Metamorphosis Essay Often times, when someone is down, their family will bring them up. In Gregor Samsa’s case his family wants nothing to do with him. In “Metamorphosis”, by Franz Kafka, Gregor goes through a change with his body and himself. Gregor changes from a human to a giant beetle. This causes Gregor to feel very alone and doesn’t know what to do. He stays in his room because if he leaves no one will accept him. Before he was a beetle, he would help his family, he worked for them to help with living costs. His family doesn't appreciate his help or him for that matter. This leads to Gregor feeling rejected or alienated from his family, society and himself.
It appears that the people who care the most end up getting hurt by the ones they love. The more time, energy, love, and money that a person sometimes invests get thrown back in their face once something drastic happens. In turn, this causes feelings of worthlessness and isolation and can eventually lead to death. Franz Kafka understands this better than anyone else and can portray this in his novella, the Metamorphosis. In his novella, The Metamorphosis, the protagonist, Gregor Samsa is one who undergoes a physical and mental transformation due to the unrelenting pressures that his father placed upon him which eventually cause him to die. At the heart of the father-son relationship lies Gregor and his father whose relationship is explored
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.
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
Comparison of Themes in The Yellow Wallpaper and the Metamorphosis Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" and Franz Kafka's "Metamorphosis" contain many similarities. They both have the common theme of the deterioration of the main character's life and mind, as well as the theme of the ostracism of outcasts
One of the “deep” causes for Gregor’s end is because it helped caused metamorphosis among the other family members. For example, Gregor sister used to rely on her brother however she went from a girl to a woman. She began to take care of him but at the end she gets a job to help her support her family and also blossoms into a young lady (Page 44).Even though the his father business did not succeed they decide they need to save the their money and look for jobs in order to live. For example, they talk about their future “all three had jobs which very good [...] in conformation of their new dreams and good intentions” (Page 44). The death of Gregor helped the family put into perspective that they need to move into a different apartment in order to save their money and they begin to become more of happy family. If Gregor didn't die at the end the family would still rely on him to make the money and do work for them but now with this metamorphosis they have to change their
Gregor Samsa is a traveling salesman who hates his job but keeps it because of he has to pay off his his father dept and care for his family. He transforms into a large bug and spends the rest of his life in that state. Despite his transformation into an insect, Gregor changes very little as a character over the course of the story. He accepts the hardships he faces as a bug and as a man without complaining. When his father went into debt he readily took role as the money earner in the family, even though it meant taking a job he did not like.
Metamorphosis follows the storyline of the transformations of multiple characters. The change of Grete throughout the plot has to be the greatest out of all the family members. She matured and assumed a new role in the family after the transformation of her brother. Although Gregors transformation was dramatic, it was more physical compared to Grete who undergoes her own metamorphosis from girl to woman.
Topic 3: Symbols Within The Metamorphosis Throughout a person’s life, multiple changes occur that can be viewed as either good or bad depending on the circumstance. Change is an unavoidable happening that shapes someone’s identity and their perception on life, and the ability to accept the changes that occur in a lifetime is what keeps living things prospering. If change can not be received favorably, then it will ultimately be the conclusion for those that can’t adapt. The inability of acceptance of change by both himself and others around him is shown in the novella The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. In the novella, Gregor has had the unfortunate alteration of being changed into a bug and he is no longer able to provide for his family. Not only does Gregor feel unable to adapt to this new change, but his family completely avoids him and sees him as a new burden for them as he is no longer worth anything in their eyes. Often when someone is faced with a large negative change to their life others may exile them in order to avoid facing their change. The theme of exile is shown through The Metamorphosis with symbols such as the apple, his father’s uniform, and the door.
Throughout the novella, Gregor’s deeply rooted sense of guilt transitions from having the power to drive his actions to merely plaguing his thoughts. Immediately after his transformation, Gregor reveals that he has to “deal with the problems of traveling, the worries about train connections, irregular bad food, temporary and constantly changing human relationships…” (Kafka 4), in his daily work. Although he appears to hate his job, Gregor does not quit, as he has both intrinsic motivation to provide and extrinsic pressure from his family to keep them afloat. Rather than reflecting on his feelings and emotional baggage attached to his job, Gregor focuses on grievances set in reality, and allows this to occupy his conscious mind. After Gregor’s transformation, his
In literature, the concept of a character overcoming hardships is apparent in just about every novel. These novels present to us how a character is inspired by a calamity they face, that eventually allows them to advance and triumph. This is evident in the novella The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. It is not the protagonist Gregor, rather his sister Grete who is an example of this. She
Gregor Samsa, a Unlike Gregor, the family was in shock and they completely rejected the fact that this was their provider. Gregor believes nothing has truly been altered, which is partially true since his human mind and his goals are still present, but sadly his family doesn’t understand him. In Ramon G. Mendoza’s analytical paper titled “The Human Vermin: Kafka’s Metaphor for Existence and Alienation”, he declares that because of the loss of a human voice, “this is precisely what makes Gregor’s condition so pathetic, and his isolation so total” (Mendoza 4). Gregor is now stripped of all of his humanity. However, Gregor’s state of mind remained almost concrete even after the family’s rejection. He is still the salesman trying to go to work and trying hard to not get fired. He wants to show the world that he is ready to sacrifice even his bodily image, to protect this family from financial collapse.
Mekayla Hartsfield Dr. Brandi Leonard ENGL-2320-J01 2 May 2016 Literary works often have profound influence. The period in which the literature is written has a profound influence on the work itself. Past literature is often found to adequately embody many ageless ideas and situations while the themes also remain relevant to the present. First,
This quote explores the theme that those who are not struggling cannot and do not understand how to help those in need. Gregor desires to have unlimited space to crawl and move around in, which is the reason for the removal of the furniture. However, partway through his mother forgets to consider Gregor’s wants and instead exclaims that she thinks they ought to leave the room as is. Her opinion is that Gregor will return to his human form eventually and then he will wish all the furniture remained in his room.
Have conflicts with others ever changed how you feel about yourself? In 1915, Franz Kafka published the novella, Metamorphosis. He included many personal connections that can be seen throughout the character of Gregor Samsa. Equivalent to Gregor and his family situation, Kafka’s family had health issues, which led to the overwhelming self doubt that enveloped him (Kafka background). Consequently, Kafka could not focus on himself and what was best for him, leading to his own health issues. Due to the unfortunate relationship that Gregor shares with his father, he possessed many conflicts within himself. These conflicts include personal health issues and also issues with others. His conflicts can be seen when he transforms from a human into a vermin, when he starts to become distant from his family and lose the connections he once had, and when he begins to stop eating.