How Does Kafka Create Sympathy In The Metamorphosis

Kafka’s Metamorphosis suggests to his readers to take a glimpse inside a dysfunctional atmosphere triggered from a painful childhood, to see how influential each member of the family contributes to the dynamics, but also to learn how to make light of the situation with acceptance. Kafka is reflecting on his own relationship with his family in Metamorphosis. He sees himself in Gregor, or is he him.

Writing, like other forms of art, draws upon an artist’s inspirations. Either subtly or overtly, an artist’s interactions and perception of the world influences their piece. Franz Kafka, born into a Jewish family in Prague, incorporated many of his life experiences into his work The Metamorphosis. The Metamorphosis presents many connections between the life of the protagonist, Gregor Samsa, and Kafka himself. Some literary analysts claim it serves as an outlet for his distraught life. Based on the events of Gregor Samsa’s life, it can be deduced that Franz Kafka used his personal experiences as an inspiration for The Metamorphosis.

Kafka’s relationships with his family and with women demonstrate an avoidant insecure attachment. In the article “Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka” written by Allan Beveridge, Kafka felt “estranged” from society and his relationships (Beveridge 459). In The Metamorphosis, Gregor feels significantly inferior to his entire family: “[he] recoiled at his father’s brazen self-confidence” which made him “[feel] uneasy in his own body” (Beveridge 459).This feeling of insignificance parallels to his metamorphosis into vile vermin. Kafka’s relationship with his father was avoidant and throughout his adolescence and early adulthood his depressive symptoms and negative self-concept reflect the avoidant attachment. In the biography “Franz Kafka,” written by Veronica Loveday, Kafka’s upbringing could be described as a tormented one; “feeling oppressed by his domineering father … [who] had high expectations for his son, was intimidating” (Loveday np). His father was an accomplished business man and like most fathers, had some hope that his son would continue in his footsteps. After Kafka’s graduation, he began to work in the family business, just as asked by his father; Kafka hated his long hours and just like Gregor with his fretwork, he never found time for his short stories. Kafka felt constantly criticized at the job which inevitably lowered his self-concept. These continuous feelings of inadequacy created a constant struggle with own perception of himself, which

Thompson 1 Aurora Thompson Ms. Younghouse The Metamorphosis Writing Assignment 29 August 2014 Throughout The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, a myriad of transformations occur within the main character, Gregor, as well as those around him. Gregor Samsa, himself, endures many transformations throughout the novella; however, so do his sister, father, and mother. This story illustrates an insight that a change within yourself doesn't affect only you.

Once again, due to his change, Gregor is tossed to the side and is no longer even considered human. The sorrow that he felt knowing that his family wished him dead was too much. He could no longer offer to pay for their debt and so he lost any value he had in his family. Kafka’s story not only addresses an odd, rather unrealistic, and somewhat humorous plot, but also depicts the tragic and depressing reality of no longer being useful. Gregor’s transformation is unrealistic but the rest of his problems are set on a far more realistic spectrum.

Throughout both Gregor Samsa’s brief life after his metamorphosis and Franz Kafka's entire adolescence, they are plagued by the imposed alienation of their family. Gregor’s alienation stems from the effects of his appearance on the people around him. Kafkas alienation derives from the erosion of his self image due to his work and family life. Gregor’s repulsive appearance acts as a response to his reality, of being forced to work a job he detests for a family who does not appreciate him. After years of constantly being told he is inadequate, Kafka begins to take on the same mentality as Gregor, by allowing himself to be alienated by the people around him and himself. Both Kafka and Gregor’s suffering continues by accepting and allowing the alienation of their families and society.

Through Gregor’s family’s actions and opinions of him, Kafka critiques “familial expectations” in society, and exposes the danger that can become of a child who falls short of these expectations. Gregor’s family’s opinions hold him to certain expectations that he is not always able to reach. In the family’s living room, a painting hangs that they are very proud of. “On the wall...hung a photograph of Gregor from his army days, in lieutenant’s uniform, his hand on his sword...demanding respect for his bearing and his rank” (15). This picture symbolizes the ideal expectation that Gregor’s family has for him.

There are a few major ways in which Kafka put his life into parts of The Metamorphosis. Gregor’s room is similar to Kafka’s Old Town Square where he watched everything from a window. "Gregor’s abusive relationship with his father parallels Kafka’s relationship to his father." (Lawson) Kafka’s real father shares many characteristics with Gregor’s father, such as being strict, overbearing and abusive. Gregor’s mother was scared and unsupportive towards Gregor paralleling Kafka’s actual mother who seemed very distant, and shy. All of these things are seen in The Metamorphosis.

Throughout his book, The Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka reveals the diverse occurrences in the short, sad life of his main character, Gregor. Gregor, experiences many feelings and, through his transformation, many different behaviors. The first contact we have with Gregor is when he wakes up and has been transformed into a bug. During the entire story, we are never given a glimpse of his life as a human being, but we are told his attributes as a person through the eyes of the omniscient narrator and we learn that Gregor was a helpful and kind son to his family. Gregor worked his whole life to maintain a steady standard of living for his family and to repay a debt incurred by his parents. Even though Gregor’s transformation is unbelievable, the book gives the reader a glimpse into the daily life of the early twentieth century Russian citizen.

In literature, the concepts of alienation and separation are employed to depict the necessity of personal interaction and social mingling for all humans. In his Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka attempts to unearth the plausible dangers of social rejection via Gregor’s metamorphosis into a monstrous vermin, which in turn eventually leads to his alienation from not only his family, but also his past life. Furthermore, to depict the notion of alienation to his audience Kafka utilizes his vivid development of Gregor’s workaholic attitude, Gregor’s transformation in to a massive bug, and the primary emotion of guilt, which Gregor inadvertently faces due to his belief of sacrificing his life for the betterment of his family. Therefore, Kafka exploits Gregor’s alienation to depict his underlying theme of the novel – humans’ heavy dependence on society not only leads to the loss of their individuality, but also leads to the loss of their humanity.

As throughout this novella, we witness Gregor continually care for his family, which is something that everyone can relate to in some way. At the end of the novella Gregor makes the ultimate sacrifice for his family, as he recognized that his bug form was causing his family a lot of distress, so he decides to fix the problem by giving his life. On page 41 in Kafka’s novella Gregor says, “He thought back of his family with emotion and love. If it was possible, he felt that he must go away even more strongly than his sister,” which demonstrates that despite the way his family treated him he still loved them and was willing to make sacrifices for them (Kafka). This is a relatable theme that is prevalent throughout the novella and it is something that anyone can relate to no matter their race, culture, or gender. Additionally, according to Walter Sokel, the author of the critical essay entitled Education for Tragedy, said, “And in each of his encounters with his father this is his sole motive: to be understood by his father,” in regards to Gregor’s faithfulness and allegiance to his father. This is also a theme that is applicable and relevant to all people as each person wants to be understood by their parents or a person they hold in high esteem. In the end, universal and relatable themes are aspects of what makes Metamorphosis a “classic” as these themes allow for people to relate to this novella throughout an time

This is also seen in Gregor’s life where the similarities are Gregor’s father instead of the Hunger Artist’s manager or Kafka’s father, and the isolationism with Gregor’s room, the Hunger Artist’s cage and Kafka’s relationship with others. Furthermore, Kafka portrays many aspects of his personal life in his works, including the segregation, the relationship with others and his perspective on the lifestyle in Europe at the

The time prior to the genesis of the story tell Gregor's character as a valuable worker, a dutiful son, and doomed dreamer. He begins to represent for the reader the existentialist reality that all God's creatures must work and must die. For Gregor, he believes his transformation to be a simple barrier to his everyday cross of labor, but to the rest of society, reflected in the microcosm of his family, he is a problem without a solution. Kafka seems to suggest through Gregor's experiences that an individual's place in life cannot undergo change without the changing or the reactions of those surrounding the individual. He attempts to recreate the failures of family and the social confines restricting personal reality as he illustrates the gradual transformation which lends the title. It is important to remember that the alteration of Gregor's physical appearance took only one night, but the experience of The Metamorphosis required a great deal more.

Through Kafka's dream we see how his life has been full of struggle with his family and he expresses it through Gregor. He puts Gregor in his own shoes and shows how he is treated and how he feels about it. Now that he has been completely rejected from his family Gregor has to make a very important decision and the choice he makes may change his life forever.

When reading “Metamorphism” one wonders how Franz Kafka came about writing the book, especially about all those horrible things that happen too Gregor. It is very detailed and without knowing Kafka’s own life story it does not seem to have a huge connection or significance. However, when you read about Franz Kafka’s life you see that Gregor and Kafka went through a lot of very similar things in life. It is almost as if Kafka depicted himself and his struggles as he wrote about Gregor. It only makes sense because the struggles and the similarities they share is evident too this. They both did not have a good relationship with their father, they had jobs that they were not pleased with, and they both have a life changing event happen to them.