Consider the Theme of Transformation in Metamorphosis and the Yellow Wallpaper.

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.

“The Metamorphosis” is a surreal story by Franz Kafka surrounding the transformation and betrayal of Gregor Samsa, who wakes up one day, reborn into a large insect. Along with the bizarre and nightmarish appearance of his new hard back, brown segmented belly, and many legs, Gregor only desire is to live a normal life, unfortunately, this is impossible because he struggles to even get out of bed. Gregor transformation into an insect is a vivid metaphor for the alienation of humans from around the world. After losing human form, Gregor is automatically deprived of the right to be a part of society. Franz Kafka could relate to Gregor because he too was mistreated/neglected by his father and worked a job that he was unhappy doing. Franz and Gregor both were providers for their families. Alienation, isolation, and loneliness were not hard to recognize during the Modernity and Modernism time period.

The wallpaper is beginning to take on the role of controlling her life. As the days proceed on and she continues to sit in this isolated room, she begins to notice objects incorporated throughout the patterns. Every day the shapes become significantly clearer to her until one moment it appears to be a figure trapped within the walls (734). This aversion to the color completely shifts at this point toward hallucination. The wallpaper now has complete control of the narrator’s mind and sanity.

In the short story, the reader gets the sense that the narrator feels like the wallpaper is a text she must interpret, that it symbolizes something that affects her directly. Its symbolism progresses throughout the story. At first, it is just ugly and unappealing to look at because it is ripped, soiled, and an “unclean yellow.” It eventually captivates the narrator as she tries to figure out the seemingly formless pattern. The narrator eventually begins to hallucinate an eerie sub-pattern behind the main pattern. Ultimately, the sub-pattern comes into focus as a frantic woman, continually crawling and hunched,

The yellow wallpaper in the room shows, symbolically, the narrator was being oppressed. The narrator hated the wallpaper because she saw herself as a prisoner of her own husband. Spending so much time in the room, the narrator studied the wallpaper in details and found the wallpaper somewhat represents her. "There is one place where two breadths didn't match, and the eyes go all up and down the line, one a little higher than the other" (pg280), "Such a peculiar odor, too" (pg 285) etc. The confusing pattern, the bar, the woman behind the bar, and the yellow color of the wallpaper allowed her to feel so helpless, as if she was a bird

The wallpaper is "repellent, almost revolting; a smouldering unclean yellow strangely faded by the slow-turning sunlight" (132). To add to the grotesqueness of the color, the paper was unkept and peeled "in great patches all around the head of [her] bed" (131). It had a pattern that was a flamboyant and through the progression of the story, the protagonist starts to see a woman that seems to be trapped behind

On the surface, “The Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka is an evocative story of a man transformed into a “monstrous vermin”. It seems to focus on the dark transformation of the story’s protagonist, Gregor, but there is an equal and opposing transformation that happens within Gregor’s family. Although Gregor has physically changed at the beginning of the story, he remains relatively unchanged as the novella progresses. The family, on the other hand, is forced to drastically change how they support themselves. Although the change was unexpected, Gregor’s transformation into a vermin sets into motion a change in the Samsa family that leaves them better off in almost every facet of their lives. Thus, Kafka’s story is not one of descent into darkness, but one of a family’s ascent towards self-actualization. The metamorphosis the title speaks of does not take place in Gregor, but rather in the Samsa Family; consequently, Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis” is not a tale of darkness, disconnection and despair, but rather a story of hope, new beginnings and perseverance.

The wallpaper magnifies the problems the narrator is experiencing. The pattern in the wallpaper is not just an innocent pattern for a children's room as it is first introduced to the reader, but rather it has a mind-numbing quality that readily attracts the projections of the unbalanced mind.

The Metamorphosis, a story written by Franz Kafka, is about the sudden transformation of Gregor Samsa into a bug. The narrator describes how Gregor’s transformation negatively affects his work, family, and social relationships; it also takes readers through Gregor’s journey of trying to regain his humanity. Throughout the story, Gregor denies his loss of humanity and attempts to preserve his previous work and family relationships because these relationships make up a great deal of his identity. Throughout his life as a bug, Gregor realizes just how much of an influence his work and family have on who he is, and life becomes difficult for him now that he is letting down both his family and his

Kafka’s timeless novella, The Metamorphosis, first shows, the physical and mental change of Gregor Samsa. As Gregor wakes up for work, he realizes that his body is not what it used to be. He has completely transformed into a giant beetle-like insect and he begins to notice his “hard... armor plated back… dome-like brown belly divided into stiff arch segments, [and] numerous legs… which waved helplessly before his eyes” (Kafka 6). Mentally, Gregor continues to think like a normal person. Even though he has just transformed into a nasty insect, his main concern is still about getting to work and supporting his entire family. This concern fades when he understands that his illness releases him from his job. Wilhelm Emrich also believes that Gregor gains freedom by stating that, “Samsa complains of his “grueling job,” of the “upset of doing business,” “worrying about changing trains, eating

Richter discusses the main theme of The Metamorhosis as change. He feels that Gregor’s entire family, not just Gregor, undergo a metamorphosis. When Gregor turns into an insect, the life of everyone in his family is deeply changed. Gregor’s family often takes the work that he does for them for granted. Gregor’s father found himself in some trouble with his business and Gregor was forced to help support the family. The unappreciative, lazy family is greatly changed when Gregor undergoes his metamorphosis in the climax of the story. Gregor’s family soon realizes that they all of their lives will be much harder with Gregor as an insect.

The exterior portion of the wallpaper represents the narrator’s disease and how it holds her captive. At night, the disease “becomes bars” (15). The exterior portion of the wallpaper seemingly becoming bars to the narrator, at night, symbolizes a jail cell and how it keeps her metaphorically locked up and therefore, unable to become well again. Adversely, during the daytime, the exterior portion of the wallpaper is simply just another piece of the wallpaper. The changing in apparent appearance of the wallpaper relates to how there are bright and dark spots in her days and how in the bright spots, her disease is bearable but in the dark spots, it completely consumes her. The narrator also describes the pattern as “torturing” (15) saying that the wallpaper itself is “hideous enough, and unreliable enough, and infuriating enough” (15) but it’s the pattern that ultimately makes her suffer. It can be thought of

Early on, she openly admits that she may be ill, which quickly lends some reason to doubt when it comes to some of the things she talks about. Are there really women hiding behind the wallpaper? Surely not. Is there a woman lurking in the bushes outside? Unlikely. Are the patterns and shapes on the wallpaper interesting and thought-provoking? Probably so. That is all she thought of the wallpaper when first confined to the room—yellowish in color, with strange shapes woven into the texture. However, as her condition worsens, the way she looks at the wallpaper grows more and more distorted. The textures and strokes take shape and form; they turn into living beings, women who are confined between the layers of wallpaper. The narrator begins to feel sympathetic for them, feeling trapped and confined as well. The narrative slowly shifts from first- to second-person, with the inclusion of a “you.” Instead of simply describing her feelings, she then begins to say “this is how such a thing would make you feel.”

The novella, The Metamorphosis, follows the transformation of a character into a vermin that is then an outcast from society and even from his family. Gregor’s transformation was used in order to further Gregor’s isolation and to show how society pushes away those that are different from the general population.

She describes the wallpaper as “dull enough to confuse the eye in following, pronounced enough to constantly irritate” (Gilman). The narrator is not thinking much about the wallpaper and she is only briefly annoyed by it. “This wallpaper has a kind of