Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis Literary Analysis

In the 18th century there was a rapid rise of slavery. Many Africans were captured by the Europeans separating from their family and home village. Many slaves tried to escape from their masters in the colonies because they wanted to go back to Africa. Some Africans accepted their fate and started a new family in the colonies. In the novel Octavian Nothing Traitor to the Nation, Octavian knows nothing about slavery because he was born in the colonies.

In The Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka, Gregor’s evolution to an insect symbolizes the loss of thorough communication, representing the disconnection of the individual from his family and his surroundings. Through this metamorphosis, the once loving family begins to remove itself from any past interactions with Gregor. In addition, the setting and surroundings of Gregor completely overcome him and persuade him to lose hope. The family and surroundings, not the change to an insect, lead Gregor towards death. Not only do the uncontrollable surroundings change Gregor, but so does the family.

By late the nineteenth century the world was in an Age of Imperialism. The foremost European powers were all competing and swiftly increasing their territorial claims. Americans have always felt the desire to grow and expand the United States, they ultimately proved that with Manifest Destiny, when they settled from the east to the west coast. The idea of expansion overseas was something not new to the United States. The war against Mexico had allowed the United States to be carried into the Pacific and the issuing of the Monroe Doctrine allowed the United States to expand their sphere influence well beyond the Caribbean and into Latin America. American Historian Howard Zinn (1980) says that the Monroe Doctrine was, “Issued in 1823 when the countries of Latin America were winning independence from Spanish control, it made it plain to European nations that the United States considered Lation America its sphere of influence” (p. 297). Also, the very idea of imperialism is deep rooted and is expressed through that very ideal of Manifest Destiny. Bowles (2013) states that, “Many believed it was God 's plan for the United States to control the continent from sea to shining sea” (p. 8). With the outbreak of the Civil War, the idea of expansion and Manifest Destiny would be nonexistent, but this very idea of expansion outside the continent would return into the hearts of many American politicans and leaders at the end of the nineteenth century.

Dogs weren’t always domesticated; they were once like the wild wolves that roam forests at night. In the book, The Call of the Wild by Jack London, a St. Bernard/Scotch Shepherd dog named Buck struggles with the calling of ancient primitive ways. The adventurous novel takes place in the cold Northland of Alaska, up by the Yukon and Klondike. Buck is taken from his easy life in California to become part of a sled dog team that travels through Alaska during the time of the Klondike Gold Rush. During his adventures with four separate masters in Alaska, he is able to find genuine love for one of them. But the call is too strong and eventually he answers. The theme power of the primitive is shown through the book from the moment Buck steps into the forest, all the way to the end of the book, when he finally answers the call.

Grete’s initial reaction to Gregor’s bug transformation is that she “began to weep while Gregor was still lying quietly on his back”(47). This reaction shows that Grete’s level of maturity is not adequate enough to deal with the change her brother is experiencing. Grete is not only showing her emotion and care for Gregor, but proving that his metamorphosis is causing Grete to experience emotional weakness. As Gregor is moving forward in his journey; Grete enters into her stage of exploring just how much power she has over the situation that is occurring within the

“He was lying on his back as hard as armor plate, and when he lifted his head a little, he saw his vaulted brown belly, sectioned by arch-shaped ribs, to whose dome the cover, about to slide off completely, could barely cling” (3). With this startling opening, Franz Kafka begins his story, The Metamorphosis. Kafka tells the story of Gregor Samsa, a man who has turned into a vermin overnight. Throughout the story, money plays an important role by having a significant effect on relationships within the Samsa family. Gregor Samsa is burdened with the fact that his family depends on him to bring money home.

Franz Kafka is known for his fusion of realism and fantasy elements in his stories, often featuring characters in isolated scenarios where the characters have unexplained attributes or powers. In the Kafka novella, The Metamorphosis features a protagonist that become isolated from his family. Gregor, the main character, wakes up as a bug mysteriously. The transformation leads to Gregor and his family adjusting to his metamorphosis. Furthermore, strangely, the novella is about Gregor’s family changes and development throughout novella and about him as a character.

In Franz Kafka’s novel, The Metamorphosis Gregor explains his feeling on his family and how his family is affected. Gregor’s feelings in the story do not change at all due to loyalty to his family. In the beginning he feels affection and love towards his family and feels this throughout the novel.

In the beginning, Grete “had seemed to [Gregor’s family] a somewhat useless young woman” but now, “Grete teamed up with her mother to do the cooking…” because their servant girl left, showing how she was now taking up responsibilities and doing her share of work (34,40). She also took up “a job as a salesgirl and, in the evening, studied stenography and French, so as perhaps to later obtain a better position” (54). As time passed, Grete busied herself by becoming more independent. Because she barely had any free time, she stopped caring for Gregor as much as she used to and now, only “kicked some food, or other, very quickly into his room and whisked it out with one sweep of her broom since the task could not be done any more quickly” (57). Her exhaustion caused her to focus on her priorities and her brother was the last on the list, but even then, she did not allow her mother to do her chore of taking care of Gregor, and continued to do it herself. Eventually, her response altered. Grete was filled with fatigue from all of the responsibilities she had to keep up with and she realized that Gregor was never going to turn back to normal, concluding that “[the family] must get rid of it” (68). She no longer considered Gregor as a brother but instead, as a “monster.” Grete agreed that her family might not “have a brother, but [they] could go on living and honour his memory” (69). Grete understood that this constant task of caring of her needy brother,

Last, but not least the dialogue was withdrawn in the film. The was the most important meaning of the story. In the film Gregor only spoke in the beginning of the segment. Otherwise throughout the picture he was mute, his family was the only ones who was talking. It's essential for the dialogue to be present, for that's the only way the author can communicate to it's audience. According to Kafka, Ms.Samasa wanted to remove some items out of Gregor's room; Gregor appeared to her and caused her to become faint (Kafka, ch.2). Mr. Samsa entered the home frantic from the sight of his wife and asked Grete what transpired. Grete explains how Gregor frightened her. Mr. Samsa replies by saying " Just as I always said, by you women wouldn't listen would

For the first time in the novel, the family feels a sense of unity – especially since Gregor is gone. Before Gregor’s transformation, he was the one dragging the family along, yet, after he becomes a bug, his family decides that caring for Gregor for three months “isn’t possible” (49). The sense of relief of his death demonstrates that his family, even Greta, did not care for him enough to prevent his death. Even though the story focuses on the metamorphosis of Gregor, Mr. Samsa and Greta both engage in their own metamorphosis. Mr. Samsa was forced to find a job, which allowed him to revive his sense of authority in the family and give him the confidence to tell the roomers to “leave the house immediately” (53) – a sense of courage that he

In Kafka’s “Metamorphosis” although this is a sad story, reality and reflection play a vital part in this story, the dramatic events that take place can be related to modern society. Gregor is portrayed as a man who is the breadwinner unlike traditional families where the father is in charge Kafka reverses the roles, “Gregor has bent all his endeavors to helping the family to get over the commercial catastrophe, which had plunged them into complete despair as quickly as possible, and so he began working with especial zeal and almost every night” (Kafka, The Metamorphosis, pg 224). Gregor was never praised nor recognized for his hard efforts to keep the family in stable condition, “They had just become used to it, they gratefully took receipt of his money, which he willingly handed

At the beginning of Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, Gregor becomes a giant beetle, loses his abilities as a human, such as his ability to communicate and work. Gregor’s transformation explores the theme of alienation. Through the attitude of people around him and himself, Gregor shows he is isolated from his body, his mind and his social relationships: he neither connects to society nor his family. Through Gregor’s tragic experience, Kafka is fighting against alienation. He also criticizes the numbness and apathy in family relationship for creating hopelessness and loneliness.

The Metamorphosis is about a traveling salesman Gregor Samsa who was the money provider to his family, and was metaphorically transformed. "When Gregor Samsa woke up one morning from unsettling dreams, he found himself changed in his bed into a monstrous vernin" (Kafka 538).The transformation that happens to Gregor affects everyone else he is connected with in one way or another, and brings his family into configurations with each other.

The Metamorphosis is a story about a traveling salesman, named Gregor Samsa, who wakes up in his bed one morning as a horrible bug-like creature. He thinks that he is just having a bad dream, so he tries to go back to sleep but can not turn over. He realizes that he is in fact an insect, with a hard-shelled back and little legs. Gregor realizes that he is late for work, and is going to miss the train to get to his office. He hears his boss downstairs, at his family’s house to see why he is late. The boss and his family comes upstairs to his room, telling him to get out of bed and unlock the door. He tries to talk to his boss, but his voice has changed and the family realizes there must be something wrong with him. They beg him to open the door, and Gregor slowly rocks himself until he falls onto the floor. He can not control his legs, so he grabs the key to the door with his mouth, and slowly unlocks the door. The family and Gregor’s boss see him, and are horrified. His sister, Grete, starts crying, and Gregor’s boss turns and hurriedly leaves. Gregor tries to talk to him, but his voice has completely changed and nobody can understand him at all anymore. His father pushes him back into the room, and shuts the door. Gregor goes to sleep, and when he wakes up he finds milk and bread sitting on the floor.