Who Is The Hero In Gregor Samsa's Metamorphosis

Many times throughout our life, we wake up and do the same monotonous tasks every day and our lives rarely see change. We do not add any flavor or interest to our lives and consequently our expectations rarely change. But, how would you react if one morning you woke up and had somehow turned into a giant bug? Welcome to Gregor Samsa’s life. The Metamorphosis shines light on Franz Kafka’s own bitter life as his experiences are relived and reimagined through the timeline of Gregor Samsa. If the characters in this story were a representation of Kafka’s own life it reveals how truly awful it was. Indirect characterization intensifies the overall text by developing the characters and tying together Gregor’s fictitious world with Franz Kafka’s own reality.

     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.

Gregor Samsa's metamorphosis occurs one morning when he wakes up from unsettling dreams and finds himself changed into a monstrous vermin.  This change makes Gregor dependent on his family members and reverses his previous situation in which his family was dependent on him.  As a bug, Gregor is useless to his family and can no longer perform simple human tasks, let alone support his father, mother, and sister.

Isolation not only changes the personalities of Gregor and his family, but also it changes the role and duties Gregor plays in his family. Before the metamorphosis, Gregor worked alone to provide for the entire family. For example, in the beginning, before the transformation, he says, “But besides that, the money Gregor had brought home every month he had kept only a few dollars for himself” (4). This shows Gregor’s selfishness and his family’s heavy dependency on his income. It establishes the fact that Gregor’s family’s loyalty to Gregor was strong because the family depended on Gregor for their own survival, and shows how they betrayed him by disregarding him after he became an insect. The isolation of Gregor caused by the transformation not only affects Gregor’s role in the family, but also changes the role of Mr. Samsa. Mr. Samsa originally told by Gregor: ”Now his father was still healthy, certainly. But he was an old man who had not worked for the past five years and who in any case could not be expected to undertake that much” (17). This shows how irresponsible Mr. Samsa acted for his family in the beginning. Mr. Samsa, a man in his 50s, blamed his unemployment on anxiety and depression from a past failed business. Mr. Samsa changes his role as the useless drag to the provider of the family, and even obtains a new job as a bank manager.

Transformation in the world happens when people are healed and start investing in other people- Michael W. Smith. Change plays a key role in one’s life. Change is what makes one’s life different from usual; change is needed in everyone’s life in order to maintain the fluency of life. The character Gregor Samsa’s in the book “Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka symbolizes change, in which he gets transformed into a large insect. Change literally means to make or do something in a different manner to get a new result.

Family is important, and because of this, people will often do what they can when their family is in trouble. However in Franz Kafka’s The metamorphosis, Gregor’s decision to step into the role of head of the family is what ultimately leads to his death. His role as head leads Gregor to sacrifice his life for his family, leads Gregor to become isolated, and creates a power struggle between Mr. Samsa and Gregor; these factors eventually cause Gregor to lose all desire for life, and cause his suicide.

Although the price of the that freedom came at a high price since he was ultimately killed by his family at the end of the novel. This is similar to how Christ was killed for the freedom of man. Gregor can also be seen as a Christ-like figure which helps give meaning to one of the themes of the story which is alienation and self-sacrifice. Gregor is alienated by the fact that he is transformed into a giant bug and no longer has a role to play in society which leads to his sacrifice. He is killed in the end by his family as way for them to reenter the social normality of society.

As the story started we were introduced to a character named Gregor Samsa we didn't find out about much of his past but we did learn lots about him as the story went on. In the beginning of the story, Gregor woke up and he suddenly was a bug. He was not sure how this happened but somehow it did. He noticed he had a rounded back and had short stubby arms and legs. He also noticed he had more features that a bug would have.

With The Metamorphosis, it can be read that Gregor Samsa underwent a change involuntarily. One day he had woken up in his bed only to realize that he had become an insect. However, Samsa’s

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 Metamorphosis, Gregor Samsa has always been somewhat isolated, but now he is isolated both mentally and physically. To begin, Gregor has always been an exceptionally isolated individual. Even before his transformation, he has always been socially remote; constantly on the go for work, never having time to himself, and never being able to

It is noteworthy that these two men are in a state of unresolved conflict between the psychological demands of their inner selves and the requirements of their outer social roles and obligations. On one hand, Gregor Samsa is ruled by the rational considerations that relate to his work:

Allowing us to assume the type of person they are. Gregor Samsa is another example of how the author uses specific diction to describe the character, allowing us to characterize the subject. Throughout the different phases of this story we begin to view him differently. For instance when the author inputs this small flashback into the story “On the wall directly opposite hung a photograph of Gregor from his army days in a lieutenant’s uniform, his hand on his sword, a carefree smile on his lips, demanding respect for his bearing and rank”. This piece of text is very important because it allows us to identify him as a respectable member of society and not the slimy scumbag (insect) that he is first viewed as in the story. We as readers sympathize with him for how he is treated by his family; developing a level of respect for him. Seeing beneath the fact that he is a bug at the moment. We view his as being a decent guy. Especially with how he sacrifices his life in order to help his family despite how they treated him. These different ways that he interacted with the people in the story allow him to create the innocent persona that he was looking for.

According to Kafka and existentialism, people have both an individual side and a side with the commitment of society. It is our choices that must be in moderation of the two, to maintain balance. If a person chooses himself over society, he will lose the support of society; however, if a person chooses society, he will lose his individuality. Gregor initially chooses society over himself, which in turn transformed him into the working drone he was. After his physical transformation, he is forced reassert his focus to himself, and society abandons him. Through Gregor’s plight, his family became cohesive and productive in society, each contributing through work and leisure. Gregor learned to live for himself too late to become a whole person. Gregor begins to look for entertainment and fun in the form of a bug, a form that knows nothing but work, by crawling up to the ceiling and hanging from there, or from wall to wall over the various objects, this gave him a feeling of “almost happy absent-mindedness” (32). Haven given up any hope of returning to his human form or being a civilized working part of society ever again, this was one of the only joys Gregor had left in his life. By ignoring the purpose of being an

Gregor Samsa, 28, is believed to have turned into a large insect months before his death that occurred earlier this week. Samsa was found dead in his parent’s apartment. The cause of his death is unknown, but is suspected to be a result of neglectful and abusive acts from both his parents and younger sister. Samsa’s body was found in his bedroom by his parent’s maid.