Gregor Samsa is a traveling salesman working to pay off his parents’ debt. One morning, Gregor wakes up and discovers he is a “monstrous verminous bug.” He thought he was dreaming, but everything in the room appeared to be the same way he left them the night before. He tries to go back to sleep but cannot get on his right side because of his abnormal shape. He wakes up again and looks at his alarm clock, it is six thirty.
In Franz Kafka’s novella “The Metamorphosis”, Gregor Samsa is a travelling salesman who has been turned into a “monstrous vermin” overnight. The story follows the events that happen after this transformation, such as how the different family members treat Gregor. At the end of the book Gregor dies, and the novella concludes with the family future plans after Gregor’s death. After reading the novella, I think that looking at the ending of of the novella, the readers are definitely left with a sense of hope because the future prospects of the family are very promising, and the family also has a clear future for their daughter.
In The Metamorphosis there are many signs of slow deterioration for Gregor using the reader response lens I see this as Gregor’s limit, his deterioration is a sign of his own inability to resort back to family for help. An example of this can be as Gregor is beginning to lose his eyesight as he notices that he can not even see across the road to the hospital. He has numerous injuries, some of which he cannot explain, like the pain in his side when he first woke up. He had an apple lodged in his back which was left to rot. He was cut by a piece of glass from a shattering alcohol bottle and was bleeding profusely when he tried to get into his room and got stuck in the door.
The psychological toll of isolation can be devastating, leading to feelings of worthlessness, insignificance, and detachment from society. Two primary sources of literature are Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, explore the theme of isolation and its effects on the individual.
It’s quite remarkable how differently people react to change; how one could be so rebellious while the other embraces it. In “The Man in a Case” written by Anton Chekhov, Byelikov is not only a reserved, quiet man who revolts against any form of change, but is also a man who makes no exceptions to his mental disciplinarian handbook of rules whether it was for personal or professional purposes. On the other hand, “The Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka begins with Gregor Samsa treating his change from a human being to an insect with complete disregard as though his transformation is a natural occurrence in his life. Chekhov and Kafka, in their respective works of literature, use profound figurative references and discuss the different reactions to change, which as a result intrigue and arouse the reader’s curiosity.
Transforming and Romanticizing a Storyline The Metamorphosis, a novella written by Franz Kafka, attracted the attention of many of its readers due to the writing framework and shocking concepts. The story depicts a man named Gregor Samsa who has befallen the fate of a cockroach- literally. After being transformed into a large bug, Gregor goes through the struggles of misunderstanding, neglect, and loss of his family relationships.
Gregor’s isolation and loneliness begins to toy with his composure, he becomes unpredictable and frightening to his family. Although, Gregor’s slow transformation from man to bug eventually becomes beneficial to Gregor. For instance, Gregor’s bug-like appearance allows him to be released from his family's high expectations. As for his developing bug-like qualities helps him to register his inner anger he feels towards his father. Gregor now realizes his father shows no sympathy towards Gregor and instead punishes him for something he has no control over.
As the main character, Gregor Samsa, transforms from human state to that of a beetle, there are many aspects that are left unexplained and seemingly unstable. For example, in the novel, Gregor’s transformation into a beetle is left unexplained by Kafka. Kafka opens up the novel by stating, “When Gregor Samsa woke up one morning from unsettling dreams, he found himself changed in his bed into a monstrous vermin” (Kafka 1). There is no scientific or physical evidence as to why this transformation occurred, but it can be ascertained that it is a psychological transformation.
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.
1. 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.
Like death or abandonment, alienation is one of the deepest-rooted fears experienced by human beings. As social creatures, humans have the need to identify themselves as one of a group, whether that group is a family, a culture, or a religion. The experience of alienation is one of violation of a person's need for acceptance. Both Leo Tolstoy in The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Franz Kafka in Metamorphosis use alienation as a central theme to comment on the human need to experience love and acceptance. Both Ivan Ilyich and Gregor Samsa experience in their respective tragedies a great deal of alienation, which separates them from the groups to which they have been comfortably attached for most of their lives.
Franz Kafka is a German novelist who wrote “The Metamorphosis.” In the story, he uses a third person point of view narrative. The novel uses absurdum, which exaggerates and dramatize the absurdity of modern life. The protagonist, Gregor Samsa, a traveling salesman, struggles with an external factor of transforming into an insect like creature. The transformation was not under his control and now struggles with a new identity.
Throughout Metamorphosis, written by Franz Kafka, beetle-like traveling salesman, Gregor Samsa, repeatedly has negative interactions with his father that parallel to Kafka’s own personal issues. Therefore, Samsa and Kafka are alike and are resembling of one another in many aspects of life. In Metamorphosis, Samsa obtains a negative relationship with his overpowering father, very similar to Kafka’s own bond to his abusive father. They both value work life more than real life, this overwhelming work life leads to isolation. Lastly, Samsa has formed an unfavorable connection with himself, which parallel to Kafka’s true feelings about life and possibly suicide.
“The Birds That Fly Out Their Cage” Since the moment we are born we are taught to depend on others. The newborn cries and yearns for its mother seeking affection, nourishment, and protection. We are coaxed to believe that surrounding ourselves with friends and family that we will be happy. But as Gregor Samsa from the novel The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka had experience this is not the case, and those who we believed to be be our source of happiness can become the chains that hinder us.
Violence and evil play a role in fostering hopelessness; even so that alone is not enough to cause one to reject themselves and their reality. If such were the case, the entire world would be clouded with darkness and turmoil. However, if one is unable to find others to share their burdens of life with, they will inevitably suffocate. Kafka is a victim of this, being alienated from others for the majority of his story. He was separated from most of his family until he ran away from his father at the age of 15.
