Essay on Analysis of The Metamorphosis

First lets show how this happened in The Metamorphosis. The lack of sympathy the author had for Gregor was amazing. He went through a change in his life that no one thought would be possible. He went

Although Gregor turned into a bug, the real Metamorphosis occurred before the change and with the whole family. Kafka’s novella The Metamorphosis reflects the ideals about industrialization and existentialism during the turn of the century. In the novella, Gregor turns into a bug, and the whole family has to deal with it in different ways. Many characters go through a metamorphosis in the novella. Although the changes may not be physical the changes occurred greatly in Gregor, Mr. Samsa, and Grete.

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

When individuals are rejected by family and society, they tend to feel abandoned and unloved. In Franz Kafka’s, The Metamorphosis, Gregor’s transformation into a “monstrous vermin” (Kafka 1) results in him being psychologically and even physically abused by his family. Rejection from his mother, sister, and father leave Gregor feeling unwanted and feeling as if he is a terrible burden on the family and their well being.

Gregor’s metamorphosis brings many positive and negative changes in himself as well as his family. His family used to rely on him for his income as he was the only source of money in the family, but now they all worked and earned money themselves that is a very big positive change in the family. The negative change was bad for the Gregor himself as he couldn’t face the world with his new appearance,

The deeper meaning of “The Metamorphosis”, by Frank Kafka, can be interpreted in many ways depending on critical theory is used to examine it. From a feminist criticism, one can observe how Gregor’s dominance as a male diminishes after he becomes a bug as his sister’s strength and role in the family grows stronger. From a biographical criticism, one can compare and contrast the traits of Gregor and the people around him with that of Kafka’s own life and his relationships. However, the focus of this essay will be applying a psychoanalytical criticism to the characters in “The Metamorphosis”, using the studies of Sigmund Freud to approach

After Gregor mysteriously transforms into a bug overnight, his father does not want to deal with him. When Gregor first comes out of his room, Mr. Samsa’s only thoughts are to “return [Gregor] to his room as quickly as possible” (Kafka 18). Mr. Samsa could not bear to look at Gregor in his new form. During a squabble, Mr. Samsa “was determined to bombard [Gregor]. He had filled his pockets from the fruit bowls on the buffet and was now pitching one apple after another” (Kafka 37). From the very beginning, Gregor’s condition does not concern Mr. Samsa. He does not try to find a way to help him. Once Gregor’s physical form has drastically changed, Mr. Samsa deceives his own son by giving up on him, no longer trusting his son to maintain the household’s income. Mr. Samsa immediately disowns his son and becomes an antagonist by viewing Gregor as an intruder in his own home. The betrayal that Gregor suffers negatively affects him. Therefore, when Mr. Samsa makes it

The metamorphosis is really difficult, for both Gregor and his family. Gregor spends all of his time, trapped in his room. At first, his family tipped toed around the apartment, being as quiet as possible, almost like they were in a hospital ward. He woke up as a giant beetle basically. Maybe I did not catch it, but the reason why this happened was never really discussed. Anyways, the whole family seems distraught, like this transformation was all Gregor’s fault, when in reality there was nothing he could have done to prevent it. The metamorphosis made him feel more isolated than he already did from his family; although before he would sit at the dinner table with his family, he never really felt like he was there for anything more than paying off his parents’ debt. He also begins feeling even worse about himself as the maid quits, his sister has to start working, and so does his father. His mother ends up doing all of the housework, and quite frankly, everyone is beyond exhausted. His parents are so stressed about the situation that they stop coming around to see Gregor. His mother comes

Kafka certainly starts the novella off strong by explaining the situation Gregor is randomly put into. The ridiculousness of the circumstance is enough to hook the reader into the story. Gregor is transformed into a giant insect, but dismisses it as him being tired. The first part is quite enjoyable as the reader has the suspense of his family and boss seeing Gregor’s new appearance and the humor of Gregor saying that he will be leaving for work soon while getting accustomed to his new body. The amount of work Gregor put into explaining that he will be leaving for work soon is ironic as well since the reader later finds out that his speech is incomprehensible to humans. However, one must wonder how Gregor planned to go to work as a giant insect to begin with. Even when he fully realized he actually transformed into a giant insect,

Kafka reveals very little about Gregor's life prior to this incident: all we know of him is that he had been a traveling salesman who was constantly "busying himself with his fretsaw" and who "never (went) out in the evenings," instead spending his time "sitting . . . at the table quietly reading the paper or studying" (Kafka 12-13). This imagery of Samsa as a studious carpenter characterizes him as humble and, in this, somewhat unlikable to the toughest audiences. Even imagery as simplistic as this conjures the image of Gregor as a bookish, studious milquetoast. At the same time, the carpenter characterization connotes Christ, and thus immediately hints at Samsa's eventual heroism, even before anything significant has happened. So when the book's first "metamorphosis" occurs in the first sentence, Gregor's prior circumstances make him fertile ground in which a change in spirit can occur. Samsa even acknowledges the metaphysical change enacted in himself: when he tries to explain to his family and the head clerk why he cannot leave his room, his audience can "no longer (understand) his words, even though they (are) clear enough to him, clearer than before even" (15). It is as if he is in another dimension from them completely and therefore a sort of "immortal" at heart, before the knowledge is even imparted upon him in the form

Magical realism stories combine realistic and magical details to illustrate a real world with imaginary elements. For example, in “A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings”, the old angel has “huge buzzard wings, dirty and half-plucked, forever entangled in the mud” (“A Very Old” 1). The wings are clearly magical elements, but they are “forever entangled in the mud”, a realistic element. This entanglement between magical and realistic elements is a common literary device found in magical realism. Therefore, Kafka’s combination of magical elements, such as Gregor’s insect body, and realistic elements like Gregor’s family and bedroom, supports the classification of “The Metamorphosis” under the genre of magical realism. When Gregor woke up from unpleasant dreams in the beginning of the story, he found himself “transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect” (89). This is clearly a magical element, as it is obviously impossible for a human to turn into an insect in one night (or any amount of time). Although Gregor goes through very dramatic changes, his “regular human bedroom” remains the same. Aside from having an insect body, Gregor’s surroundings, such as his

One morning Gregor awakens to find himself transformed into a beetle. Although the reader is never

Furthermore, Gregor’s descent into social and physical abjection then forces his family to change radically in order to support themselves. In the beginning, Gregor starts off as the provider for his family. He hates his job, but he still goes above and beyond the call of duty to give his family a more comfortable life, even indulging the expensive endeavour of his sisters’ dream of studying the violin. However, after the metamorphosis, he is thrust into the role of a dependant – forcing his family to take responsibility and support themselves. His sister steps up to the plate in the beginning, giving him a selection of foodstuffs to find what he likes and even cleaning up after him. His parents are still in denial at this point, so much so that they refuse to see him at all. But as time goes by, his family begins to accept the situation and even try to help Grete out. His father produces some money from his previous failed business venture and his mother and sister try to make life more comfortable for Gregor. Grete in particular changes the most noticeably; Gregor himself notes at the beginning that her life up till that point had been “enviable”, consisting of “wearing nice

The book “Metamorphosis”, by Franz Kafka, is probably not your usual cup of tea. The book starts off with the main character, Gregor, transforming into an insect. This novel juxtaposes everyday problems with the magical realism of Gregor being a giant insect. This novel explores many themes, which include the theme of how extreme changes in physical appearance can change the way people around you, view you. This theme is developed throughout the book by the character’s role, the character’s change, and Gregor’s deterioration by the end of the story.

“The Metamorphosis” is rarely considered as magical realism because of its absurdist fiction properties, but its use of the magical realism aspects, transformation of the common and distortion of identity, similar to the use in “Axolotl,” makes it part of the magical realism genre. The use of absurdist fiction does not mean that there are no traits of magical realism found in the story. At the start of “The Metamorphosis,” Gregor Samsa “finds himself transformed into gigantic insect”(Kafka 89) one morning, something that cannot happen. He was just a normal person with an “exhausting job…traveling about day in, day out ”(89). Before his transformation Gregor was a normal person, his metamorphosis is the only out of ordinary occurrence in his life. Him turning into an insect is both the transformation of the common and distortion of identity aspects of