The Unformation Of Transformation In Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis

Everyone has people they depend on. People that he or she knows will always be there when they’re needed. But what happens when those people just don’t show up or just all of a sudden stop caring? The feeling of loneliness can break down a person’s character and reduce him to a shell, or in this case and exoskeleton, of who he once was. We can see this in The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. When Gregor Samsa finds himself transformed into a giant beetle-like creature, what he needs more than anything is the love and support of his family, but he disgusts them. They shut him up in his room so that no one can see him. They are ashamed of him, and quickly forget that he was part of their own flesh and blood. All that they can see is the monster that appears on the on the outside. Gregor’s sister and parents betray his love for them and leave him feeling lonely in the most terrifying and desperate time of his life.

The Metamorphosis, a story written by Franz Kafka, is about the sudden transformation of Gregor Samsa into a bug. The narrator describes how Gregor’s transformation negatively affects his work, family, and social relationships; it also takes readers through Gregor’s journey of trying to regain his humanity. Throughout the story, Gregor denies his loss of humanity and attempts to preserve his previous work and family relationships because these relationships make up a great deal of his identity. Throughout his life as a bug, Gregor realizes just how much of an influence his work and family have on who he is, and life becomes difficult for him now that he is letting down both his family and his

“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).

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.

Gregor, the main character from the book, “The Metamorphosis” written by Franz Kafka, is about a young man that works to hard and turned into a bug because his parents pushed him to be a hard worker. Gregor turning into a bug really changed his perspectives on life in a bad way. He felt socially isolated and like an outcast which eventually lead him into a great depression where he stopped eating and eventually died of starvation. Since society's expectations differ from person to person, change is inevitable and can be hard to adjust to.

When I was younger my fear for insects was nonexistent. Growing up I didn't see many insects till I moved to the East Coast. Some of the insects I came across was beautiful, for example at night fireflies would light up, and that fascinated me. Other insects such as flying ants and roaches made me no longer enjoy the idea of insects as once before. In today's American society it's common that people deveolped their own perceptions about insects. In Kafka's Metamorphosis, the story explained how Gregor's family didn't accept his transition. Gregor was practically disowned and treated differently. His family viewed him as disgusting.Therefore,Gregor's experience directly correlates with how people today view insects now. Americans tend to perceive

So I read the book Metamorphosis and I did not like it very much. To me it was very boring. The book is about a man named Gregor. He is a traveling salesmen who makes all the money for his family. Gregor does not like his job working as a traveling salesmen. If his family did not depend on the income so much, then he would’ve quit his job. One day he wakes up in his bed and finds that he has turned into a large insect. Gregor is a bit upset and confused about why he turned into an insect. He struggles to get his new large body out of bed as he realizes that he is late for his job. Gregor's mother, father, and sister knock on his locked bedroom door to try to get him out of bed for his job. While Gregor gets out of bed, he hears his office manager

In " The Metamorphosis" by Franz Kafka, Gregor is not perceived as a human, but rather as a commodity all the time. Gregor is expected to follow the society's expectation, including the rejection of his opinions towards what he does or does not want to do. Gregor is ultimately seen as an object who can be replaced. Gregor’s parents recognize Grete’s capability after Gregor is minimized. Gregor has no other alternative but to transform into a bug in order to rebel against his family and the patriarchal society's assumptions. However, his rebellion does not work for a long time because as time goes by, he gets less and less attention from his family resulting in his death. Gregor decides to destroy himself because of the lack of attention from

Kafka's The Metamorphosis strikes me as particularly relevant for rising college students because of its exploration of identity, belonging, and tolerance during a time of transition and transformation. The tale of the unfortunate Gregor Samsa can make the reader think more deeply about their own identity, about the fluidity of what people take to be stable and fixed, and about the perils and miracles of one’s own metamorphoses. On a moral standpoint, this novella stifles people into becoming less earth-bound creatures. Although the storyline is dark and obscure- and in a sense, depressing- it carries a unique storyline and overpoweringly bizarre tone from the very beginning to the end that echoes the similar predicaments of modern man.

Change is unavoidable and inevitably in every moment of our lives. In every second of our lives, changes appear and disappear, impacting our lives. Humans perceive change differently and it reveals the true nature of our heart. It is due to the dissension of change between humans that determines the differences in our individual perceptions. In the novel, “ Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka, the word change is taken to a entirely absurd degree as the main protagonist, Gregor Samsa is illogically transformed into a bug. Although Gregor’s thoughts still shown traces of his human self, Gregor’s family is unable to cope with his hideous form and isolates him from their world. Once perceived as the breadwinner of the family, Gregor is now seen

Kafka was critical in bringing the new outlook on modern culture and particularly on modern man. Franz Kafka studied the modern man in the face of contemporary culture, and how he was steadfast in retaining his spirituality and identity, and gravitate towards authenticity and happiness. However, Kafka saw how the dehumanizing forces of industrialization and capitalism in the post- the WWI Europe posed a challenge to the modern man. Modern culture can be viewed tolerating and open to all. To Franz Kafka, modern culture coupled with technology is fast changing, and man has to maintain his self-consciousness in order not lose his spirituality and identity amidst these changes (Wintle pp. 708-710). Hence, as modern culture changes with the changing technology, religions are poised to change too, which presents fears to a man about losing his spirituality and identity upon embracing the modern culture. Interestingly, Kafka was mystical in his writings, with a keen interest in themes such as metamorphosis, existential and identity. If we look at “The Metamorphosis,” we can view the idea of how the dehumanizing effects of capitalism and industrialism are indicated within the writings. Kafka contends we become dehumanized with buying power and working too much. The transformation of Gregor seems to indicate a denial of responsibility to the changing forms of society’s conventions and values.

Generally in life we all go through changes that we didn’t ask for or can’t stop from happening. It’s a stage in everyone’s life. Some changes may be good and some may be bad, but that’s something you have to learn too deal with. Most changes come and go but other changes are permanent. Just like a caterpillar doesn’t stay a caterpillar forever, give it sometime and it finally transform into a beautiful butterfly.

In respect to the narrative, the title of Franz Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis” is significant. A metamorphosis could be defined as “[an] [...] alteration in appearance, character, or circumstances” (Metamorphosis 2018) In Kafka’s novella the main character, Gregor, undergoes physical and mental alterations. For example, Gregor physically “. . .transformed in his bed into an enormous bug” (Kafka pg.1). Also, his thoughts and actions hint to him being hard-working and relied on at the beginning of the story, while towards the end he provides less and is abandoned by his family. He isn’t the only one to go through a transformation. Other characters, such as Grete, Mr. Samsa, and Mrs. Samsa, each go through their own metamorphosis as well.

In Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, the opening sentence introduces the main character, event and the setting. Gregor Samsa is one of the only two characters who are addressed by name, this reflects his importance in the story because he is the protagonist and he plays a central role in the lives of his family and friends. Besides introducing the central character, this opening line has a dramatic impact on readers. It draws the reader straight to Gregor Samsa’s transformation and Kafka’s absurd reality creating a sense of curiosity which excites the reader. Consequently, the reader starts to wonder what causes this absurd mutation. The inclusion that Gregor had ‘unsettled dreams’ before the mutation suggests that Gregor is facing some emotional distress which may give a clue as to why he experiences this mutation, yet the story never really reveals the physical reason. Nonetheless, the very transformation of a human to a monstrous vermin is surreal, it defies all of human nature because the transformation is physically impossible. This absurd event creates a fictional world in which Gregor exists. This absurd event is created by Kafka’s fictional world in which Gregor exists. The physical transformation of Gregor contributes to his absurd existence, he is transformed into a useless bug which has no purpose in life. His transformation is significant because it marks the start of his dehumanization as his humanity is taken away when he

Writing can seem to some as one of the daily trials and tribulations of life, but for others is an emotional outlet for all of life's hardships. The Metamorphosis, authored by Franz Kafka, exhibits these hardships and struggles. The Metamorphosis is a novella, a short novel, that manifests Kafka's life through the fictional story of a man turning into an insect. This novella highlights Kafka's relationship with his father, Hermann Kafka, which by no means is a loving and caring relationship. Kafka's relationship with his father is difficult and hateful. Kafka wants to always please his father, but he loathes him at the same time. Additionally, the significant problems in Kafka's life stemmed from this relationship, such as Kafka's depressive mental state, and the field of work Kafka's father forced him into. Kafka revealed elements of his own life through the main character, such as their attitudes towards their occupations, mental illnesses, and the relations with their families and significant people, in particular the father figures.