Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis

One benefit of this reading is the inherently logical view of Gregor Samsa’s situation, a viewpoint which allows for full realization of absurd and unobstructed allegory and metaphor. The world Gregor Samsa inhabits is logical, but how can his present state be? As Professor Ralph Freedman, a doctor of Comparative Literature, describes, “Within this framework of realism and deliberate distortion Kafka’s fiction evolves as a problem-solving activity. Man is confronted by a world of impossible dimensions and he cannot but despair of comprehending its

society. Kafka shows his fear of rejection. He tries to meet others but fails constantly because of his own perceptions of society and thier thoughts of him. He displays that he is, “struggling, “if possible more fiercely,”” (Kafka, 7) to get out of bed and get out into the world where society is, as he perceives, treating him so poorly. Gregor exhibits these emotions by being stuck in bed or staying in his room, by choice, until his death. The motif comes through for the reader in this quote when Gregor is stuck in bed because he is a bug and Kafka thinks he himself is a bug. This is how Kafka sees himself vs. society. He does not realize that their is always someone to bring him in and accept him. All he knows is family and so he thinks that is what society is. He shows the irony of the situation, in the novella, is the fact that he could easily leave and find new accepting people but his view of society is narrow. Gregor wants his family to accept and praise him while Kafka wants society to praise and accept him. He wants to show the damages society has done to him in the same way that Gregor reminds, “his father that “Gregor was part of the family”” (Kafka 38). Kafka wanted to remind even society that he is a person and needed acceptance like everyone else. This explains to the reader that family has a large influence on the people that are a part of it. It also shows them to accept others for who they are and help them instead of ridiculing or ignoring them. He becomes antisocial and turns away at the sight of others or the thought of having to see others all because of his appearance. appearance becomes another factor in why he does not want society to see him as he is. He might not want society to see him because he believes things will only get worse after he saw the reaction his family had toward him. Even his sister, who he still paints in a

There are many similarities shared between the book and movie, as the plot line is almost identical. A similarity that is very important is our main character, Tris. For the most part, she stays the same throughout the movie and the book. She is portrayed as a sixteen-year old girl who does not give up. Tris is shown to never give up when she almost did not make it past the first stage of initiation. Although it was unexpected for her to make it to the next stage, she proved herself and just barely made it. Tris is also a very brave person. In the game of capture the flag, she took the risk and climbed up a very high Ferris wheel. She did this in order to see where the other team was hiding their flag. Also, in both the movie and the book,

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“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.

Through Gregor, Kafka demonstrates the dehumanization of individuals, Gregor works at a job that consumes his thoughts and passions. He illustrates how humans toil ceaselessly and give themselves up to boring routines that don’t bring any meaning to the individual’s life. Gregor flashback’s to a time before his metamorphosis, when he worked with a “special intensity” (Kafka 43) in order to provide for the family, all the while ignoring his own needs. Kafka knows the affect that doing something that one does not enjoy can have on every aspect of that person’s life. He was forced to work at jobs that he did not want to, his dissatisfaction with the direction his life was headed caused him to have suicidal thoughts (Franz Kafka-Biography). Kafka knows the dangers of not living to bring meaning into one’s life and uses Gregor to illustrate this to the audience. Without meaning in life there is no reason to live because life alone is meaningless.

Grete undergoes a change in perspective to such a degree that by the end of the novella it is she who declares, “we must get rid of it” (84). This change in perspective shows how Kafka believes that members of society often stop sympathizing with the isolated group when it becomes inconvenient for them to continue doing so. Gregor’s mother reacts in an initial manner somewhere between the father and sister since when first seeing him she “went two steps toward Gregor and collapsed right in the middle of her skirts” (23). These conflicting desires continue through the novella, such as when Mr. Samsa tries to kill Gregor, “she begged him to spare Gregor’s life” (65) but at the same time she is repulsed by him. This illustrates how she wants to help him and tries to think of him the same way she did before his transformation, yet is unable to. This resembles the idealists in society who theoretically support the alienated person but often succumb to social pressures when they are forced to face the problem. These three reactions to Gregor’s transformation as a result of the initiation of his isolation by the manager demonstrate the spectrum of reactions. From the immediate acceptance of the hierarchy represented by Mr. Samsa, to the true compassion of Grete and the idealism of Mrs. Samsa, Kafka shows how a wide variety of reactions is expected from society, and how people often change their opinions.

Kafka produces this theme of isolation in the book, possibly to make the book more relatable to readers and to himself. Kafka uses Gregor's character as a way to relate himself to the story and to showcase his feelings in the book. Kafka uses himself as a metaphor for Gregor and what he is going through based on his family past. Kafka’s relationships with his parents were toxic, unloving, and abusive. For example, his mother failed to support him and “lacked intellectual depth” in order to understand his feelings and his dreams/goals to become a writer. His father physically and mentally abused Kafka, which affected his life and his writing. Kafka produces elements in his writing that are in direct relation to his life. He felt isolated in his family or due to his family much like he writes Gregor to be. In the novella, Gregor's father steps on and throws harmful things at Gregor when he is a bug, “…for the father was dead set on boarding him. He had filled his pockets with fruit from the bowl on the side board…was hurling apple after apple. Those small red apples ricocheted around the floor as if galvanized, colliding with one another…Another one, however, promptly following it, actually dug right into his back. Gregor wanted to keep dragging

Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis (1914) is about the transformation of Gregor Samsa into a giant insect. His life has been miserable due to the fact that he works to meet the standard necessities of the family after his father has lost his business. Kafka implies that Gregor’s transformation is simply a manifestation of what he was already experiencing. It is a punishment for Gregor not having attempted to engage with others. Kafka’s main theme is alienation and he explores it passionately through Gregor’s introverted life before his transformation, the metamorphosis of the family’s treatment towards Gregor after he turned into an insect, and Gregor’s behaviour after his drastic change.

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

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.

Characterization of Gregor: Kafka depicts Gregor’s thoughts as depressed and hopeless in order to show that he does not believe his situation will get better. This is done in order to show that Gregor no longer has any humanity left because he repeats the same tasks every day which has numbed him.

The Alienation and Identity of Gregor Samsa Franz Kafka’s classic story The Metamorphosis (1915), is an effective and distressing tale that accentuates the reality of life and the alienation of an individual. Kafka’s fiction explores the life of Gregor Samsa, and his terrifying tale of metamorphic transformation which leaves the character lifeless in the end. The story however, is a powerful reflection of Kafka’s life, as the authour was filled with guilt and the failure to succeed in his father’s eyes. The relationship between father and son was an utmost struggle, as Kafka’s father was a quick-tempered man, who was generally displeased and filled with hatred (Kafka 1154). The struggle of Kafka’s life turned into a literary theme that was defused through an artistic output of writing, as he often wrote about alienation, despair, and feelings of isolation others also felt in the early 20th century (Kafka 1154).

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One day, Gregor Samsa, a traveling salesman, wakes up to find himself transformed into the strangest thing ever: a human-sized insect. That is how Franz Kafka starts off his novella “The Metamorphosis.” Within the story, Kafka develops the metaphor that Gregor feels like an insect due to the isolation and lack of love that he receives from his parents. This bizarre metaphor sticks in the mind of the reader and gives them another way to view the conflict between Gregor and his parents. Metaphor is used in “The Metamorphosis” to give a better visual representation of the conflict, make the story more interesting, and engage the reader’s mind.