Metamorphosis Analysis

In the first part of the book, Gregor wakes up and has evolved into a huge bug, or so he thinks. Doubting his ability to get out of bed, he looks for answers for the cause, but can not find any. Then, his mom comes to his room and is only concerned at the fact he is late for work and does not ask if he is all right. As said on page 5, by Gregor’s mother, “Gregor—it’s a quarter to seven. Didn’t you want to catch the train?” This is the only thing she asks her son Gregor when he wakes up unusually late. Expectedly Gregor was looking for a careful remark but this shows us that his mom is only concerned about the money Gregor makes instead of his well-being. In accordance, Gregor is starting to feel ashamed of this condition he must deal with, “Just don’t stay in bed being useless” (Kafka, 7). This shows us, Gregor feels useless because he cannot work for his family and help them at all. He made a ginormous effort to get out of his bed to work and yet is family is only worried about him losing his job instead of his well being. As we see, his family doesn’t love him genuinely and do not love Gregor like they should, being his family.

Once I’ve got together the money to pay off the parent 's debt to him— that should take another five or six years—I’ll do it for sure. Then I’ll make the big break.”(pg.5) In other words, Gregor is working so much for his parents and the debt that he needs to pay off. As a result of that, Gregor is overworked, he never really goes out, and spends his time reading the newspaper or looking at the bus schedule. Kafka writes, “The young man has nothing in his head except business. I’m almost angry that he never goes out at night. Right now he’s been in the city eight days, but he’s been at home every evening. He sits there with us at the table and reads the newspaper quietly or studies his travel schedules.” (pg. 15) Gregor has lost his sense of humanity and spends his time thinking about business. He has also lost all sorts of creativity he had before he started working so much. He is pretty much used to a routine based lifestyle, which lacks creativity because he has a set schedule that he follows almost everyday. This resulted into his metamorphosis. His parents relied on him to work so much, they forgot that Gregor is human just like themselves. Gregor is human who needs basic human essentials. Like going out with his friends, relaxing, and learning to appreciate the things and people around him. He could not do so because he was stuck paying off debt with a job that he hated.

Gregor maintains submissive personality and does not defend himself. Gregor’s physical change into a bug is the only aspect of him that changes. Gregor continuously allows himself to be abused. Upon Gregor’s transformation, he is unable to go to work. Therefore, the chief clerk visits Gregor to force him to come to work. Gregor remained locked in his room and would not leave for work. So, the clerk became extremely impatient. The frustrated clerk divulges into a cruel and demoralizing speech. He maliciously accuses Gregor of hiding because of unethical involvement in cash receipts. Later, Gregor’s family and the clerk become restless and want to see Gregor. The door to Gregor’s room is unlocked to open and reveal Gregor in his insect form. Gregor’s family and the clerk react with horror. The clerk and Gregor’s mother run away from him in fear. Gregor’s father grabs a stick and a newspaper and dashes toward Gregor, herding Gregor back into his bedroom with prods and fierce language. Gregor injures himself badly while trying to fit back through the doorway. Gregor’s door is slammed shut behind him and he his left alone, frightened and injured, in his room. The events subsequent to Gregor’s transformation exhibit his passive nature. Clearly such passivity was not useful to Gregor.

Walter H. Sokel’s article does well in trying to encompass many deeper meanings behind the story, The Metamorphosis, but some of them are invalid and do not accurately represent the happenings in Kafka’s work. Sokel emphasized that the reason for the metamorphosis was of Gregor's own doing more than anything else. The article tries to compile several viewpoints and ideas which is confusing and unconducive to any one motive in the novel. The basis of this articles many widespread arguments is as absurd as the story it is trying to explain. Any clarity that could have been gained was overshadowed by Sokel's own conflicting ideas. In the end the causes and results that exist in the Kafka's far flung tale are neither factual nor comprehensible, leaving it up to the reader to evaluate if they themselves are absurd to question Gregor's

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

Gregor's physical transformation also sparks a streak of cruelty on the part of his family. It is understandable that they be frightened when he first appears, but they continue to lock him in his room without ever trying to communicate with him. The only person who ever goes in his room on a regular basis is his sister and she can barely even tolerate his presence. At one point when Gregor successfully escapes from his prison cell, his father ends up throwing apples at him with the intention of causing injury. "Gregor came to a stop in alarm, there was no point in running on, for his father was determined to bombard him." As Gregor merely sat there on the wall, his own father sunk an apple into his shell. After this event they leave him to whither away and die alone in his room. Gregor did not bring this horrid behavior upon himself by his actions, but instead they result because his different appearance and behavior led his family to think of

One aspect of Magical Realism Franz Kafka uses is realistic elements. The start of Gregor’s morning is similar a normal morning where “his immediate reaction was to get up quietly without being disturbed, to put on his clothes, and above all, eat his breakfast” (1113) before going to work. During this scene, Gregor still thinks like a human, however he has physically turned into a bug. A human’s normal thoughts, on a weekday, is to get up and get ready to go to

In this passage we are finding out that Gregor is a hard working man, and if he ever stopped it would greatly influence his and his family's future. Which could not happen so when he starts

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.

Transition In The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka is about Gregor Samsa's transformation into a bug, but he is not the only character to undergo a transformation in the book. All the characters in the book change and transform throughout the text. The character from The Metamorphosis, besides Gregor, that undergoes the most significant transformation is Grete.

Gregor Samsa awoke to the sound of a beeping alarm and realized he woke up ten minutes late as usual. He crawled out of his bed and could hear his sister Grete practicing the violin in her bedroom. Gregor opened his bedroom door to see his father sitting at the dining room table going through bills, because he was always concerned with the family’s financial situation. His father looked up from the table and said, “You’re gonna miss the train” in a stern tone. Gregor didn’t have time to eat breakfast this morning with his family because he woke up late. Gregor was used to the negative comments and continued past his father into the foyer. Gregor, who was supporting his family since his father’s business failed, was forced to take his current

Gregor misses his alarm, at the beginning of “The Metamorphosis”, which is when he notices his transformation into a verminous bug. Once he notices this transformation, he tries to ignore it and go back to sleep but can not since he is unable

In the film Gregor didn't leave his room that much, after the transformation. This is one of the most key elements that's mentioned in the book. For instance, Kafka states how Gregor learning how to become mobile around his room and around the home (ch.1). Therefore, it's portrayed in the film that Gregor gave up his zeal for life in the early stages of his transformation. It's imeperative to readers' because he didn't give up suddenly. He had some determination, and attempted to make best of the situation. Otherwise it leaves the audience in ponder without those key elements.

With the rise of Gregor, Kafka describes the dull, gloomy and humid environment that foreshadows the decay and deterioration of Gregor's life. As soon as Gregor opens his eyes, he finds himself positioned in an uncomfortable manner and transformed into a monstrous vermin or a gigantic insect, a worthless creature, with his hard armor-plated back lying on the bed: "He was lying on his hard, as it were armor-plated, back and when he lifted his head a little he could see his dome-like belly divided into stiff arched segments?" (Kafka 296). With this arresting opening, Kafka has set his mysterious psychological fantasy in motion. He plainly describes Gregor's uneasiness of keeping himself balanced in his bed. "His numerous pitifully thin legs waved helplessly in the air before his eyes" (296). Just so the readers are not left in confusion, Gregor asserts that "It was not a dream," and sees for himself, in disbelief, that he is still in his own regular human bedroom, with a collection of cloth samples widespread on the top of the table (296). Slowly and gradually, we notice Gregor's difficulty in getting up from his bed and his effort to get up safely without hurting hims5elf. This is clearly seen when the narrator says, "If he tried to bend a leg, it first straightened out; and if he finally succeeded in taking charge of it, the other legs

The characters also think illogically without true reasoning. When Gregor transforms into a large beetle, his first thought is not how to fix his situation. Rather, he thinks to himself, “How about if I sleep a little bit longer and forget all this nonsense” (Kafka 7). He does not search for a solution or ask for help but finds sleeping an appropriate response. Later, he continues by concluding that his bug state is a result of “getting up early all the time” (Kafka 7) because “it makes you stupid” (Kafka 7). While not sleeping enough surely does cause people to become tired and the