Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis

The interactive oral on Franz Kafka’s novella The Metamorphosis focused on three literary styles that were evident throughout the text: modernism, magic realism, and surrealism. The presentation began with background on the author, Kafka, and how his works did not achieve recognition until long after he had died; yet, today he is known as a compelling writer who wrote about pain, suffering, and loneliness in a unique way. The discussion then delved into three literary styles present in the text and how they played a part in helping to express oneself within a reserved society.

Before the presentation, the class read The Metamorphosis and discussed how a main theme of the novella was the harsh isolation that the main character, Gregor Samsa,

This style is a stream of consciousness, which is an internal monologue. An example of this is right at the beginning, when Gregor wakes up and realizes that he is a bug, and starts discussing about his tragic life and how he despises his job. The next literary style introduced was magic realism. In literature, magic realism is considered as fiction, but still maintains a certain level of seriousness. The first event in the novella was a type of magic realism; Gregor woke up, realizing that he had transformed into a human-sized bug. Although the transformation itself is impossible, the size of the bug that Gregor turns into is unrealistic as well. The final literary style discussed was surrealism. Surrealism was a movement in art and literature that sought to release the creative potential on the unconscious mind. Surrealist artists and authors used hazy, unclear imagery and dreamlike elements to get the viewer to think out of the box when analyzing the artwork or text. A surrealistic moment in the text would be at the beginning, when Gregor doesn’t seem to care that he has turned into a bug, which is dreamlike. It’s almost as if he’s accepted that he will remain a bug and that everything is now out of his control. These three literary and artistic styles allowed viewers to go out of their comfort zones to think in unique ways, allowing them to express themselves in a reserved