The Metamorphosis by Kafka

The novella The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka was first published in 1915. This novella shows the degree of loyalty a family has to even their own family members; this case being Gregor Samsa, his mother, his father, and his sister Grete Samsa. Upon reading the novella, it becomes evident that Gregor’s care for his family is pure and genuine, which, throughout the short story, leaves a small feeling of melancholy due to the fact that the family never really returned that same gesture. Gregor works solely to support the Samsa family through their debts and his sister’s future through a job that he keeps due to his obligation as the money-maker of the family. Support, in both factors of the word, should be a

“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.

Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, is the story of Gregor Samsa, a traveling salesman who is responsible for the financial well-being of his entire family, yet experiences an unfortunate metamorphosis into a giant bug. However, while Gregor undergoes a disturbing physical transformation, the family dynamic changes drastically as well. The family’s treatment of Gregor slowly deteriorates from them regarding him as the basis for their financial success and security to regarding him as no more than an extraordinary nuisance that holds them back from a brighter future.

society. Kafka shows his fear of rejection. He tries to meet others but fails constantly because of his own perceptions of society and thier thoughts of him. He displays that he is, “struggling, “if possible more fiercely,”” (Kafka, 7) to get out of bed and get out into the world where society is, as he perceives, treating him so poorly. Gregor exhibits these emotions by being stuck in bed or staying in his room, by choice, until his death. The motif comes through for the reader in this quote when Gregor is stuck in bed because he is a bug and Kafka thinks he himself is a bug. This is how Kafka sees himself vs. society. He does not realize that their is always someone to bring him in and accept him. All he knows is family and so he thinks that is what society is. He shows the irony of the situation, in the novella, is the fact that he could easily leave and find new accepting people but his view of society is narrow. Gregor wants his family to accept and praise him while Kafka wants society to praise and accept him. He wants to show the damages society has done to him in the same way that Gregor reminds, “his father that “Gregor was part of the family”” (Kafka 38). Kafka wanted to remind even society that he is a person and needed acceptance like everyone else. This explains to the reader that family has a large influence on the people that are a part of it. It also shows them to accept others for who they are and help them instead of ridiculing or ignoring them. He becomes antisocial and turns away at the sight of others or the thought of having to see others all because of his appearance. appearance becomes another factor in why he does not want society to see him as he is. He might not want society to see him because he believes things will only get worse after he saw the reaction his family had toward him. Even his sister, who he still paints in a

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.

Kafka’s timeless novella, The Metamorphosis, first shows, the physical and mental change of Gregor Samsa. As Gregor wakes up for work, he realizes that his body is not what it used to be. He has completely transformed into a giant beetle-like insect and he begins to notice his “hard... armor plated back… dome-like brown belly divided into stiff arch segments, [and] numerous legs… which waved helplessly before his eyes” (Kafka 6). Mentally, Gregor continues to think like a normal person. Even though he has just transformed into a nasty insect, his main concern is still about getting to work and supporting his entire family. This concern fades when he understands that his illness releases him from his job. Wilhelm Emrich also believes that Gregor gains freedom by stating that, “Samsa complains of his “grueling job,” of the “upset of doing business,” “worrying about changing trains, eating

A metamorphosis can be described as a change in structure, form, or appearance, or as a change in form from one stage to the next in an organism’s life. In Franz Kafka’s novella, “The Metamorphosis”, change is a major theme. The theme of change is significant as the main character, Gregor Samsa, a traveling salesman, undergoes a metamorphosis of his own as he experiences changes living as a giant insect. However, Gregor’s journey through his new life is not subjective, as his transformation provokes significant changes in his family’s dynamics. In fact, Gregor’s transformation into an insect is not the main focus of the novella. Kafka uses Gregor’s metamorphosis as a way to emphasize the more significant metamorphosis within the Samsa

What is betrayal actually? How do we visualize it? In what particular ways do we see it? A wide range of literature has been dedicated to the phenomenon of betrayal demonstrated in different ways. In the course of this essay two works of literature will be analyzed having regard to the issue of betrayal revealed therein. The work of art to be analyzed first will be The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. The Metamorphosis is a surreal story by Franz Kafka surrounding the tale of Gregor Samsa, who wakes up one day, reborn into a large insect. He wants to live a normal life, unfortunately, this is impossible because he cannot 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 a human form, the hero was beyond human existence. He is automatically deprived of the right to be a part of society.

In The Metamorphosis Franz Kafka tells the story of a young man named Gregor who observes the radical changes in his life after transforming into an insect. Gregor’s life was centered on his job as a traveling salesperson and his family. One morning Gregor woke up transformed into an insect. Afraid of the transformation Gregor stays in his room and ignores calls from his family. When Gregor realized that his new body did not allow him to have a normal life, he tried to adapt. After his metamorphosis, Gregor is abandoned by his family and only maintains a small relationship with his sister Grete, who is in charge of serving and provide him with food, but always leaving some distance because of his ugly appearance.

Franz Kafka led a life filled with struggles, particularly evident in his relationship with his father. His experiences and feelings in life are manifested throughout his writings, as the themes in his life dominate the themes of his works, especially so in his novella, The Metamorphosis. Through his extended metaphor of Samsa as a vermin, Kafka illustrates the family dynamic present throughout his life, that of his family, and particularly his father, devaluing and isolating him.

too, works as a salesman because his family requires it and needs him to support

Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis (1914) is about the transformation of Gregor Samsa into a giant insect. His life has been miserable due to the fact that he works to meet the standard necessities of the family after his father has lost his business. Kafka implies that Gregor’s transformation is simply a manifestation of what he was already experiencing. It is a punishment for Gregor not having attempted to engage with others. Kafka’s main theme is alienation and he explores it passionately through Gregor’s introverted life before his transformation, the metamorphosis of the family’s treatment towards Gregor after he turned into an insect, and Gregor’s behaviour after his drastic change.

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

In The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, the straightforward style enhances the nightmarish quality of the work by giving the reader a sense of denial and hopelessness. In the fifth paragraph of chapter one, Gregor is thinking to himself about his boss: “…it's a funny sort of business to be sitting up there at your desk, talking down at your subordinates from up there, especially when you have to go right up close because the boss is hard of hearing…once I've got the money together to pay off my parents' debt to him - another five or six years I suppose - that's definitely what I'll do. That's when I'll make the big change. First of all though, I've got to get up, my train leaves at five." Gregor just realized he is a vermin, and he goes on a string

Kafka describes the tedious, murky and muggy environment that foreshadows the decomposition and fall of Gregor’s life. When Gregor opens his eyes, he finds himself changed into a grotesque vermin or an enormous insect, an insignificant creature. Gregor does not scream. He does not panic at least not until he worries about going to work, that a gigantic insect doesn’t need to bother showing up for work doesn’t cross his mind. It seems as though Gregor accepts his fate so willingly. With this striking opening, Kafka sets his mystifying psychological fantasy in motion. Kafka’s diaries and letters point out that he considered “Gregor’s fate no worse, or better, than that of any person.” The prior life of a traveling salesman vs. the one-room Gregor occupies, as an insect are both lives of solitude. Kafka wrote that “the cares we have to struggle with every day” are emotional anguish. Kafka lived a sad life. He was persistently haunted by the oppressive image of his father. This could be clearly seen in Gregor’s attempts to get out of the bed. But, since his door was locked, he would need to call for help, which he does not favor. This shows Kafka’s fear of his father. He would rather lay on the bed forever than call his father to help him. Kafka’s fear estimated here as Gregor’s fear