Kafka's Metamorphosis

Gregor’s initial reaction to his transformation shows his preoccupation with work. His confusion over his radical transformation does not last long, quickly becoming concerned with work and disregarding that he woke up physically transformed into a monstrous vermin. Immediately after realizing he had transformed, Gregor explains, “Well, I haven’t given up hope completely; once I’ve gotten the money together to pay off my parents’ debt to [the boss] that will probably take another five to six years… But for the time being I’d better get up, since my train leaves at five” (4). The quick transition of Gregor’s thoughts from the initial shock to his economic duties reveals his ironic nonchalant attitude towards his nonsensical transformation and

This is first shown at the beginning of the text when ”Gregor’s father seized the chief clerk’s stick in his right hand… picked up a large newspaper from the table with his left, and used them to drive Gregor back into his room, stamping his foot at him as he went.“(Kafka, 10). It could be said that the father pushing Gregor into his room, symbolizes alienation, and could also be a foreshadow to Gregor’s isolation. This also shows how the father does not concern himself with Gregor’s transformation, which displays absurdity, a key pillar of existentialism and a motif of the text. Merriam-Webster defines existentialism as, ”a chiefly 20th century philosophical movement embracing diverse doctrines, but centering on analysis of individual existence in an unfathomable universe and the plight of the individual who must assume ultimate responsibility for acts of free will without any certain knowledge of what is right or wrong or good or bad“. This definition applies to the Metamorphosis, as Gregor is in an ”unfathomable universe“, and assumes ”ultimate responsibility for acts of free will“, as he believes he is responsible for forcing his family to provide for themselves. The father confirms the argument that he wants to alienate Gregor after Gregor’s death when he says, ”’Now then… let’s give thanks to God for that’“(Kafka, 27-8). This shows that even though his son has died, he still considers him as an ”it“, for he shows little sympathy for his death. Finally, now that Gregor is gone, the father is at peace with himself, and he takes his wife and daughter, and move out of their home. This shows how the father also believed that Gregor was holding them back, as they need to take care of him, and now that he cut him loose he can finally move

In reading Kafka’s “Metamorphosis” the character Gregor is the one that he uses to describe a man who has an acute loss of spirituality. For example, Gregor had a dream he was a bug and this dream became so realistic that it turned into his reality. In Gregor’s perspective, he can’t control himself and has lost his self with this dream that his voice even changes making his family worry about him. Throughout Kafka’s “Metamorphosis” Gregor’s happiness or what he thought was happiness slowly starts to deteriorate. Gregor had a job to help his parent’s pay off debt that they were in and since he can’t function as a normal human being he lost his job. During post-WWI Europe’s capitalism happened to be the real deal and paying off one’s debts were

Kafka lived most of his life with his parents and never married. He had a distant mother and domineering father who had a profound effect on his romantic relationships and writing. Kafka questioned the adequacy of his own body and mind. The author poured all the questioning thoughts and visions he had about himself into the consciousness of Gregor Samsa, and imagined the remedy to the problems to be found in a woman, Grete. Kafka envisions that his “…body is too long for its weakness…” and imposes his own image on his counterpart Gregor, who’s “…left side felt as if it were one long, painfully tightening scar…” (Kafka 278). Kafka chooses Grete as the one Gregor looks to to solve his problem when the office manager comes to inquire about his absence from work. In his weakness, Gregor cries “If only his sister were here−she was perceptive…” (Kafka 276). Additionally, Kafka considered a woman to be a source of energy and nourishment. He thought he had “…no fat whatsoever for creating a beneficial warmth, for maintaining an inner fire, no fat from which the mind could someday nourish itself beyond its daily need… (Straus 660). He believed that his failings and emptiness would only be resolved by a woman and “the fat and warmth that a woman’s body is imagined to provide”

Gregor’s dad speaks to society’s perspectives at the time which were that Jews were not human beings at all, by the way they were treated. Society had no sensitivity to Jewish individuals. They treated Jewish individuals like junk. At the point when Mr.Samsa first looks at his child alarmingly and absolutely stunned. At the point when Gregor leaves his room Mr.Samsa “seized in his right hand the manager’s cane...picked up in his left hand a heavy newspaper from the table, and stamping his feet, started brandishing the cane and

Gregor has been changed into a giant bug where he is a not a pleasant eyesight to his family and isn't accepted by his father and mother but only his sister. As the novella begins,”he found himself transformed right there in his bed into some sort of monstrous insect”. This quote implies that we live in a pointless

To some, being an outsider could be preferred, and to some it could be a bad thing. Imagine you are the primary source of your family's care and living, but all of it comes to a stop because you all of a sudden become a cockroach. This is an what happens to Gregor Samsa and because of it, he is forced to be an outsider by society. In the story “The Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka we meet Gregor Samsa, a successful business man who wakes up as a cockroach one morning. Because of Gregor's change, he is treated with care from his sister, but the bond starts to erase when Gregor's family members see him as a disgusting being and a waste of space, so they move away from thinking the giant bug in the apartment is Gregor. Remember, Gregor had no factor on whether he changed form or not. It just happened. In “The Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka, Gregor samsa is forced to be an outsider from society.

Cruel actions lead to cruel endings. Gregor Samsa, the protagonist in Franz Kafka’s novella The Metamorphosis, is turned into a bug from the mental and emotional abuse by the hands of his own family. The cruelty in the Samsa household is apparent from the beginning of the storyline. Their neglect and lack of compassion for Gregor's condition immediately sets the dark and miserable mood of the novella. Gregor’s whole existence has been about caring for his family and making sacrifices for their well being. However, his family never realizes these sacrifices and takes Gregor for granted, ultimately leading to his painful demise. Gregors perpetual devotion to his harsh family represents the unconditional love one feels for their own flesh and blood no matter how wicked they may be.

His strenuous profession, as a traveling salesman, restricted necessary human fulfillment that affected him psychologically. His feeling of dissatisfaction in his daily life revolved around traveling and working long hours. As a result, he felt the feeling of being separated and withdrawn from others. Humans are have social qualities that need social interaction for healthy development. He was not able to build a real friendship because of traveling, which caused harm within his social life. The narrator describes a recently hung picture, “The picture was of a woman clad in a fur stole; she sat upright and held out to the viewer a thick fur muff into which her entire forearm disappeared” (Kafka, 2013, p. 112). The protagonist displayed, this picture in his room to symbolize his search in finding love and a true meaning in life. Therefore, depriving Gregor from having a social life affected his mental

The rejection of Gregor by his family is evident throughout the whole story. The first time it happens is before anyone has even seen his new form. A detail in the story says, "In the room on his right there followed a painful silence; in the room on his left his sister began to cry." (Page 5) This hurricane of emotion was solely based on how Gregor had not gone to work that morning. Additionally, the only reason why Gregor did not go to work that morning was because he had gone through a metamorphosis into a vermin and had trouble going through his normal routine. He could hardly manage to get out of bed, much less go out to work. This causes the rest of the Samsa family to begin developing negative emotions towards Gregor. The family 's rejection of Gregor continues throughout, and an example of this is after the first time Gregor got out of his room. "Then his father gave him a hefty shove from

The effects of Gregor's metamorphosis on the rest of the Samsa family in The Metamorphosis affects the families relationships with one another, their feelings towards each other, their behavior towards Gregor and results in their own transformation as well.

Each family member experiences a metamorphosis, because each of them started to despise Gregor and thought that he was ridiculous. But in irony all of them also became savages and just waited for gregor to die to start a new lifestyle with his sister, so they were more disgusting and absurd than Gregor turning into a bug. “ [Mr. and Mrs. Samsa] thought that it would soon be time, too, to find her a good husband. And it was like a confirmation of their new dreams and good intentions”, these were some of thoughts of the mother and father after the death of Gregor, this shows how little they cared for their son. They were ready to start a new life which symbolizes the metamorphosis the family is going through. They want to start their new life finding a husband for their

Almost from the very beginning of Gregor’s metamorphosis, Mr. Samsa has been unwilling to accept Gregor as his son. Furthermore, Gregor’s transformation into an offensive form of an insect, constantly reminds Mr. Samsa of the grotesque, feeble, and pathetic aberration that he has fathered. Consequently, now that Gregor has genuinely revealed himself in all his audacious behavior, his cruel father is driven to destroy him. In his eyes, Gregor has become everything loathsome to him—scrawny, parasitic, and futile—not the kind of son this once successful and ambitious storekeeper could be proud of. Hence, as Mr. Samsa returns to his house in a position of strength and authority, he unfortunately witnesses the sight of his stricken wife down

In the book The Metamorphosis it is about a traveling salesman named Gregor, he awakens to find himself being a giant bug. Over the time span of the book Gregor has to face the difficulties of the changes that have occurred. Gregor’s family members all act different to his transformation; since his family has different actions to his changes it shows the family members motives to get rid of Gregor. Gregor’s family responds differently to his transformation; they do not understand how he was once a man, and is now a bug. Gregor’s sister still cares about him, but she starts to become possessive; she eventually gets a job to support Gregor. Gregor’s mother is trying to be supportive and help him through the transformation. Gregor’s father is violent and angry about the transformation, and eventually begins to throw apples at Gregor. When Gregor dies, the family is relieved that their burden is gone.

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka focuses on the twisted hidden identity of people and how it affects the society when it is revealed. Kafka depicts this ugly truth through an exaggerated extended metaphor of Gregor Samsa’s random transformation to a bug. Gregor is a travel salesman who found himself “transformed…into (1) one morning, and this transformation is what causes Gregor and everything around him to change: the ones he loved, the ones who loved him, and the rest of the society. Kafka’s usage of extended metaphor changes Gregor’s development, which argues the restricted social norms thus the social rejections when one reveals his or her true self: the animal instinct.