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Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis

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It’s commonly believed that optimum health requires the mind, physical body, and spirit to be in balance. Franz Kafka has this idea expressed throughout The Metamorphosis. The mind, body, and spirit are symbolic throughout this novella, The Metamorphosis is separated into three sections which each symbolize a different part of Gregor's health. Chapter one symbolizes Gregor's body, chapter two symbolizes Gregor's mind while chapter three, represents his spirit. The number three is a reappearing symbol in The Metamorphosis which represents Gregor’s body, mind, and spirit. In chapter one, Kafka focuses on Gregor’s body and what he is outside rather than inside. When Gregor wakes up he was “transformed into a gargantuan pest,” (Kafka 13). Kafka …show more content…

Gregor is noticing alterations in his mind: “Moreover, the milk, which was his favorite drink, and for this reason the sister had certainly prepared it, did not taste good to him at all…”(Kafka 32). This is the first difference in Gregor’s mind he realizes. Gregor used to like milk but now that he has transformed into a bug he doesn’t like what was once his favorite drink. This is a very significant event in the novella because it’s showing Gregor’s mind is transforming from a human into a bug state of thinking. Gregor no longer feels safe in his room: “...in which he was forced to lie flat on the floor made him anxious, and he could not find out the source of his anxiety, because for the past five years, he had inhabited this room,” (Kafka 33). Gregor hurries to hide under the couch where he feels “cozy and regretted only that his body was too wide to fit fully underneath the couch,” (Kafka 33). Gregor now doesn't feel safe in his room which he has slept in for five years. Somewhere he used to feel protected and safe doesn't provide the same feeling anymore for him. When he hides under the couch he finds that feeling and it eases his anxiety from his room. Gregor experiences multiple changes to his mind because his mind is transforming from a human into a

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Gregor's Transformation Rhetorical Analysis

233 Words | 1 Pages

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

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Here Gregor is contemplating the impracticality of missing work, while completely ignoring the fact that he turned into a vermin. Gregor’s ignorance to his own personal problems highlights his dedication to pay off his family 's debts (pg 9), at the expense of his wellness. The overcast weather and the mention of his depressed mood creates a pessimistic mood which would feed into Gregor’s already gloomy outlook on life. His want to sleep and forget his problems shows a pressure that Gregor must always be under. His hardworking attitude doesn’t match up to his willingness to ignore his problems.

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How Does Society Affect Gregor's Life

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But when Gregor steps into the living room and gets rejected not only by the three gentlemen, but by Grete and his family, he realizes there is no hope for his acceptance. This explains why “...he was amazed at the great distance that separated him from his room, and could not understand how he had covered that distance in his weak state a little while before and almost without noticing it.” Gregor was able to cover the distance on his way to his sister so easily because he was hopeful. Now that his hope has diminished completely, the distance back seems insurmountable. The alienation that Gregor experiences from society causes the death of his individuality because society’s rejection of Gregor’s vermin self is an example of society’s belief

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Dehumanization In Elie Wiesel's 'Night And Metamorphosis'

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“Next to me lay a Hungarian Jew suffering from dysentery. He was skin and bones, his eyes were dead… These words, coming from the grave, as it were, from a faceless shape, filled me with terror” (Wiesel 78). Gregor faces the same problem—the reduction of self-awareness. “Streaks of dirt ran along the walls; here and there lay tangles of dust and garbage” (Kafka 33).

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616 Words | 3 Pages

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.

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Gregor is just showing on the outside, in his spider-likeness, how he feels on the inside. If he receives proper care and love rather than alienation, disrespect, and neglect from his family, he could have been able to transform his outside back into human form. Symbolism plays a great role in The Metamorphosis. Two examples from the text can be drawn to illustrate this point. First, Gregor assumes that it was a dream when

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The Repercussions of Cruelty 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.

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1047 Words | 5 Pages

Gregor Samsa’s transition from human to vermin was not the only shift that happened through the duration of Kafka’s The Metamorphosis. The novel is centered around Gregor who wakes up as a vermin, presumably a cockroach, which catalyses a series of emotionally traumatic experiences for him and his family, culminating in Gregor’s death. Yet the most significant change is, in fact, the gender role reversal seen both with Gregor and Grete, his sister, as Gregor becomes more effeminate and Grete becomes more emasculate, directly correlating with their societal and emotional transformation due to Gregor's physical change. From the moment, Gregor wakes up he has transformed. But not just as a vermin.

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He also discovers that he revels in crawling on the ceiling and walls. Gregor's humanity never disappears completely, he still has memories and has emotions equal to a human. When Gregor’s sister and mother are cleaning out his room so he has more space to crawl around, he becomes agitated. Of course, he knows that it would benefit him, but he does not want to lose all of his belongings because he is apprehensive he will lose his memories too. This shows that he still wants to be normal even though his family sees him as a disgusting

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1058 Words | 5 Pages

Neither Kafka nor Gregor followed the existentialist idea of freedom of choice in a person’s life. They both had a life they didn’t ask for and responsibilities they were forced to assume. This principle of lack of freedom is clearly shown by the unexpected transformation of Gregor, waking up as an insect and obtaining the freedom he lacked, emancipating himself of obligations, injustice and final duties. He is freed from the obligation to work to maintain his family and liberated himself from his tyrannical father. Although he turned into a horrible insect, the metamorphosis did not change the beauty of his soul.

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769 Words | 4 Pages

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.

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159 Words | 1 Pages

Gregor has always believed that he was an insignificant “insect” and that his worth only came from his financial support to his family. He was always dehumanized by his boss who believed that he was a crook and a slacker. Gregor had to work in this environment for fifteen years without any real human contact except from his family. Although it does not state how Gregor’s relationship with his father is it can be implied from Gregor’s mistreatment that there was a strain on their relationship. So, Gregor being transformed into an insect would just be a reflection of his inner self.

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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

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1857 Words | 8 Pages

Hurry, get the doctor. Did you just hear Gregor talking?’ ‘That was a voice of an animal’” (12). Through Gregor’s perspective, one may assume that his response to his manager was heard loud and clear and the only modification to his identity is the physical change he has undergone which highlights the importance of Kafka’s change in perspective. Although Gregor believes himself to be in control of the situation, the third person narration as well as the other character’s remarks reveal quite the opposite.

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