Metamorphosis By Franz Kafk Literary Analysis

            The next level is the need of feeling safe and Gregor certainly does not have anyone to rely on even before his transformation. His father has given him the responsibility to pay off his debts and Gregor had worked hard to do what is asked of him. He works in a job as a salesman and he absolutely hates his job. The indifference of Gregor’s family towards him crushes him  , “ But Gregor understood easily that it was not only consideration for him which

To fully understand the depths of Gregor’s family’s betrayal, it must be mentioned how much he does for his family. His father had once owned a very unsuccessful small business, and when the business went under the family’s financial woes were unimaginable. Gregor saw this and wanted to bring joy to his family again. Kafka states, “At that time Gregor’s sole desire was to do his utmost to help the family to forget as soon as possible the catastrophe that had overwhelmed the business and thrown them all into a state of complete despair” (Kafka 25) He found a job so that

In the metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, there are significant actions and transformations which make the story sad, and strange with a happy ending. Explanations that are dramatic events that intensify the excitement of all these actions. Reality and reflection play an important role in this story because the events that happened could be applied and assimilated with modern society.

Franz Kafka’s, The Metamorphosis, is a novella about Gregor Samsa, a man who devotes everything to fulfilling the needs of his family. Kafka’s existentialist perspective on the meaning of life is illustrated through the use of the protagonist of Gregor Samsa. Existentialism is a philosophy concerned with finding self and the meaning of life through free will, choice, and personal responsibility (Existentialism). Gregor is unable to fulfill the existentialist view of finding meaning in one’s life; he acted according to what his family wanted. Kafka’s belief that there is no meaning to life and that the individual has to create his own meaning in life is entirely missed by Gregor. Kafka uses the juxtaposing mindsets of Gregor and his family

“One morning, as Gregor Samsa was waking up from anxious dreams, he discovered that in bed he had been changed into a monstrous verminous bug.” (Kafka 3) That right there is the famous opening line to The Metamorphosis, that line drags people in and make them want to read more of the novel. Franz Kafka gave vivid details of the morning Gregor had woke up realizing that he had changed into a monstrous verminous bug. What people don’t realize is that Gregor is Franz Kafka, it all started during 1912. “The aftermath of the war (raging as Kafka composed The Metamorphosis) was the “Balkan slaughterhouse,” as it widely called at the time with well over 200,000 soldiers killed in a few weeks” (Stach 227). Franz Kafka started writing about the dejection, which led him to envisioning himself as a large insect which is what gave him the idea to write The Metamorphosis. “The protagonist of The Metamorphosis,Gregor Samsa, has declined from a respected army lieutenant into his present status as giant house pest” (Whitlark 3).

His job has a traveling salesman was a purposeful choice that Kafka made, one Kafka felt fit his ideas of capitalism well. We see Gregor’s unenthusiastic view on his work, and his complaint at his lack of human interaction and relationships apart from his family with Gregor himself stating “…what a grueling job I’ve picked! Day in, day out — on the road…no relationships that last”(Kafka 3-4), from this we can infer that his work as a traveling salesman is tedious and oppressive, something Gregor himself did not enjoy, but rather something his family forced into him. This is further reinforced by the diction used in the beginning of the story alluding to the oppressive feelings with such word choices as “grueling”, “torture”, “worrying”, and “miserable" (Kafka 3-4). Here, Kafka creates an indirect relationship between the feeling of being oppressed to capitalism. Kafka uses an play on words in Gregor’s habit of locking all doors before he sleeps, with Gregor himself noting he “…had absolutely no intention of opening the door…the precaution he had adopted from his business trips, of locking all the doors during the night”(Kafka 6). We can consider the doors as a metaphor for a barrier from social connections and humanity, Kafka could be telling us that Gregor’s work has taught him to ‘lock’ from himself others, thus implying that perhaps

Because Gregor’s job merely serves as a means to an end, he represents the proletariats who bear the burden of the bourgeoisie. Although Gregor “would have given notice long ago” if not for his parents, he must continue working to pay off their debt (Kafka 946). Once he earns enough money to fully pay off his parents’ debt, Gregor “[wi]ll definitely [quit]” (Kafka 946). This affects Gregor not only materially but also emotionally, as he fails to build any relationships. Therefore, Gregor’s need to support his parents inhibits many aspects of his life. Similarly, Marx writes that, due to exploitation of production from the bourgeoisie, “proletariats have nothing to lose but their chains.” Connecting the means of production to the proletariats, Friedrich Engels, Marx’s editor, explains that “human power may be exchanged and utilized by converting man into a slave” (Straus). Through this exchange, the worker not only loses his autonomy but also becomes subservient to the bourgeoisie. Because Gregor experiences this phenomenon, many find the book’s setting “as more plausible in a petit bourgeois[ie] family than in any other setting” (Stach 202).

Many views of existentialism are exposed in Kafka's Metamorphosis. One of these main views is alienation or estrangement which is demonstrated by Gregor's relationship with his family, his social life, and the way he lives his life after the metamorphosis. Namely, it suggests that man is reduced to an insect by the modern world and his family; human nature is completely self absorbed. Kafka reflects a belief that the more generous and selfless one is, the worse one is treated. This view is in direct conflict with the way things should be; man, specifically Gregor should be treated in accordance to his actions. Gregor should be greatly beloved by his family regardless of his state. This idea is displayed in three separate themes. First,

In The Metamorphosis, Kafka establishes, through his religious imagery and gospel-esque episodic narration, the character of Gregor Samsa simultaneously as a kind of inverse Messianic figure and a god-like artist, relating the two and thus turning the conventional concept of the literary hero on its ear. The structure of the novel reflects that of the Gospel of Mark in that it is narrated in individual events, and in this it is something of a Künstlerroman - that is, the real metamorphosis is over the course of the novel, rather than just at the beginning, and that change is a heightened sensitivity to the world in an artistic sense. The motif of change is a rather theological one as well: we see it in a religious sense, in the form of

   In Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis, the nature of Gregor Samsa's reality changes insignificantly in spite of his drastic physical changes. Gregor's life before the metamorphosis was limited to working and caring for his family. As a traveling salesman, Gregor worked long, hard hours that left little time to experience "life." He reflects on his life acknowledging the "plague of traveling: the anxieties of changing trains, the irregular, inferior meals, the ever changing faces, never to be seen again, people with whom one has no chance to be friendly" (Kafka 13). Gregor, working to pay off his family's debt, has resigned himself to a life full of work.

Also, in his writings, Kafka pointed out the dehumanizing forces of industrialization and capitalism in post-WWI Europe. Kafka saw bureaucracy establishments as being something that deprives the mere existence of real human standards of industrialization that will oppress a person in a workplace. “Work like this is far more unsettling than business conducted at home, and then I have the agony of traveling itself to contend with” worrying about train connections, the irregular, unpalatable meals, and human intercourse that is constantly changing, never developing the least constancy or warmth” (Puchner, P1881). Before the protagonist Gregor’s transformation, he views his life as a working insect being trapped in a society where alienation and decay are rampant because the workers are not happy. Gregor is stuck in prison

     I have chosen The Metamorphosis as my subject for this paper; I will take a close look at how the death of Gregor Samsa opens the doors to understanding the story. I will give examples of irony through Gregor’s metamorphosis and how this irony brings together the conclusion of the story. Through his death we see the truth behind his parents, which in it’s self is ironic. It is difficult to pinpoint one specific thing to write about in the story; there are just so many things that can be brought to light. If I happen to lose sight of my topic bear with me, there is just so much to be discussed in the novella.

Throughout literary history, certain authors are so unique and fresh in their approach to the written word that they come to embody a genre. Franz Kafka is one such author; “Die Verwandlung” or “The Metamorphosis” is one of his works that helped coin the term “Kafkaesque.” Through this novella, Kafka addresses the timeless theme of people exploit-ing others as a means to an end. He demonstrates this point through showing that a family’s unhealthy dependence on the main character results in that character’s dependence on the family.

Gregor’s role in his family characterizes him as an altruistic individual whose nature made him ignorant to his family’s manipulation. Gregor endures most of his hardships without complaint and puts the needs of his family firmly above his own. Upon realizing his transformation at the beginning of the novella, his first thoughts were not of alarm but of great concern about being late to work because it is his only means of taking care of his family (Kafka 6). After his father’s business failed, Gregor “work[ed] with special ardor” (27) doing laborious work as a traveling salesman, not only to “pay off [his] parents’ debt”(4), but to also spend what little money he has to give Grete the opportunity to perform violin professionally (26). With all these responsibilities, it’s inevitable for Gregor to be under great stress, which can infer that Gregor’s transformation is a result of his willful desire to escape the pressures his overburdened life. Gregor struggled between remaining a steadfast provider or following his desire for independence, however, his metamorphosis freed him from a job he detests. Now that it is impossible for Gregor to work, Mr.Samsa reveals that “he possessed more money than Gregor knew about” (#). This is a significant event where Kafka uses the motif of betrayal to emphasize the corruption in familial infrastructure represented through Gregor’s sacrifice and interaction with his family, as well as to socially comment about how people in society use

This means even the slightest of mishaps would leave us struggling to survive in the world. This cruelty is shown when the Chief Clerk pays a visit to Gregor’s apartment to accuse him of indolence. ' 'Mr. Samsa, what is wrong? You barricade yourself in your room, give us no more than yes or no for an answer, you are causing serious and unnecessary concern to your parents and you fail - and I mention this just by the way - you fail to carry out your business duties in a way that is quite unheard of. I 'm speaking here on behalf of your parents and of your employer, and really must request a clear and immediate explanation. I am astonished, quite astonished. ' ' (Kafka 1). This is the first time in fifteen years that Gregor has been late yet the clerk hyperbolizes the situation and goes on to say that Gregor could be fired. The capitalist world requires loyalty and is cruel because it doesn 't empathize with anyone. The brutality of capitalism and its responsibility causes laborers to become more inhuman as they begin to isolate themselves whilst lacking compassion and mercy. Gregor’s transformation might be physically unpleasant but he is stripped from the burden of responsibility. Kafka is sympathetic to Gregor by turning him into a bug who is excused from working in the cruel world of capitalism.