The Metamorphosis By Gregor Samsa

     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.

“The Metamorphosis” is a surreal story by Franz Kafka surrounding the transformation and betrayal of Gregor Samsa, who wakes up one day, reborn into a large insect. Along with the bizarre and nightmarish appearance of his new hard back, brown segmented belly, and many legs, Gregor only desire is to live a normal life, unfortunately, this is impossible because he struggles to even get out of bed. Gregor transformation into an insect is a vivid metaphor for the alienation of humans from around the world. After losing human form, Gregor is automatically deprived of the right to be a part of society. Franz Kafka could relate to Gregor because he too was mistreated/neglected by his father and worked a job that he was unhappy doing. Franz and Gregor both were providers for their families. Alienation, isolation, and loneliness were not hard to recognize during the Modernity and Modernism time period.

Gregor Samsa's metamorphosis occurs one morning when he wakes up from unsettling dreams and finds himself changed into a monstrous vermin.  This change makes Gregor dependent on his family members and reverses his previous situation in which his family was dependent on him.  As a bug, Gregor is useless to his family and can no longer perform simple human tasks, let alone support his father, mother, and sister.

The Metamorphosis changes Gregor’s personality, as well as the family’s attitude towards Gregor, and alters the family duty each member has before and after the transformation. The theme isolation gives the twists and turns the novella needs to portray the genre of magical realism and helps contribute to the flow and outcome of the

The Metamorphosis, written by Franz Kafka, is a cultivating story about how the life of Gregor Samsa and his family drastically changes. This change causes Gregor’s father and sister to betray him and even Gregor to betray himself. This all starts when one morning Gregor wakes up as a giant bug. This occurrence does not allow Gregor to work anymore and provide for his family. As the novel goes on his sister is the only one to take care of him but this takes a toll on Gregor and the rest of his family. Soon his family is in a financial crisis causing each member of the family to start working. They even had to start renting out a room in their apartment just to make ends meet. With all of these events happening to the family it causes many

Gregor’s metamorphosis brings many positive and negative changes in himself as well as his family. His family used to rely on him for his income as he was the only source of money in the family, but now they all worked and earned money themselves that is a very big positive change in the family. The negative change was bad for the Gregor himself as he couldn’t face the world with his new appearance,

On the surface, “The Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka is an evocative story of a man transformed into a “monstrous vermin”. It seems to focus on the dark transformation of the story’s protagonist, Gregor, but there is an equal and opposing transformation that happens within Gregor’s family. Although Gregor has physically changed at the beginning of the story, he remains relatively unchanged as the novella progresses. The family, on the other hand, is forced to drastically change how they support themselves. Although the change was unexpected, Gregor’s transformation into a vermin sets into motion a change in the Samsa family that leaves them better off in almost every facet of their lives. Thus, Kafka’s story is not one of descent into darkness, but one of a family’s ascent towards self-actualization. The metamorphosis the title speaks of does not take place in Gregor, but rather in the Samsa Family; consequently, Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis” is not a tale of darkness, disconnection and despair, but rather a story of hope, new beginnings and perseverance.

The deterioration of Gregor's life was in part due to the ostracism associated with his being turned into a bug. Once his family found out what happened, they banished him to his room, and his parents could not even bear to look at him. Prior to his metamorphosis, Gregor was an integral part of the family. He provided the money by which the family survived. Yet as soon as he changed, he was labeled an outcast, who was useless to the family, and therefore not paid any attention. He felt this ostracism, and it made him not want to continue on in life, he gave up because he felt unloved.

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

In Franz Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis” the character Gregor Samsa is transformed into a giant bug while he is sleeping. Although it is never said why he turns into an oversized insect, the characters never seem to wonder why or how this has happened. It is ironic that even after undergoing something dramatic and life changing as becoming a vermin, Gregor does not question his transformation; his reaction undermines the situation entirely. Irony in “The Metamorphosis” is a reoccurring theme that affects each of the characters in the story. Gregor, who was once a genuine hard working, family orientated man, is now a beetle who feels guilty about not being able to help his family anymore. Gregor’s family sees him as a burden. Their bitterness towards him instead of sympathy through his ordeal is greatly satirical.

The transformation that Gregor underwent was not an extreme change in his usual way of how he acted. Gregor was noted, by his parents, to have always been locked up in his room buried in his work showing that Gregor isolated himself from the rest of society along with his family. The transformation only furthered his isolation as he was further pushed away from his family, as no one would care for him as well as his boss running away

Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis (1915) is a novella about protagonist Gregor, a hard-working traveling salesman transforms into some a vermin overnight and struggles to adjust to his startling change. Kafka characterizes Gregor as a selfless individual whose profound love for his family misleads him about their genuine disposition. As he adjusts to his new change, he undergoes great difficulty to determine his identity and humanity. Gregor has deceived himself into believing that his family will love him despite his repulsive appearance. In The Metamorphosis, Kafka uses characterization and third-person narrative to demonstrate Gregor’s self-deception and self-awareness regarding his family and circumstances to establish the theme of identity.

Change plays a major role in one's life. It is what makes one’s life unique and different. In the novel, The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, Gregor Samsa, the protagonist, initially appears as a respectful young man working as a traveling salesman to pay off his family debts and provide for his family. But then Gregor goes through a transformation that turns him into a gigantic insect. Even though Gregor’s sister, father, and mother undergo many changes, the most significant transformation that occurs in the story is the change in Gregor, from an ordinary working man to a gigantic insect. This initial transformation becomes only the first impulse, which causes a lot of changes in his external and internal world along with forcing him to adapt to his new position in the family.

Stress can turn one into a bug. In “The Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka, Gregor loves his family at the beginning of the book, but he loses his love for his family as the story continues. Gregor loses his love once he realises what he actually is and how his family sees him since his transformation into a disgusting vermin. Gregor transforms into a verminous bug due to a great deal of stress from his job, which he does not like, and issues with his family.

Their dependence is why Gregor places so much emphasis on his job even over his own state of being; because his main use to his family is his work. While Gregor’s job does make him miserable, the thought of escaping it gives him the hope to continue and thus gives him purpose in life. It is noteworthy that Gregor does not describe exactly what the “big change” he will make once he pays off his parent’s debt is. It is merely the thought of escaping his oppressive work environment that drives him to continue working a vicious cycle that makes up his life and consequently his self identity. This contrast can also be seen in Gregor’s initial reactions he goes from damning his job to “Hell” to exclaiming “God in Heaven!” when he realizes that he is late (Kafka