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Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis

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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, …show more content…

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

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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.

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In the beginning of the novel, The metamorphosis, by Fran Kafka the tone is flat and calm due to the main character, Gregor Samsa, no caring about waking up in his bed which turned into a “monstrous verminous bug” (Kafka 3 ). With the author writing in this tone, the reader's mood consists of confusion and being very absurd with the fact of Gregor relaxed tone when he thinks “ What's happened to me”(3) . Gregor seems not to be freaking out about his bed changing into a bug but confused with the fact why it happened in the first place. Continuing down into the story the author tells the reads some more or less unneeded background information without taking care of the main problem. In the last paragraph of the page it continues with “Gregory

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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.

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Most historians believe that the past has built on itself, and this book is an example of that. In the beginning of the Metamorphosis Gregor awakes as a bug, “As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect” (Kafka 15). You truly will never know what will happen the next day. Gregor’s whole life was ruined within a span of 24 hours. He went from a human to a bug within a night.

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Franz Kafka’s short story The Metamorphosis, becoming a beetle gives Gregor insight on his family. Raymond Carver’s short story The Cathedral, shows Bub, a once judgmental man, the insight on blindness. Before their changes, they were blinded by what was in front of them. Life changes cause Gergor’s and Bub’s perspective to differ from what they once were.

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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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Pre-translation, the word “vermin” in the first sentence is speculated to have meant “jew” in a derogatory manner. This posits that Gregor’s metamorphosis

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There are hundreds of works of literature out in the world, many of them are great, and some are not as great. What makes them great is the truth behind them, the true feelings, and what it truly meant to the author. Many great works of literature are influenced by several different things, in the case of “The Metamorphosis”, it was influenced by the life of Franz Kafka, the author, and his real- life experiences. The Freudian concept help explain why “The Metamorphosis” contains symbols and clues that can be used to compare certain relationships throughout Kafka’s life, one being with his father, and the other with woman who entered his life. Franz Kafka was a German man who worked as a lawyer who worked at the workmen’s Accident Insurance

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Franz Kafka drew considerable inspiration from Ovid while writing his famous story, The Metamorphosis. This inspiration is readily detectable throughout the story. However, Kafka took an interesting approach to making the story his own. He also changed the writing style of the story to correspond with the time he wrote it in. The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka draws on and transforms “The Transformation of Arachne into a Spider” from Metamorphoses by Ovid to tell a similar story while meeting the criteria of magical realism.

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In The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, the style enhances the nightmarish quality of the work. In the text it reads, “Gregor then turned to look out the window at the dull weather. Drops of rain could be heard hitting the pane, which made him feel quite sad” (Kafka). The use of these words reveal that Gregor feels not only sad but quite isolated which links to the theme. This was said in the beginning of the passage, this lets one infer that the rest of the passage is going to be depressing or eerie.

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A Monstrous Vermin: (A? The? No article?) Reading of Franz Kafka’s Novella The Metamorphosis Through the Lens of Julia Kristeva’s Abject. Franz Kafka, a son of an affluent merchant, was born and raised in a Jewish German family in Austria-Hungary.

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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.

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The modernist crisis is presented through the creatures in Kafka’s The Metamorphosis (1996), DH Lawrence’s “Snake” (1967) and Virginia Woolf’s “Kew Gardens” (1919) as culture suppresses nature in their clash. The Metamorphosis explores this clash as mass culture dominates over nature, demonstrated as Gregor’s economic value is diminished in his transformation, revealing the suppression of his nature by culture. This is explicit as Gregor is the provider for his family up until he is transformed “into an enormous bug”, where he, instead, must rely on them (Kafka 11).

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“The Metamorphosis” is a novella written by Franz Kafka which was first published in 1915. Franz Kafka was born on July 3, 1883 in Prague. He was a German-language novelist and short story writer who mainly focused his work on realism. Franz Kafka's “The Metamorphosis” accounts the strange story of Gregor Samsa's transformation into a vermin and the hopeless seclusion and individual journey for an important presence that takes after. It investigates the all inclusive concerns and battles of Modernity, yet additionally offers understanding into the lives of acclimatized Jews living in Prague when the new century rolled over.

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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.

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