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The Metamorphosis

1329 Words6 Pages

Marxist theory believes that money and power holds a society together. Although many literary perspectives can be applied to “The Metamorphosis”, Marxist perspective is the most significant because of the important role class plays within a society, the way the characters need to maintain a standard of life in order to be happy and the way Gregor was oppressed by his family during hard times. Gregor Samsa is a travelling sales man who within the story represents the working class and once Gregor is transformed into a bug he is unable to work. The conflict that arises once Gregor turns into a bug represents the dehumanizing structure of class relations. He is forced into labor as a travelling sales man in order to support his family and pay …show more content…

The first to abandon Gregor is his manager, as soon as he shows up at the house and sees Gregor transformed into a bug he flees the house and never returns. The clear observation is that the manager is afraid of the bug form Gregor had taken, but in relation to the metaphor of the story, the manager relized that Gregor was unable to work which meant to him that Gregor no longer had any value to the company. To the manager, Gregor was worth nothing more than his labour, thus without having any labor to offer, Gregor was considered to be worthless. The manager was able to let him go easily, and without any feelings of guilt to the financially burden he caused the …show more content…

Just as Gregors family had depended on him, he began to depend on them in his time of need. Gregor was unable to feed himself, and thus kept fate in his family that they would charitably feed him, but his family didn’t provide him food because he no longer had a paycheck, leading to him starving to death. The day after Gregors death, the cleaning lady comes in and finds him dead, she informs the family but instead of the family being sad, his father shows relief, commenting “Well... now we can thank God!" (55). His father was happy to be freed of the economic burden of supporting his son. Instead of grieving like a normal family, they spoke of the economic benefits that would come from his death and their future financial plans. Due to his inability to work, Gregor had become worthless to his family, and wouldn’t be missed at all. This shows how much Gregors family viewed him as an income instead of a son, no matter how much they loved him while he was an asset to the family, they couldn’t bring themselves to love him while he wasn’t able to provide money. The economic situation within their family outweighed any emotional attachment that they had towards Gregor. The family decides to leave the house, and as their sitting on the trolley with Grete they begin to talk about her upcoming marriage, and the economic benefits that her husband is going to have on their family. The assumption is

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The narrator said, “During the first fortnight, Gregor’s parents could not bring themselves to enter his room…” He has been disconnected from his family to the point where they’re emotionally unstable and unable to treat him as he deserves with affection and comfort to help him cope with his metamorphosis. The narrator shows this disconnection before the mutation,”Gregor later earned so much money that he was in a position to cover the expenses for the entire family…” He later described the exchange not “particularly warm”. Gregor feels alienated by his parents because of the lack of affection for him providing for them.

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Samsa in a positive manner which enabled him to regain his self confidence and status within his family which gave him meaning and purpose. For example, Mr. Samsa's undergoes his own metamorphosis as he obtains a new job and regains his position in his home, "His father was holding himself very erect, dressed in a tight-fitting blue uniform with gold buttons, the kind worn by messengers at banking concerns," (Kafka 20). After. Gregor's metamorphosis Mr. Samsa steps up and is no longer viewed as an old aged man but as a reliable and purposeful man to his family in which he earns power for the place he holds as the provider of the family. Following the next series of events, Mr. Samsa demonstrates his power and rage towards Gregor, "Another one however, immediately following it, hit squarely and lodged in his back; Gregor wanted to drag himself away, as if he could remove the surprising, the incredible pain by changing his position; but he felt as if nailed to the spot and spread himself out, all his senses in confusion," (Kafka 20).

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We can see that Gregor’s sister takes all of the responsibility for Gregor’s well-being during Part 2 of the story. Eventually, however, the lack of food that Gregor receives suggest that the family has stopped loving Gregor and now just view, him as a burden they wish to be rid of. Gregor is not the only one that makes a transition in this

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He tries to keep himself separated from his family and others, but that fails after a while. His family cannot take the sight of what he has become, except for his sister who becomes the one to look after him. In the story, Gregor’s family feels that he cannot communicate with them, but he still can understand everything they are saying. So, they lock him inside of his room away from the world. Gregor’s mother and father feel that Gregor will eventually get better, and turn back normal.

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1405 Words | 6 Pages

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1419 Words | 6 Pages

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Gregor is the main provider within the family for the amount of income he brings, and is idolized for his role. Being raised in the 20th century, Gregor 's view on women had been the same as any other male during this time period and looked down upon women as inadequate, and, in most societies, the man provides and the woman maintains; however, this viewpoint alternates once the unexpected change in their life occurs resulting in a switch of leadership within their household. "Gregor felt very proud that he had been able to provide such a life in so nice an apartment for his parents and his sister. (21)" After his mysterious modification within his physical form, his mentality also weakened.

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