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Gregor Samsa In The Metamorphosis By Franz Kafka

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Gregor Samsa’s insect transformation is a reflection of his inner emotions, and grandiose desire for his family’s empathy. Franz Kafka used a large opening gesture, turning the leading character into a bug, to reiterate the ideology that the oppressed are overlooked in society. Gregor’s personal freedom is corralled by both a demeaning job, and a society that seems to dictate his obedience. Kafka demonstrates the connection between Gregor’s inability to work, and his narcissistic demeanor. The Metamorphosis is carefully crafted around Gregor’s repetitive interactions with surrounding figures in order to depict his admiration for himself. “One morning, as Gregor Samsa was waking up from anxious dreams, he discovered that he had been changed into a monstrous verminous bug” (Kafka 1). From the opening phrases of the novella, and throughout the entirety of the story, the reader's attention has been veered towards the …show more content…

Punished for Gregor’s assertiveness, he is driven back into his room by his father, and metaphorically made a prisoner. After Gregor’s continuous attempts to reach the outside world, he narcissistically retreats to the protective isolation of his room, and his shell. Gregor intentionally publicizes his vulnerability in order to express his repressed, grandiose, needs. Adapting to his prison-like environment, Gregor finds the need for food, and the eye glance from his family. Grete, Gregor’s sister, brought him “an entire selection, all spread out on an old newspaper” (Kafka 37). Grete made intentional food choices to attempt to provide a sustainable meal for Gregor to enjoy. Because of Grete’s caretaking, Gregor identifies his sister as his sole source of narcissistic supplies. While Gregor craves attention, he is also ashamed to have others look at him. Gregor’s humiliation is a direct indication of his misconstrued self (Brooks

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Gregor delivers for his family in much the same way as a creature would offer for its nest or store. He expenses almost all aspects of fun, and does not desire to do anything but work. Eventually, his income becomes less of a substantial act, and more of an anticipation. His family 's existence rests solely on his shoulders, just as a queen bee relies on the worker bees. Gregor’s metamorphosis is representative of this commodification of man.

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The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka focuses on the twisted hidden identity of people and how it affects the society when it is revealed. Kafka depicts this ugly truth through an exaggerated extended metaphor of Gregor Samsa’s random transformation to a bug. Gregor is a travel salesman who found himself “transformed…into (1) one morning, and this transformation is what causes Gregor and everything around him to change: the ones he loved, the ones who loved him, and the rest of the society. Kafka’s usage of extended metaphor changes Gregor’s development, which argues the restricted social norms thus the social rejections when one reveals his or her true self: the animal instinct.

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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 began to resent his father for throwing household items at him, squashing him like a bug. Even his beloved sister Grete began irritating Gregor by removing all of his belonging from his room, leaving him with nothing. The cruelty performed on Gregor by his own family sends him into a dark pit of despair. With nothing to live for he began to slowly end his life, making one final sacrifice for the ones he loves

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Yet, she is actually exercising her authority over both her mother and Gregor. As Gregor’s mother reasons as to why not to remove Gregor’s furniture, Grete “did not let herself be swerved from her decision by her mother” (Kafka 34). Her conviction to deprive Gregor of the pieces that represent his life as a human reveals the process of her own transformation into a figure of power. Finally, Grete’s most significant show of power is her convincing of the family that the insect is not Gregor. She announces to her family that they “have to try to get rid of it” (Kafka 51), and upon hearing this Gregor retreats to his room and dies.

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