Expressionism In The Metamorphasis

When Gregor first turned into a bug, his sister Grete, showed him kindness by bringing him some food “She brought him, to test his taste, an entire selection, all spread out on a newspaper. There were old half-rotten vegetables, bones from the evening meal, covered with white sauce which had almost solidified, some raisins and almonds, cheese, which Gregor had declared inedible two days earlier, a slice of dry bread, a slice of salted bread smeared with butter… and out of delicacy of feeling, since she knew Gregor would not eat in front of her, she went away very quickly… Gregor could now make himself as comfortable as possible.” (Kafka 153) As the story progresses Grete becomes careless and no longer is sympathetic toward Gregor. In fact she hardly even feds him anymore “But even when the

At this point in the story Gregor is completely captivated with Grete, which is an unexpected consequence in her plan of manipulation. Grete began to practice her violin to show her parents just how classy she was even though she was able to take care of Gregor. While entertaining guests and playing the violin Grete captivated Gregor with the sweet sound of music. “On hearing all this, his sister would break out in tears of emotion, and Gregor would climb up to her shoulder and kiss her neck, which, since she had been going out to work, she had keep free without any necklace or collar.” Gregor also feels bad about what has happened with his sister. Due to Gregor’s situation Grete has to work and this is keeping her from wearing her beautiful necklaces. Grete has effectively manipulated her parents and Gregor. In the final paragraph of the novella it talks of Grete and how highly her parents think of her. The novella ends with one final dehumanization of Gregor. The last sentence shows Grete stretching her young body after Gregor has died with a horrid

the family representative of Gregor, in a sense, to a mother who does not understand and a father who is hostile and opposing. The father is physically violent toward his metamorphosed Gregor, pushing him through a door in Part I: "...when from behind his father gave him a strong push which was literally a deliverance and he flew far into the room, bleeding freely" (20). Grete appears to concentrate on protecting Gregor from this antagonistic father and an indecisive mother. In Part II, when Grete leads her mother into Gregor's room for the first time, we see the strange way in which Grete has become both the expert and the caretaker of Gregor's affairs (Nabokov 271). She convinces her mother that it is best to remove all of the furniture from his room. Kafka attributes her actions partly to an adolescent zest: "Another factor which might have been also the enthusiastic temperament of an adolescent girl, which seeks to indulge

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

As a young child, he was a lone Jew attending a German school-which no doubt forced him to learn the "value" of conformity from an early age. As for Gregor, his family refuses to associate with him any longer and casually discards him because he is useless and perceived as different; i.e., dangerous. As such, the family finds this nonconformity almost threatening to their existence. A particularly pivotal and heartbreaking moment in Gregor's life occurs when his own beloved sister is asha! med of Gregor: Things cannot go on any longer in this way...I say only that we must try to get rid of it. We have tried what is humanly possible to take care of it and to be patient...I believe that no one can criticize us in the slightest...it is killing you both. I see it coming. When people have to work as hard as we all do, they cannot also tolerate Cheng 4 this endless torment at home. I just can't go on any more...this animal plagues us. It drives away the lodgers, will obviously take over the entire apartment, and leave us to spend the night in the lane. (Kafka) Basically, Grete is willing to kill her own blood relation purely based upon his unusual, repulsive appearance. However, despite the constant threat of extermination, his thoughts remain surprisingly selfless; he "did not have any notion of wishing to create problems for anyone and certainly not for his sister...he felt a great pride that he had been able to provide such a life in a

But, as time goes on his sister Grete, who had been the one to care for him the most, begins to lose faith in his humanness. She says to her parents, "You must just try to get rid of the idea that this is Gregor. The fact that we've believed it for so long is the root of all our trouble." This same idea is reiterated when Gregor finally dies and his mother says, "Well, now thanks be to God." His family was convinced after a short while that it wasn't even their own Gregor underneath that hard exoskeleton.

We can come to this understanding by examining the ostensibly “intimate” relationship that Gregor has with his sister, Grete. We are told that prior to his metamorphosis, “with his sister alone had he remained intimate” (95).* The reader would be quick to assume that the usage of the word “intimate” implies our conventional definition, which deals with the close and personal bond that two people can share. Our quote has a layer of duplicity to it because of the fact that it assumes Gregor’s point of view concerning the relationship; therefore, we are going to accept Gregor’s definition of “intimate” rather than the conventional definition. His definition can be clarified when we look at Grete’s reaction to Gregor clinging onto the picture frame: “‘Gregor!’ cried his sister, shaking her fist and glaring at him. This was the first time she had directly addressed him since his metamorphosis” (106). Grete does not strike us as someone who had ever maintained an intimate relationship with Gregor due to her lack of compassion for his dire situation. Rather than assuming a sympathetic tone with a flustered Gregor, she “shak[es] her fist and glar[es] at him.” It seems peculiar for her to act in this manner if they did, in fact, share an “intimate” bond. She makes no attempt to relate to him, but rather, she alienates him even further. Oddly enough, when she calls him by name, we are told that “this was the first time she had

The straightforward style of the story “The Metamorphosis’’ by Franz Kafka adds no sympathy to Gregor adding to the theme of isolation. An example of the straightforwardness in the story is in the first paragraph in the first line it says “Gregor Samsa…transformed in his bed into a horrible vermin”. This is an example of the straightforward style portrayed in the story because all the narrator does is say the he turns into a horrible vermin. The narrator does not explain at all what vermin he is besides some type of bug. This also shows isolation because the narrator does not care enough about Gregor to tell us what kind of vermin he is. Another instance where the style adds no sympathy to Gregor is when he tries to open the door to get out

He was the son, the sole breadwinner of the family. Before Gregor’s transformation Grete really had no place in the family. Now since Gregor was unable to help the family Grete became important, needed and most of all appreciated. “He often heard them expressing their appreciation of his sister’s activities, whereas formerly they had frequently scolded her for being a somewhat useless daughter”(99). Now Grete’s parents need her for something. Grete by making herself responsible for Gregor gains a certain power over her parents. This however in not presented to the reader clearly because Gregor is unable to grasp the fact that his sister might have ulterior motives.

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.

The relationship between Grete and Gregor, that was once strong, is completely diminished as she grew less interested in Gregor’s well being and general happiness in his environment. Her actions, or lack of thereof, cause Gregor immense sadness as he still cares about his little sister greatly. In continuation, the rest of the Samsas did not dare risk their comfort in order to accommodate Gregor’s new diet accompanied by his transformation. This is clear in the

She even wanted to take the furniture out of Gregor’s room so that he would be able to crawl on the walls. Even though Grete was doing this stuff for her brother she was absolutely terrified by his appearance and could hardly stand to be around him. Gregor tried to fix this problem by covering himself up with a sheet, he “arranged it in such a way that he was now completely covered up and his sister could not see him even when she stooped” (Meta 34). Due to his grotesque looks, Grete’s compassion for her brother grew weaker and weaker by the day and while she continues to care for him, she does so evidently more from a sense of duty than love. While this was going on the family had conversations about their financial struggles.

When Gregor transformed into a bug many of his physical appearances changed. Gregor could really only lay on his back and it was difficult to do anything because he had short stubby arms and legs. “Instead of these, however, he had only small limbs which were incessantly moving with very different motions and which, in addition, he was unable to control” (Kafka 140). When his mother wanted to talk to him he refused because he didn't want her to see what he has transformed too. Another reason why is because Gregor was unable to get up to open the door and when he finally could get up he didn't have hands to unlock it so he had to use his mouth. Gregor then had a hard time getting through the door because of his large and the weird shape of his body. He wasn't a human anymore so he had to figure out a way to get through the door. “But to continue was difficult, particularly because he was so unusually wide” (Kafka 140). Before all this happened Gregor was a traveling salesman, this was a good job and he was able to pay for lots of the family's bills and he

While the weeks and months passed Grete and his mother and father struggled to give little any compassion or concern for Gregor as their finances plummeted to the ground. Prior to his metamorphosis Gregor was physically alienated from any semblance of a social life due to his job and financial obligation to his family afterward the transformation and he was deemed a burden to his family that he had provided for countless months he was psychologically isolated from them as well. Notably while Gregor had finally been emancipated from his dreaded job as a salesman, he had become a parasitic to his family without being labeled as a provider they slowly began to turn against him only worsening his mental state and exile.

Grete, like her mother, obviously cares very much for Gregor and is also terrified by his new transformation, but unlike her mother, she tries very hard to hide her fear in order to keep feeding and tending to Gregor’s room;