What is your purpose? A four word question that, if approached incorrectly, has the ability to drive men to madness. When this question is posed, an overwhelming majority of people claim that their purpose is a job or taking care of their family. Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis attempts to delegitimize these statements as actual purposes. The protagonist, Gregor Samsa, believes his purpose is like that of many others, to work and provide for his family. The novel immediately begins by ripping away Samsa’s purpose, in the first line, as he is transformed into a “verminous bug.”
Even though Samsa has turned into an insect, his first thought is to prepare for work. Kafka only mentions this physiological change for a brief moment, showing that Gregor Samsa has an internal force compelling him to carry out his supposed purpose under any circumstances. As the story continues, Samsa becomes disconnected with his family and society as a whole; he doesn’t know how to continue his human life as a bug. He cannot show up for work, he cannot support his family, and he cannot fulfill his purpose in his current state.
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After reading this book, I had no clue how to move forward in my own life. The idea that everything that I have worked for so far in my life could be stripped away in an instant was constantly on my mind. The Metamorphosis brought me to the realization that of all the activities I participated in, many were done purely because they were considered a prerequisite for college admissions. I allowed society to define my purpose instead of defining it on my
Gregor Samsa is a traveling salesman who hates his job but keeps it because of he has to pay off his his father dept and care for his family. He transforms into a large bug and spends the rest of his life in that state. Despite his transformation into an insect, Gregor changes very little as a character over the course of the story. He accepts the hardships he faces as a bug and as a man without complaining. When his father went into debt he readily took role as the money earner in the family, even though it meant taking a job he did not like.
The main character of Kafka’s book, The Metamorphosis, is a normal, everyday salesman named Gregor Samsa who happens to wake up one day only to find that he had suddenly become a hideous insect overnight. Throughout the book, Gregor experiences neglect, disgust, and eventually complete isolation
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
In The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka we are introduced to the character Gregor Samsa, a traveling salesman who wakes up one morning transformed into a large insect. Gregor goes through a physical transformation, but who he is as a person remains unchanged. Gregor was a very busy and lonely man before his transformation, and only becomes aware of his loneliness when his family is unforgiving about the transformation. When we are first introduced to Gregor Samsa he is waking up from anxious dreams, only to discover that he had been changed into a large insect. We start to understand Gregor ‘s personality while we observe how he reacts to his transformation.
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
Since the beginning the first sentences of his story, Kafka calls the reader to suspend reality and accept a large distortion through his turning of Gregor Samsa into a dung beetle. Gregorís transformation
Kafka reveals very little about Gregor's life prior to this incident: all we know of him is that he had been a traveling salesman who was constantly "busying himself with his fretsaw" and who "never (went) out in the evenings," instead spending his time "sitting . . . at the table quietly reading the paper or studying" (Kafka 12-13). This imagery of Samsa as a studious carpenter characterizes him as humble and, in this, somewhat unlikable to the toughest audiences. Even imagery as simplistic as this conjures the image of Gregor as a bookish, studious milquetoast. At the same time, the carpenter characterization connotes Christ, and thus immediately hints at Samsa's eventual heroism, even before anything significant has happened. So when the book's first "metamorphosis" occurs in the first sentence, Gregor's prior circumstances make him fertile ground in which a change in spirit can occur. Samsa even acknowledges the metaphysical change enacted in himself: when he tries to explain to his family and the head clerk why he cannot leave his room, his audience can "no longer (understand) his words, even though they (are) clear enough to him, clearer than before even" (15). It is as if he is in another dimension from them completely and therefore a sort of "immortal" at heart, before the knowledge is even imparted upon him in the form
Samsa, comes from a place of being ignored his whole life and only being accepted when his family falls into debt. He takes a job as a traveling salesman in order to pay off the debt they acquired “... What a grueling job I’ve picked!” (Kafka 3) a job which he hates. When Gregor is transformed, he is more concerned about being late then being a bug.
1. Gregor’s initial reaction to his transformation, more specifically his worrying about missing the train and dwelling on the hardships of his job, reveals the extent to which Gregor’s own self-identity and way of life is dependent on his work. While most people would probably be horrified to find themselves transformed into a bug, Gregor instantly thinks of his job because that is what comprises Gregor’s identify and without his job he has no purpose or worth in his society. As Gregor contemplates his future, he thinks to himself, “Well, there’s still some hope; once I’ve got the money together to pay off my parents’ debt to him [his boss] – another five or six years I suppose – that’s definitely what I’ll do. That’s when I’ll make the big change” (Kafka 8).
Samsa’s letter to the bug clearly shows his disdain for him. In Metamorphosis, Kafka tries to convey this through Mr. Gregor and his family’s actions. For example, after Gregor sees Mr. Samsa with large shoe soles, he “could not risk standing up to him, aware as he had been from the very first day of his new life that his father believed only the severest measures suitable for dealing with him.” This implies that Mr. Samsa has been very assertive and intimidating towards Gregor, making Gregor feel threatened and inferior. In the letter, I also emphasized that Mr. Samsa no longer associated the bug with Gregor. Kafka shows this as well when Anna tells Mr. Samsa, “You must just try to get rid of the idea that this is Gregor.” After this, Anna gets behind Mr. Samsa and he spreads his arms out to protect her, showing that he agrees with Anna’s assertion. Another theme Mr. Samsa is trying to convey in the letter is how money-oriented he is. In the beginning of the novella, as Gregor wakes up, he thinks, “I’ve saved enough money to pack back my parents’ debts to him-that should take another five or six years-I’ll do it.” The fact that Gregor has to work so diligently, as described, to pay off his parent’s debt shows how Mr. Samsa has embedded this urge to earn money to his son. All in all, Mr. Samsa, in his letter to the bug, was very harsh towards Gregor and this was how Kafka wrote him to be in
He works as a travelling salesman, though he receives no joy from his work. Gregor has pushed himself away from society to sacrifice himself for his parents’ sake. He feels the need to remain in the workplace until he pays off the debt his parents owe to the chief (Taylor 273). His labor degrades him and causes him fatigue, and as a consequence of the constant commute to work, he is unable to have any legitimate associations with others (Greenberg 274). Samsa views himself as more than simply a person stuck inside of a capitalistic system; he sees himself in a very human relationship with his workplace. “Nobody can deny that he is a slave…if his animal shape were but a dream, then he would have paradoxically sacrificed his humanity in an attempt to escape slavery by his change into an insect.” As a result of his occupation, Gregor has created such a strong hatred that he would rather mutate himself into something subhuman (Politzer 276). Kafka offers a surreal depiction of the symbolic alteration, in which, Gregor begins his transformation process into vermin, something society views as
Destiny is often thought to connect everything, to be the sole reason something, or a series of events, happens. In Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, Gregor Samsa wakes up one morning only to find that he has been transformed into an insect. It has now become his destiny to live the rest of his life as a bug instead of financially supporting his whole family. Does Kafka’s universe feel any obligation o Gregor? Does he accept his new destiny? Does he fight it? Gregor, not wanting to accept his new fate, tries to regain some normalcy with his family regularly. Him being turned into a bug slowly makes his entire family resent him, to the point of them not wanting any reminders that he is there, to cleaning out his room and keeping him locked up at all times.
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.
After Mr. Samsa lost his business, he lost motivation to work and Gregor took responsibility to be the provider for his family. Gregor’s father showed no sympathy for him after he changed into a bug and worried more about the family finances than his son, even when he knew that Gregor was working to provide his family the opportunity to live a good life. After Gregor’s metamorphosis, Mr. Samsa attacks Gregor twice. The first time was to corral him back to his room and the second when he threw an apple at him. Mr. Samsa believed the worst about Gregor and Gregor was very wary of his father. Kafka wrote, “But Gregor could not risk standing up to him, aware as he had been from the very first day of his new life that his father believed only the severest measures suitable for dealing with him” (407). Mr. Samsa has the inner conflict of whether the bug is Gregor or not, but he hurts him anyway. He hurts Gregor even though Gregor had no intention of hurting his mother and especially his sister, Grete.
Gregor's metamorphosis into a insect is the main conflict of the story. This serves as a metaphor for any type of damage that renders the worker unable to work (4). Although Gregor transforms into this insect Kafka gives us little detail of the bug. Kafka wants to show the class struggle that is taking place rather than spending time describing the details of the bug. The story focuses on how Gregor's value declines as he is unable to work due to being this giant insect. After he has lost his value, his manager, and even his family