Examples Of Distortion In Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis

The title of the story “The Metamorphosis”, by Franz Kafka is misleading. Merriam-Webster defines metamorphosis as the “change of physical form, structure or substance, especially by supernatural means, a striking alteration in appearance, character or circumstance”. While there is an obvious change in the appearance of the character Gregor Samsa, it becomes apparent after reading the story, that his appearance is not the only thing that transforms. In the story, Gregor wakes up one morning to realize that he has changed into a giant insect. Not only did he transform into a creature, but he was also stripped of his humanity. The author Franz Kafka uses this symbolism to focus the reader's attention on one character that mirrors himself and his life. Both Kafka and Gregor are traveling salesman from Prague, experience dysfunctional personal relationships throughout their life and suffer from psychological conditions including alienation and isolation. Franz Kafka’s life, a heartbreaking story of human conflict, parallels with the main character of metamorphosis, Gregor Samsa.

“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.

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.

People have a high amount of pressure on them in their daily lives with social, mental, and physical appearances. Kafka represents this pressure he has on himself through Gregor. This allows Kafka to vent many emotions and feelings through this novella Everyone is there own person but some take others opinions to heart to often and need to see things are not as bad as they seem. Throughout The Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka, Kafka displays himself through Gregor, and shows his true feelings about people and society he lives in.

The structure of Franz Kafka's "Metamorphosis" establishes it as a kind of inverted, adult fairy-tale, in which regression (rather than progression) of forms occurs, good goes unrewarded and unappreciated, and evil triumphs. The story, of course, is satirical in concept, but the satire is felt chiefly because of the way in which the story stands the concept of the "fairy-tale" on its head. Gregor, who in a child's story, might progress from bug to man and be the one to enjoy the sunlight at the end of the tale, a reward for his patient suffering, in Kafka's tale turns from man to bug and dies without basking in the sunshine. This paper will show how the story's inverted scheme is meant to reflect the inverted principles of modern life, in which self-love appears more virtuous than self-sacrifice.

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

A metamorphosis can be described as a change in structure, form, or appearance, or as a change in form from one stage to the next in an organism’s life. In Franz Kafka’s novella, “The Metamorphosis”, change is a major theme. The theme of change is significant as the main character, Gregor Samsa, a traveling salesman, undergoes a metamorphosis of his own as he experiences changes living as a giant insect. However, Gregor’s journey through his new life is not subjective, as his transformation provokes significant changes in his family’s dynamics. In fact, Gregor’s transformation into an insect is not the main focus of the novella. Kafka uses Gregor’s metamorphosis as a way to emphasize the more significant metamorphosis within the Samsa

Growing up, Franz Kafka questioned his father’s use of power not only at home but also in the workplace. Kafka’s father referred to his employees as “paid enemies.” Upon noticing “the submissiveness expected of [workers] toward their superiors” in his own asbestos factory, Kafka found this true for not only his father but also most of the upper class (Speirs and Sandberg 7). Disappointed by this class hierarchy, Kafka attended anarchist meetings and referenced communist writers in his diaries (Cohn). These meetings led him to develop a similar ideology to Karl Marx, who attributed “all… [of] history [to] class struggles.” In The Metamorphosis, Kafka channels a Marxist viewpoint through Gregor Samsa’s life before his metamorphosis and his family’s life after the metamorphosis.

In The Metamorphosis Franz Kafka tells the story of a young man named Gregor who observes the radical changes in his life after transforming into an insect. Gregor’s life was centered on his job as a traveling salesperson and his family. One morning Gregor woke up transformed into an insect. Afraid of the transformation Gregor stays in his room and ignores calls from his family. When Gregor realized that his new body did not allow him to have a normal life, he tried to adapt. After his metamorphosis, Gregor is abandoned by his family and only maintains a small relationship with his sister Grete, who is in charge of serving and provide him with food, but always leaving some distance because of his ugly appearance.

Franz Kafka’s renown novella, The Metamorphosis (1915), is divided into three sections. Each section approaches a different aspect of the main character, Gregor’s life after his metamorphosis, which in turn makes them easily identifiable. Accompanied by each section are a different set of emotions, knowledge and aesthetics, the potency of each growing or dwindling as the reader reaches the climax of the narrative.

Kafka was brilliant in not actually letting his readers know exactly what kind of bug Gregor was. It was obviously intentional. When the book got published, Kafka was actually worried that the publisher would want to illustrate a picture of the bug-like creature. He wrote the publisher explaining that he didn't want any pictures that depicted what Gregor might have looked like. I like this idea because it really helps the reader of the story use their imagination. One of the worst things in the world is to read a book, get a picture in your head of what characters look and act like, and in the end, flip through pictures generated from another person's mind. In John Updike's commentary of Kafka's The Metamorphosis, he alludes to Gregor maybe being a centipede instead of a beetle or a cockroach. Though Kafka says Gregor has "numerous legs", I do not necessarily think that means he has to be a centipede. To a human being, numerous legs would be six legs as compared to our normal two legs. Besides, never have I seen a centipede with a "domed-like brown belly". Also, a cockroach (which would be a fitting choice) does not seem to match the description Kafka gives. I have concluded for myself that the bug that Gregor has sadly

Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis (1915) is a novella about protagonist Gregor, a hard-working traveling salesman transforms into some a vermin overnight and struggles to adjust to his startling change. Kafka characterizes Gregor as a selfless individual whose profound love for his family misleads him about their genuine disposition. As he adjusts to his new change, he undergoes great difficulty to determine his identity and humanity. Gregor has deceived himself into believing that his family will love him despite his repulsive appearance. In The Metamorphosis, Kafka uses characterization and third-person narrative to demonstrate Gregor’s self-deception and self-awareness regarding his family and circumstances to establish the theme of identity.

”The Metamorphosis“ by Kafka presents readers with an intensely claustrophobic and absurd premise featuring a protagonist that is so used to living like an insect and so consumed with guilt that these elements of his life finally take over and lead to his demise. In this world Kafka creates, Gregor lives like an insect even before his metamorphosis and this theme is developed at the beginning of the story when he wakes up to find that he has become what he most resembled in his life.

Change is unavoidable and inevitably in every moment of our lives. In every second of our lives, changes appear and disappear, impacting our lives. Humans perceive change differently and it reveals the true nature of our heart. It is due to the dissension of change between humans that determines the differences in our individual perceptions. In the novel, “ Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka, the word change is taken to a entirely absurd degree as the main protagonist, Gregor Samsa is illogically transformed into a bug. Although Gregor’s thoughts still shown traces of his human self, Gregor’s family is unable to cope with his hideous form and isolates him from their world. Once perceived as the breadwinner of the family, Gregor is now seen

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.