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Gregor Samsa In The Metamorphosis By Franz Kafka

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Franz Kafka brought light to one of the many unfortunate human realities that exist within the spectrum of various destinies. This reality is described as having an exhausting and depressing lifestyle with no choice, but to live through with it. Through his work The Metamorphosis, he conveyed this reality through the perspective of Gregor Samsa, an unwilling salesman who is the sole provider for his family’s income and he wakes up to unexpectedly find himself as an insect. His adult life contributed to the fate of being doomed as his relationships with family and work-related individuals proved unsuccessful, leading him to live a life of gloom and misery. However, his dramatic change from human to insect seemed to free Gregor from his obstacles as he embraced this new lifestyle without any questions or worries. …show more content…

Gregor declared, “what a strenuous profession I’ve chosen! Traveling in day in and day out...I would have walked right up to the boss and let my heart out to him.” (Kafka 11 and 12). This statement provides the bleak life Gregor must endure due to the burden of being the only family member able to work and provide income while dealing with his uncaring boss. He doesn’t have any other options as he only works under his employer because of his “family’s debt to him…” (Kafka 13). Jean Snook agrees as she insists, “...his employer shows no appreciation for Gregor’s humanity and seems bent only on getting the maximum return from his employee...They also use him up.” This in turn has only led to Gregor following orders, but never giving them which serves as a metaphor of him being a robot or insect, as it slowly disintegrates his own humanity, thus dooming him to a life of

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Gregor’s mother tried to justify her son being late for work because he is sick due to being a workaholic. Everyone tries to get Gregor to come out of his room,

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In the novel you can clearly see how the family would take advantage and abuse Gregor. He would work hard for the family and his family had no appreciation for what he did. It was clear in the book that Gregor did not like his job. He always felt tired, but he would always go to his job for the sake of his family.

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Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka is a novel in which the reader gets to witness a normal everyday man, transform into a “monstrous vermin”. Throughout the book, the reader is able to witness Gregor’s metamorphic changes, his new life, and how the people around him were affected. In Metamorphosis, Gregor had many stresses burdened upon him throughout his life that possibly caused his transformation from a hard-working human, to a functionless bug. The main subjects of stress for Gregor come in his work. Perhaps the stresses in his life were the ultimate cause in his dramatic changes?

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The first thought that comes to his mind is being late for work. Gregor hated his job but he could not quit because he had to pay off his families' debt. Throughout most of the story, Gregor lives a life of serving and not receiving anything for his troubles. He feels it is his reasonability to take care of his loved one's finical needs but his father takes advantage of Gregor's kindness. '' Oh God, he thought, what a grueling job I've picked.

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Still inexperienced with his new bodily form, Gregor is unable to travel to his workplace. However, his absence is quickly noticed and the company’s attorney pays Gregor a visit within the hour. Begging for understanding, Mrs. Samsa exclaims, “The boy has nothing in his head except business…he never goes out at night” (Kafka 20). Despite eating, breathing, and living for his occupation as a traveling salesman, Gregor continues to be a replaceable minion within his company. Through his endless dedication to business endeavors, Gregor loses his sense of self, working mechanically around the clock.

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The consequences of Gregor’s isolation Kafka’s Metamorphosis is a novella that explores the consequences of an unlikely transformation. Gregor’s isolation following the transformation has had a big impact on his life and the lives of his family. He is mentally and physically challenged. The rest of his family sacrifices their relationships and time to deal with the isolation. Gregor also loses touch with his family, and they are wedged apart.

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On the surface, the Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka is about a man who becomes disabled from working after waking up one day to find himself turned into a monster of some sorts. Through the dynamic between Samsa and his family and their shared familial roles, as well as the relationship between Samsa and his work, Kafka seems to be making commentary on the futility of life, and how meaningless desperate actions are in the unforgiving cold world. This emptiness can be seen first when Samsa first wakes up and finds himself a vermin, and reflects on his job. It seems that his main purpose for living is to work and eventually pay off the debt his parents have accumulated. He has other goals in life as well, from sending his sister to a conservatory,

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In the short story “The Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka, the primary character Gregor, who has found himself in a variety of strange circumstances, seems generally unconcerned by the fact that he has transformed-or perhaps hasn’t-into a vermin. Perhaps he cannot fathom his situation, maybe he doesn’t care, or maybe he was always this way. He acts much more concerned with getting out of bed from his supine position. His father’s admonishments and fulminations only cause him to become anxious, as he plaintively writhes on the floor. His biggest harbinger of misfortune comes as the brusque knocks of his boss, trying to inquire concerning his whereabouts.

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As his mother begs for his life, we see Gregor’s physical and mental condition significantly decrease, all because of the actions of his father. Kafka shows us that because the Father is strong and powerful again, Gregor becomes a waste of space. Once, they relied heavily upon him, and now he is excluded, feared and an outcast. In

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Gregor is the only working family member, and he takes his job seriously. He makes many sacrifices for his family, and in return he feels unappreciated. His father failed to support the family, and he acts aggressively towards Gregor. On the other parental side, his mother defends him occasionally but mainly feeds in to the father’s anger. After Gregor’s transformation, every member of the family abandoned Gregor and waited for him to disappear.

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Through this, we know that Gregor holds no ill will towards any of the members of his family during his time as a bug, even when we see them brutalize and neglect him. “His thoughts went back to his family with tenderness and love” (Kafka 125). The love for his family is the only part of his old human life that he can reasonably keep intact, though his family would rather he didn’t. Every single one of them wants him gone, especially his dear little sister Grete. When she finally locks him in his room she cries, “At last!”

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Franz Kafka, heavily influenced by Ovid’s Metamorphoses, devises the character Gregor Samsa in order to portray a detailed experience of an individual’s metamorphosis. Kafka’s narration style differs greatly from Ovid’s, in that, the narration begins with a first person perspective and changes to a third person narration, which remains consistent to the end of the novel. Unlike the stories within the Metamorphoses, there is a clear contrast in the portrayal of Gregor’s transformation. Ovid and Kafka’s depiction of a metamorphosis incorporates the concept of identity in the individual’s transition, however Kafka emphasizes the family dynamic and the hostility Gregor feels. Gregor’s family’s inability to look past Gregor’s exterior appearance

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Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis narrates the events that ensue when a man named Gregor finds himself transformed into a monstrous vermin upon waking up one morning. Although the novella is a tale of fiction, striking parallels between the novella’s events and current societal norms/values are apparent. Through the motif of food and nourishment, notably the contrast between physical nourishment and emotional nourishment, Kafka conveys that while physical nourishment is necessary for survival, emotional nourishment should be of equal or more importance as emotional nourishment allows one to live a more fulfilling life. Ultimately, Kafka illustrates that society’s current infatuation with physical welfare, such as food, money, and materialistic

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In the beginning some notice is taken of Gregor. He misses work, so his boss stops by, and Gregor is able to make excuses for himself. But as the story progresses he ceases to speak to in any human language and begins to just hiss and squeak like a cockroach. Gregor is locked in his room, begins eating scraps of food and waste from around the house that would have previously been scorned. Essentially he becomes the cockroach, not the man.

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