Franz Kafka is known for his fusion of realism and fantasy elements in his stories, often featuring characters in isolated scenarios where the characters have unexplained attributes or powers. In the Kafka novella, The Metamorphosis features a protagonist that become isolated from his family. Gregor, the main character, wakes up as a bug mysteriously. The transformation leads to Gregor and his family adjusting to his metamorphosis. Furthermore, strangely, the novella is about Gregor’s family changes and development throughout novella and about him as a character.
The novella does not bring a clear insight to Gregor’s development or character. In the beginning of the novella, there is no literal explanation why has Gregor transformed into a bug. Gregor was not cursed by a witch, or did he drink some mysterious potion. The very first line of the book is “One morning, when Gregor Samsa woke up from his troubled dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a horrible vermin” (1). The story opens with Gregor as a bug. There is no explanation why or background information that could have led to the metamorphosis. The lack of information leads to the question, why was Gregor converted into a bug. The question is never answered in the novella, which infers that Gregor is not the subject of the novella. Gregor’s problems are never discussed, described, or dealt with after Gregor’s metamorphosis. Gregor describes his surroundings and feelings, but he never talks to another
Gregor’s major transformation occurred not when he turned into a bug, but through the changes in his life. Gregor’s life before the changed into some sort of bug was like a bumble bee. He would go through life doing as others told him. In
Turning the character into a giant, monstrous insect helps the author demonstrate the situation in which a person becomes absolutely vulnerable, helpless and pathetic. At that very moment of Gregor’s new form the attitude of the family becomes absolutely clear and transparent: everyone feels ashamed and diverted from the personality of Gregor. Betrayal of his mother and his sister is nowhere near what Gregor would have ever imagined. His relationship with his father was rocky. He never expected the mishap to become so realistic and his lift to be so heartbreaking. So the main
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.
Gregor had a crappy, thankless job, and even though it was difficult, he was despised and scrutinized by his co workers, making the job that much more unpleasant. Gregor was such an isolated and poor person that he cut the picture of the lady with the fur or a magazine to hang on the wall, to remind him of better things. Gregor's metamorphosis into a nasty little bug is strange but at the same time is reasonable, because insects as beetle, but or cockroaches are associated with old dirty houses, and trash. If Gregor would have been a cat or a dog or really any other animal, his parents would not consider him so disgusting and they would not have rejected him. But in this case, Gregor is a bug and his parents really thought that a giant cockroach is something that must be hidden. “This kind of things happens everyday” (Franz Kafka). Not the strange thing as transformation into a bug, but the fact
Metamorphosis, written by Franz Kafka, is a novelette detailing the life of a young man named Gregor and his family, which include his sister, Grete, and his parents. Gregor is a traveling salesman who has an overbearing manager and extremely long hours. He is unhappy with his job due to these circumstances and the fact that he is not able to make any friends. One morning Gregor wakes up and is suddenly a beetle instead of a normal human. The life of everyone in the household is flipped upside down. Even though the story does not have a traditional happy ending, the growth and moral reconciliation of the family due to Gregor’s transformation demonstrate the continuation of a fulfilling, prosperous life.
Throughout the story there is a clear switch in the attitude of Gregor. In the novel he starts out his metamorphosis still having a very human mentality and as the story progresses becomes more and more like an insect. He also starts to get more and more depressed as the story goes on which helped him completely lose the humanity in him. Each part in the novel brings him closer and closer to mentally being bug.
“The Metamorphosis” unfolds into a novella where the four main characters develop over the course of the story. Their development is accredited to once single event which happens to the main character, Gregor Samsa. Gregor becoming a gigantic bug not only changes his perspective of life, literally, but also impacts his family dynamic in a negative way which will never be restored. With this result of the family shifting, Gregor feel he is the cause for all the pain among family.
The article is titled”Bullying and Teasing: No Laughing Matter”. This article relates to metamorphosis because his family bullied him to the point where he thought his life wasn't valuable to anyone. Gregor's mom and dad pushed him to hard which lead to him turning into a bug. After Gregor turned into a bug his family disowned him and they abandoned him which lead to his depression of being alone. He was so bullied by his family that it caused him to want to give up and die. That's exactly what happened and his parents could have accepted him even though he went through such a large change .
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka is a novel that centers on the theme of alienation. When Gregor turns into a bug, he is estranged from almost everyone he comes into contact with, except for his sister. As the novel progresses, Gregor’s family, even his sister, begin to see Gregor as someone completely different and feel burdened by him. When he dies in his room, they seem oddly excited and begin to move on with their lives. The physical and mental death of Gregor in The Metamorphosis reinforces the theme of alienation.
“...with great earnestness...” (Kafka). In doing so, Gregor works as a traveling salesman in constant working stress; a dead-end job where his coworkers and boss don’t respect him as an individual, much like countless other working class people. “He was a tool of the boss, without brains or backbone.” (Kafka) It’s clear that Gregor has a subconsciousness predisposition to the results of his metamorphosis; identifying himself figuratively as a human bug working at a human hive for no personal fulfillment.
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.
Franz Kafka is a twentieth century author who's most of his work would not be published if it were not for his acquaintance who refused to get rid of all of Kafka's work upon his request. Kafka's first pieces of literature were published in 1908. These were 8 stories were published in periodicals. He would write letters, as well as short stories and novels. Amongst his novels he wrote Amerika written in 1912, The Trial written in 1914, The Castle written in 1922. Kafka's writing is very symbolic and as well as very original although there might be tension at times. The Novel, The Metamorphosis was published in 1915. This story
His initial lack of acceptation to the metamorphosis eventually leads to him giving up when he realizes that he is stuck in the insect body. Gregor also still feels responsible for his family, even though he cannot help that he was turned into a bug. They should be attempting to help him, but they are not, and yet he still feels bad for not being able to provide for them. He sees himself as solely responsible in taking care of them and blames himself for their struggles after his transformation. When Gregor overhears his
1. Gregor’s initial reaction to his transformation, more specifically his worrying about missing the train and dwelling on the hardships of his job, reveals the extent to which Gregor’s own self-identity and way of life is dependent on his work. While most people would probably be horrified to find themselves transformed into a bug, Gregor instantly thinks of his job because that is what comprises Gregor’s identify and without his job he has no purpose or worth in his society. As Gregor contemplates his future, he thinks to himself, “Well, there’s still some hope; once I’ve got the money together to pay off my parents’ debt to him [his boss] – another five or six years I suppose – that’s definitely what I’ll do. That’s when I’ll make the big change” (Kafka 8).
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka offers much to be critiqued, including the reason why Gregor Samsa was transformed into a hideous beetle. The truth is Gregor had put himself into a position of demise long ago. Over the years, he had worked himself into both physical and mental exhaustion. Gregor was the sole provider, and eventually his family grew less appreciative of him. His relationship with his family had gone south. They were no longer as close, and it were as if he had become isolated. In Education for Tragedy, Walter H. Sokel elaborates on that point.