The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

In the book, Metamorphosis, Frank Kafka tells the story of a dysfunctional family that becomes even more dysfunctional when their son, Gregor, transforms into a cockroach. Before and after his transformation, Gregor has a variety of identity and self-esteem issues. Through his transformation, many of these issues are maximized. He begins to not know who he is anymore, and he is disgusted by the fact that he has turned into a hideous creature, both figuratively and literally. This is demonstrated when he has woken up after turning into a cockroach with an itch. After he tries to scratch his itch, he notices one of his many insect legs and is revolted by the truth. The immensity of his disgust is portrayed in his reaction to his transformation into a bug. He does not react how most people would if they woke up one morning to find that they have been turned into what most would consider the world’s most repulsive insect. Instead of waking up in a panic, he simply reflects on his life as a human and how monotonous it was. In this reflection, it becomes clear that his family is codependent on him. Codependency is a major concern, and it should be addressed.

“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 The Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka conveys the series of emotional and psychological repercussions of a physical transformation that befalls the protagonist, a young salesman called Gregor Samsa. As the story progresses, Gregor finds himself unfairly stigmatized, cruelly rejected because of his clear inability to financially support his family, and consequently increasingly isolated. Through extensive use of symbolism, Kafka is able to relate the surreal and absurd, seemingly arbitrary events of this short story to a general critique of society-particularly on the alienating effects that conformity generates. On a broader level, the combined themes-which include the themes of conformity, freedom, and alienation--found throughout The

The Metamorphosis (Die Verwandlung 1912), Franz Kafka’s best known short story, is a master work of incredible psychological, sociological and existential malaise. Although his points are simple and straightforward, this richly layered and textured story is open to many interpreta-tions, making it complex, yet critical to decipher. There is an incredible amount of theories based off of what this story could possibly symbolize or represent, but it is of the autobiographical in-terpretation that is undeniably the most enlightening. This interpretation allows the reader to gen-uinely understand the tale on an intense level that would not be able to be reached, otherwise. In order to gain true insight on the autobiographical approach to The Metamorphosis, a brief examination of his life is required; his thoughts, his beliefs, the acknowledgment of the cruel circumstances of his life, especially his home life, must be made clear that the anguish of his own world is the model for the themes in his stories.

In The Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka, the style in the short story pits emphasis on the nightmarish quality of the work. In the first sentence of the story it reads” One morning when Gregor Samsa woke from troubled dreams, he found himself into a horrible vermin.” This quote from the story demonstrated how Gregor’s nightmares came to reality, but throughout the rest of the first paragraph Franz Kafka describe the beetle- like creature. Kafka represents his straightforward style by simply stated that Gregor has turned into this forsaken creature and basically portraying the character, Gregor to not really be phased by his transformation. Other characteristics of Franz Kafka’s straightforward style would be when Gregor says “ God in heaven, he

Many believe the purpose of life should be to carry out certain responsibilities. Success of these duties creates good feelings and a reason for living, but failure triggers deep remorse. In “The Metamorphosis“, Franz Kafka depicts an absurd tale featuring a central character so used to dwelling similar to an insect and burdened with guilt that these qualities of his life take over and cause his downfall.

In Franz Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis,” Gregor Samsa deals with the alienation from his family stemming from both absurd and mundane circumstances. While Gregor’s transformation into a bug is the catalyst to his physical alienation, Gregor had for years been becoming more and more isolated mentally and emotionally from his family due to his displeasure at his having to work a job he hated due to his father’s failings and the lack of gratitude he received from his family for his hard work. It was not just his family who Gregor was becoming isolated from, but it was humanity in general that Gregor had been drifting apart from, as he had not mentioned having any friends or work colleagues which leads the readers to believe he had no social life

There is no meaning to life, man is as insignificant as the ants littering his streets. There is no purpose for man, he is able to survive and communicate this very beliefs for unknown reasons to him. Franz Kafka, one such believer of this reality, wrote a novel, The Metamorphosis, which captured the existential dilemma perfectly. Franz Kafka was a man trapped within his own skin, a castaway, a nobody. Kafka wrote many stories, often nightmarish and reflective of his own reality. The Metamorphosis is no different, the main character Gregor Samsa wakes up to find himself transformed into the most disgusting of vermin. Gregor is not only representative of Kafka, he is the embodiment of reality. Life is a short, depressed journey through missed

The Metamorphosis is a short novella written by Frank Kafka during the 20th century Modernism period. The Modern period introduced technological advances like the steam engine; the telephone and telegraph connected humans from different regions and help improve the human experience. Although the increase of these technological devices led to an improvement of the human condition it also led to the production of dangerous weapons and modern warfare. Global conflicts ravaged modern life due to increasing shifts in political powers. WW1 and WW2 were major conflicts that yielded death and caused many individuals to experience isolation and loneliness. Many writers during the 20th century conveyed that spirit of isolation and despair within the arts of literature. Kafka’s The Metamorphosis expressed the true nightmarish and unpleasant aspects of modern life.

Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis is a masterfully written novella about Gregor Samsa, a man who devotes his life to his family and work, for nothing in return. Only when he is transformed into a helpless beetle does he begin to develop a self-identity and understand the relationships around him. The underlying theme of The Metamorphosis is an existential one that says that any given choice will govern the later course of a person’s life and that a person has ultimate will over making choices. In this case, Gregor’s choices of his part in society cause him to have a lack of identity that has made him to be numb to everything around him.

"The Metamorphosis" by Franz Kafka and his other novels start like a fairy tale. Kafka, without preamble and intellectual justifications, puts us face to face with the unconscious, and illustrates existential problems. J.Stephens, who was a part of the “The Kafka Project” and analyzed this particular novel, tries comparing Franz Kafka and his personal life to “The Metamorphosis” because it is obvious in more ways than one that he was writing a twisted story of his life. The narrator is in the third person, "he lay on his armour-like back" and is an omniscient narrator. He tells the story completely from the outside and gives the impression as if he knows everything about all the characters. He is able at any time to penetrate the innermost areas of the psyche of the characters appearing in the story. The narrator could be the witness, or perhaps it is Kafka.

There exists no one true approach to examine writing; consequently, Literature continually proves to be a misunderstood art. Emerging through time, theories have been conceived due to the study of literature, but different readers believe in different theories. For instance, Franz Kafka’s short story, The Metamorphosis, may be interoperated countless ways do to its intricacy, as well as by varying literary theorists. Kafka himself and historical background may even be scrutinized, when studying The Metamorphosis. Complexity in The Metamorphosis lies throughout the entirety of the story, for the story tells the telling tale of salesman Gregor Samsa and his time as a gigantic insect (Kafka). Despite their differences, Biographical Criticism, Historical Criticism, Psychoanalysis, and Marxism all provide methods by which to analyze Kafka’s The Metamorphosis.

Franz Kafka’s Die Verwandlung or in English, The Metamorphosis, is one of his most renowned works. Published in 1915, the subject of this absurdist fictional work is the transformation of Gregor Samsa into a monstrous vermin—whom most believe to be a large cockroach—and how it changes his entire life for the worst, as well as the lives of his family. Kafka’s work is a genius depiction of what society can do to a man and what it means to be a human being, brought down to less than nothing and be treated like vermin.

It can be hard to understand the meaning of the novella “The Metamorphosis,” written by Franz Kafka, without thinking of the background. Due to the fact that, “using” and knowing “[the] background knowledge” of a story is important to read a “text” (Freebody and Luke). In the novella “The metamorphosis”, “Kafka’s personal history” has been “artfully [expressed]” (Classon 82). The novella was written in 1916, before the World War 1 in German {Research}. When the novella was written, in the Europe, preemption of human has kick-started through homogeneity of the object. Moreover, owing to development of IT technology, people can live much more convenient life rather than the past. According to the theory of Alvin Toffler, as the first wave of agriculture society has arrived to the second wave of industry society, economy has developed rapidly {research}. This change makes life more comfortable and affluent. Before the World War 1, the industrial revolution had broken out and it “drastically altered the economies and social hierarchies of Europe” (Classon 12). Owing to industrial revolution and industrialization, as people could accumulate worth, people put accumulation of worth ahead of everything. Furthermore, as labor became important and precious, people have been regarded as the medium for development of industrial. Therefore, human alienation and capitalism have been overflowed. In the novella “The Metamorphosis,” Franz Kafka criticizes human alienation which is occurred

The Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka, is a work of fiction describing the main character Gregor Samsa, who suddenly becomes an insect shape creature, who is no longer able to support his family. Throughout the whole story, Gregor sees his family members change attitudes toward him which makes him feel that was not what he expected. Thus, this essay will explore some prominent scenes between Gregor and his sister, his mother, his father, as well as his maid, in order to highlight the reasons behind why Gregor is deluded about his family.