An Analysis Of The Metamorphosis By Franz Kafka

     I have chosen The Metamorphosis as my subject for this paper; I will take a close look at how the death of Gregor Samsa opens the doors to understanding the story. I will give examples of irony through Gregor’s metamorphosis and how this irony brings together the conclusion of the story. Through his death we see the truth behind his parents, which in it’s self is ironic. It is difficult to pinpoint one specific thing to write about in the story; there are just so many things that can be brought to light. If I happen to lose sight of my topic bear with me, there is just so much to be discussed in the novella.

Everyone has people they depend on. People that he or she knows will always be there when they’re needed. But what happens when those people just don’t show up or just all of a sudden stop caring? The feeling of loneliness can break down a person’s character and reduce him to a shell, or in this case and exoskeleton, of who he once was. We can see this in The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. When Gregor Samsa finds himself transformed into a giant beetle-like creature, what he needs more than anything is the love and support of his family, but he disgusts them. They shut him up in his room so that no one can see him. They are ashamed of him, and quickly forget that he was part of their own flesh and blood. All that they can see is the monster that appears on the on the outside. Gregor’s sister and parents betray his love for them and leave him feeling lonely in the most terrifying and desperate time of his life.

In the metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, there are significant actions and transformations which make the story sad, and strange with a happy ending. Explanations that are dramatic events that intensify the excitement of all these actions. Reality and reflection play an important role in this story because the events that happened could be applied and assimilated with modern society.

“‘Treat all people -- even the most unsightly beetles -- as though they were angels sent from heaven’” (29). In Mawi Asgedom’s memoir, Of Beetles and Angels, he talks about the obstacles he faces through growing up. Throughout Mawi’s life he overcomes the obstacles of racial prejudice, school bullies, and financial disadvantage, which motivated him to build a fulfilling successful life.

story. While he had expressed earlier satisfaction with the work, he later found it to be flawed, even calling the ending "unreadable." Whatever his own opinion may have been, the short story has become one of the most popularly read and analyzed works of twentieth-century literature. Isolation and alienation are at the heart of this surreal story of a man transformed overnight into a kind of beetle. In contrast to much of Kafka's fiction, "The Metamorphosis" has not a sense of incompleteness. It is formally structured

The Metamorphosis (Die Verwandlung 1912), Franz Kafka’s best known short story, is a master work of incredible psychological, sociological and existential malaise. Although his points are simple and straightforward, this richly layered and textured story is open to many interpreta-tions, making it complex, yet critical to decipher. There is an incredible amount of theories based off of what this story could possibly symbolize or represent, but it is of the autobiographical in-terpretation that is undeniably the most enlightening. This interpretation allows the reader to gen-uinely understand the tale on an intense level that would not be able to be reached, otherwise. In order to gain true insight on the autobiographical approach to The Metamorphosis, a brief examination of his life is required; his thoughts, his beliefs, the acknowledgment of the cruel circumstances of his life, especially his home life, must be made clear that the anguish of his own world is the model for the themes in his stories.

Franz Kafka’s feelings of isolation throughout his life caused him to portray characters in his writing as outcasts as a result. The basis of Kafka’s novel The Metamorphosis is the effects of isolation on man and it’s impact on life. The use of modernism in Kafka’s writing was a reflection of the characteristic shift from the beauty and innocence of romanticism to the cold harsh reality of life after World War I. Kafka’s lifelong alienation intersects with his work where he draws on his personal experiences to create a protagonist that draws on Kafka’s life.

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka is a novella that begins with an absurd concept. A man wakes up one morning to find himself transformed into a giant insect. While this concept for a story is certainly absurd, Kafka contrasts this plot with a rather dull, plain narrative. It may initially seem novel to explain a ridiculous situation in a simple manner, but this causes the novella to be quite boring.

Dictionaries do not contain strict definitions of the word “human”, nor strict guidelines to adhere to in order to be considered a human. Because of it’s subjective nature, it is difficult to define or describe the very essence of humanity accurately. This complex subject is closely examined in the blockbuster film, The Island. The protaginsists, Lincoln Six Echo and Jordan Two Delta, live in an underground colony that acts as a shelter from a contamination spreading through the outside world. Everything is contaminated except one island that residents can win passage to. All of the citizens hope to one day win the lottery and become permanent residents on the island of paradise. But one day, resident Lincoln Six Echo discovers a live insect

Kafka was critical in bringing the new outlook on modern culture and particularly on modern man. Franz Kafka studied the modern man in the face of contemporary culture, and how he was steadfast in retaining his spirituality and identity, and gravitate towards authenticity and happiness. However, Kafka saw how the dehumanizing forces of industrialization and capitalism in the post- the WWI Europe posed a challenge to the modern man. Modern culture can be viewed tolerating and open to all. To Franz Kafka, modern culture coupled with technology is fast changing, and man has to maintain his self-consciousness in order not lose his spirituality and identity amidst these changes (Wintle pp. 708-710). Hence, as modern culture changes with the changing technology, religions are poised to change too, which presents fears to a man about losing his spirituality and identity upon embracing the modern culture. Interestingly, Kafka was mystical in his writings, with a keen interest in themes such as metamorphosis, existential and identity. If we look at “The Metamorphosis,” we can view the idea of how the dehumanizing effects of capitalism and industrialism are indicated within the writings. Kafka contends we become dehumanized with buying power and working too much. The transformation of Gregor seems to indicate a denial of responsibility to the changing forms of society’s conventions and values.

The change results from him feeling like an insect, or vermin, so he becomes one. In this case, the metaphor has become the reality. “Such a fictional act seems simple enough, but it is extraordinarily radical, one of the most radical beginnings of any story anywhere” (“Franz Kafka” 331). Kafka desired to change himself into a different form so he could be free from the worry of his actual life. He suffered from disease and depression, both of which cannot be contracted by insects, especially a cockroach, an animal that has the ability to survive even the most strenuous conditions.

  Kafka uses symbolism in his short story, Metamorphosis.  He uses this technique to make the reader try and figure out what was going on in his head.  He brought out in this story many things about his life, including his father/family, love life, and his future.  He used metaphors to show his love for people in his life.  This story is autobiographical about the forces that control Franz Kafka's life.  In this paper I will explain how Kafka relates his life to the readers through the story in Metamorphosis.

When we look to the Metamorphosis, it is said to be one Kafka’s best works. In the story a man named Gregor wakes up one morning and has been transformed into a large insect. Instead of figuring out what is wrong with him he tries to continue on

In the year 1938, a French philosopher and writer, Jean Paul-Sartre, published his first novel Nausea. The main protagonist, Antoine Roquentin lives a lonely life of a classic ‘superfluous man’, term used in many Russian novels, and starts to write a diary to help him understand his sudden attacks of nausea. In the novel Nausea, Roquentin questions himself: “What if something were to happen? What if something suddenly started throbbing? Then they would notice it was there and they 'd think their hearts were going to burst. Then what good would their dykes, bulwarks, power houses, furnaces and pile drivers be to them? It can happen any time, perhaps right now: [...] And someone else might feel something scratching in his mouth. He goes to the mirror, opens his mouth: and his tongue is an enormous, live centipede, rubbing its legs together and scraping his palate. He 'd like to spit it out, but the centipede is a part of him and he will have to tear it out with his own hands.” (Sartre, 79-80) Fortunately, 23 years before Roquentin’s diary was published, Franz Kafka had already answered Antoine’s absurd question. In 1915, Kafka published his well-known novella The Metamorphosis. The story introduces a transformation of an ordinary man, Gregor Samsa, to a giant vermin and describes the consequences that such anomaly causes to his life, work and family that he lives with. Kafka grew up as a German-speaker among Czechs and disbeliever among Jews, therefore, could

Hamm and Clov fear that this small insect may give way to a kind of evolution from which a potential humanity, civilization can restart: Hamm and Clov's attempts to prevent the emergence of humanity may either arise from the assumption that humanity will again be subject to suffering or once humanity emerge, human beings will treat one another inhumanly and oppress each other hence they will put another layer on to the unbearable side of the world.