Gregor’s room. Although she could never get used to Gregor’s new freakish appearance, she was his sole provider throughout his life after the metamorphosis: