The Metamorphosis Essay

it. There was a faint sign of rebellion hidden behind this idea..." (Politzer, 76-77) All of

     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.

In Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis”, the character Gregor transforms from a man into a bug, specifically a cockroach. Although Gregor physically changes, he does not change as a person. Gregor merely accepts his new condition as a bug and his family’s continuous abuse and hostility. Gregor’s acceptance of his new bug form is representative of his passive personality before and after his transformation. Gregor’s passivity, in response to the hostile world around him, causes his eventual downfall. Therefore, Kafka uses the character Gregor to exemplify how a passive attitude can cause one’s demise.

He glanced out of the window, watching the sky turning from a deep blue shade to a clear, blue, breezy morning. ‘A good day.’ He made a mental note to himself. The sun baked through the curtains, sharpening his enormous shadow. He thought of that fussy factory owner and sighed.

Love in itself is a very complicated emotion, being either the driving force for a great blessing or a pressing burden. When comparing the surrealist chronicle, The Metamorphosis, written by Franz Kafka, and the down-to-earth short story Samsa in Love, written by Haruki Murakami, this idea truly takes form. The Metamorphosis is the story of Gregor Samsa, a young man who works vigorously to support his disconnected family. One morning, Samsa awakens to find spontaneously himself transformed into a giant cockroach. No longer able to support them, the roles are flipped and Gregor is now being cared for and quickly becomes a burden on his family. On the other hand, Samsa in Love transforms Kafka’s original story as in this version, Gregor Samsa

What does The Metamorphosis. suggest about caring, patience, communication, love, loyalty, shame, secrecy, duty in the context of family life?

when she died, you still get the feeling of a lack of emotion which is

The Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka, tells a unique story about a young man that suddenly turns into a bug; Gregor Samsa. The reason for Gregor turning into a cockroach unexplained. The novel is told as if Gregor; the main character, is perfectly normal. Kafka portrays Gregor as a very selfless man, not thinking of his own health or what would be good for him. Throughout the book there are many Gregor is seemingly cut off from the world, the transformation into a bug almost like a metaphor for Gregor's own life.

Without the constraints of external forces, is human nature inherently good or evil? In Franz Kafka’s novella, The Metamorphosis, Gregor Samsa’s transformation into a "monstrous vermin” serves as a window into the human psyche. Through lack of obligations, decreased sense of shame, and increased sexual drive, Kafka reveals Gregor’s relationship to the outside world weaken, as his internal instincts grow stronger. Kafka utilizes Gregor’s transformation as a symbol to show the dangerous potential of the human “id”, a term coined by Sigmund Freud, to break down social norms. This psychological venture reveals humanity’s true instincts as animalistic, when not contained through personal and societal pressures.

In “The Metamorphosis”, Franz Kafka, the author, tells the readers a strange story about a working salesman, Gregor Samsa, waking up one morning from an uneasy dream and found himself transformed into a verminous bug. “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.” (page 3) What? Why? How weird! How can a salesman mysteriously wakes up one day and suddenly transformed into a bug, is it just a metaphor? Well yes, it is just a metaphor.

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 The Metamorphosis Gregor Samsa is forced to deal with his transformation from a human being into an insect. After his transformation Gregor is no longer able to do everyday ordinary things. He now has to depend on someone to do these things for him. His younger sister, Grete, makes herself responsible for Gregor. She takes it upon herself to make sure that Gregor is fed and his room is cleaned. This leads to the question; why does she place such a huge responsibility on herself? An optimist like Gregor who only sees the good side of people would say it is because she is a loving and caring person. That her brother’s current condition makes her feel sorry for him and

This story "The Metamorphosis" is about Gregor, a workaholic, who is changed into an insect and must then deal with his present reality. The hardest part of being an insect for him was the alienation from his family, which eventually leads to his death. In reading the short story "The Metamorphosis," (1971),one can realize how small the difference is between Magical Realism and Fantastic. This literature written by the Austrian, Franz Kafka, is often debated over.

Authors composing creations in an existentialist atmosphere are regularly sadistic in the ways they ponder. Existentialist novels incorporate bizarre concepts, but they also contain concealed pragmatic themes. In The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, the author utilizes existentialism and the id of mortal creatures and the theme of isolation to dehumanize the protagonist throughout the novel; thus, Kafka produces a petrifying novel.