Examples Of Magical Realism In Metamorphosis By Franz Kafka

“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.

At that moment Gregor was no longer himself he had actually turn in to something new. He did know who he was, and how does his life is going to change. However Kafka did not turn in to a bug, but he belonged to a generation of Jews who were not fully integrated in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In nineteenth century majority of the Jews in the Austro-Hungarian Empire lived in the countryside and spoke Yiddish in an empire that spoke German. Kafka just as when Gregor transformed in to the bug had many restrictions. Gregor could move because the rest of his body was bigger then his many small leg, his belly divided in to many stiff section. That was an unusual situation so he did not know how to handle the situation. Kafka in the other hand his Jewish generation were not free to chose where they can lived, who they can have a relationship with and even if they can have children or not. Just as Gregor had to come to term with him become a bug. Kafka had to adapt with being a Jews with limited access to things around

While, Esteban who is just an ordinary person and at the same time a dead man, was portrayed as a good looking guy, We can see this in paragraph 4, “Not only was he the tallest and strongest, most virile, and best built man they had ever seen, but even though they were looking at him there was no room for him in their imagination”. What’s ironic here is even though he is a drowned dead man who is supposed to be portrayed as a man full of anguish, he is still portrayed as a good looking as peaceful looking man. And even though he is already, many women still fantasize him.

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.

Flannery O’Conner once stated, “The truth is not distorted here, but rather a distortion is used to get at the truth.” Distortion is defined as the misrepresentation of information or the practice of falsifying. However, one German author challenges the meaning of this word with one of his most popular works. Written in the early 1900s, The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka describes one man’s transformation into a repulsive vermin. Upon analysis, however, it is clear that Kafka had a deeper intent with this bold symbolism. The distortion in Gregor’s physical self-image, his perception of the reactions of those around him, and his deranged internal well-being are extremely important in showing readers the true extent of Gregor’s developing mental illness.

In the beginning of the novella, Gregor undergoes a transformation. Many readers view his transformation as he turns into a bug because of the way Kafka describes Gregor. Kafka may have been undergoing a transformation of his own. Kafka dealt with many issues growing up such as self doubt, issues with his father, and eventually, health issues. Like Kafka, Gregor deals with issues with his father and within himself and begins to feel less and less like himself as the novella continues. He awakes from his sleep to ask himself, “What’s happened to me (Kafka, 3)?” With the conflicts Gregor has with his family, especially his father, he begins to feel unwanted and unappreciated. Gregor also feels that he is becoming less sensitive when that used to be one of his main traits as a human (Kafka, 24). Seeing that Gregor is losing his sensitivity, that shows that he is truly losing himself since he is losing one of his main traits. Feeling less like himself, Gregor becomes more distant with his close

In the novella, Gregor transforms into an insect; he and his family must navigate his new life as a bug. As Gregor undergoes a physical transformation, there is also a shift in financial power in his family. Kafka shows that a capitalist society dehumanizes the working class, this is seen through the characterization of Gregor, the symbolism of food, and diction surrounding Gregor’s father

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

Magical realism is a genre that portrays both reality and fantasy. As defined by Faris (2004) in Ordinary enchantments, magical realism is a genre of writing that includes an irreducible element of magic and details that suggest phenomenon (Faris, 2004, p. 7). He describes the irreducible element as: “…something we cannot explain according to the laws of the universe as they have been formulated in Western empirically based discourse…” (Faris, 2004, p. 7). In Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s short story, The handsomest drowned man in the world, the facets of magical realism are rife. He uses magical realism to enchant the reader. The story is of a small cliff-side and coastal community

Franz Kafka uses metaphors in the story to show the readers that Gregor’s worthless and useless as a human bug. By doing so, Franz is able to show the readers how Gregor human life is really similar to a bug life.

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 does support this idea since he starts the story with a crisis; “When Gregor Samsa awoke from troubled dreams one morning, he found he had been transformed in his bed into an enormous bug” (Kafka 11). The start of the text is a crisis; Gregor has turned from a human into a bug. Mikhail Bakhtin states that this is a start of dehumanization, what was known to be self is now altered (Elimelekh 1). For Gregor, his humanity is questioned since, as a bug, Gregor displays multiple legs, a soft stomach, and a hard shell back (Kafka 11). Kafka’s describes how Gregor leaves his bed as such: “The fall was deadened somewhat by the carpet, and in addition Gregor’s back was more resilient than he thought” (Kafka 16). Gregor does not get up on two of his multiple feet and walk to the door. Instead, Gregor has to fall off his bed, since his legs are now multiple bug legs, and Gregor needs more than two legs to walk (Kafka 15). Mikhail excellently summarizes how this affects Gregor: “Motifs of dehumanization and metamorphosis are present, namely, the gradual decline of man into beast” (Elimelekh 27). Kafka displays Gregor as a man who declines into a bug, Toni Morrison, on the other hand, explores the idea of beast in a different context, such as when Sethe is defined by someone

Does “The Metamorphosis” belong under the magical realism genre? “The Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka is a short story describing the transformation of a lonely traveling salesman, Gregor, to a gigantic insect. Besides describing Gregor’s physical metamorphosis, the story also depicts Gregor’s mental metamorphosis from a human to an insect. In addition to Gregor’s personal metamorphosis, Kafka illustrates Gregor’s family’s transformation from tolerating Gregor to treating him with hatred, disrespect, and disgust. In Bruce Holland Rogers’s article “What Is Magical Realism, Really?”, he defined magical realism as having repetitions in time and combining magical and ordinary elements. Throughout Kafka’s description of these events, it is clear that “The Metamorphosis” should be categorized under magical realism because it combines magical and realistic elements and uses repetition of time and distortion of identity, similar to many other magical realism works such as “Axolotl” by Julio Cortázar and “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

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).

Kafka describes the tedious, murky and muggy environment that foreshadows the decomposition and fall of Gregor’s life. When Gregor opens his eyes, he finds himself changed into a grotesque vermin or an enormous insect, an insignificant creature. Gregor does not scream. He does not panic at least not until he worries about going to work, that a gigantic insect doesn’t need to bother showing up for work doesn’t cross his mind. It seems as though Gregor accepts his fate so willingly. With this striking opening, Kafka sets his mystifying psychological fantasy in motion. Kafka’s diaries and letters point out that he considered “Gregor’s fate no worse, or better, than that of any person.” The prior life of a traveling salesman vs. the one-room Gregor occupies, as an insect are both lives of solitude. Kafka wrote that “the cares we have to struggle with every day” are emotional anguish. Kafka lived a sad life. He was persistently haunted by the oppressive image of his father. This could be clearly seen in Gregor’s attempts to get out of the bed. But, since his door was locked, he would need to call for help, which he does not favor. This shows Kafka’s fear of his father. He would rather lay on the bed forever than call his father to help him. Kafka’s fear estimated here as Gregor’s fear