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Gregor's Transformation In The Metamorphosis

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Gregors' transformation has made him free in the sense that he does not have to provide for his family anymore, whereas now he is not able to leave his room, physically holding him captive. Since Gregor’s transformation has restricted him from any physical labor, he no longer has to carry the responsibility of paying “off the parents’ debt… [which] should take another five or six years” (138) to completely pay off. “At the office I fulfill my obligations outwardly, but not my inner ones, and every unfulfilled inner obligation turns into a misfortune which does not find its way out of me”. Kafka explores his personal battle between doing what he must to survive in the world and doing what he must for himself. With pressure from his family, he spends his time in the office at work earning a living, but his heart still draws him to what he enjoys doing for himself, which is writing. Kafka’s personal experience in working for the self or for the economy is drawn throughout Gregor Samsa’s life in The Metamorphosis. Gregor is faced with working an unpleasant job that leaves no time for him. The pressure of time and intense monetary ambition of the economy-driven world drives Gregor to feel alienated from himself, as well as his family, through …show more content…

In the image, the woman is elegantly draped in fur apparel. Literally, it is the material of her clothing, but it figuratively represents an animal. Gregor can emotionally relate to this underlying symbolism because he is given the same treatment and respect from his family that is given to an animal, due to his metamorphosis, which has placed him into a similar state. The missing portion of the woman’s arm is also noted, illustrating something missing in Gregor’s life, reflecting his relationship with his family. They no longer consider him to be of importance since his ability to support them financially vanished, comparable to the woman’s arm in the

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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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959 Words | 4 Pages

It also represents wealth and he has this picture because he wants to be the woman with the fur the fur represents the wealth and that's how wealthy Gregor wants to be. 3. Yes, because he assumes that he has to live for others and not for himself. “I cannot make you understand. I cannot make anyone understand what is happening inside me.

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Much like the Jewish community, he is mistreated and disowned by his father who is a symbolic representation of society’s ideals in the early 1930s. He begins to be isolated by his family mainly his sister/mother who remove materials from his room while leaving him inside showing the comparison to Nazi soldiers who robbed Jews of their valuables and money. This shows the isolation created for Jews as they are looked at differently and mistreated as innocent human being. Lastly, the apple stuck in Gregor’s back shows the suffering that Jews had to go through carrying the burden and pain along as they are discriminated

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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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777 Words | 4 Pages

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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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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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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1510 Words | 7 Pages

Kafka lived most of his life with his parents and never married. He had a distant mother and domineering father who had a profound effect on his romantic relationships and writing. Kafka questioned the adequacy of his own body and mind. The author poured all the questioning thoughts and visions he had about himself into the consciousness of Gregor Samsa, and imagined the remedy to the problems to be found in a woman, Grete. Kafka envisions that his “…body is too long for its weakness…” and imposes his own image on his counterpart Gregor, who’s “…left side felt as if it were one long, painfully tightening scar…” (Kafka 278).

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806 Words | 4 Pages

Kafka uses the third person narrative mode, an all knowing, neutral stranger as the storyteller. This gives the narration a feeling of immediacy as it presents the different points of views of the characters, their feelings and their thoughts. Kafka’s writing is unique, at times autobiographical. The main character of the story, which often represents a feature of Kafka’s own life, is the only one who is presented distorted struggling inside an otherwise realistic environment. In this instance, the distortion is the transformation of Gregor, which is deeply symbolic.

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648 Words | 3 Pages

Another significant symbol is the picture of the woman draped in furs that hangs in Gregor's bedroom. This image represents Gregor's unattainable desires and aspirations. The woman symbolizes beauty, wealth, and freedom, elements that are beyond Gregor's reach in his current state. The picture serves as a reminder of the stark contrast between his dreams and the harsh reality of his existence. This symbolism highlights the theme of identity and self-discovery, as Gregor grapples with his own desires and ambitions, which seem impossible to achieve in his transformed

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540 Words | 3 Pages

The Metamorphosis of Family Franz Kafka was a writer of realist literature and his pessimistic point of view opened up a new style of thinking rarely thought of. Kafka had a rough life, his father was overbearing and the only person who treated himself well was his sister, Ottilie. Kafka had a relatively lonely life that was dominated by the demand of his father for him to be successful in business, this drove Kafka to write short stories about his life. The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka talked about the physical change of the protagonist Gregor, but through his misfortunes, his family went through a metamorphosis of their own. Gregor was a travelling salesman who was the sole source of income for his income.

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1504 Words | 7 Pages

Kafka uses diction and symbolism to convey the family’s dissatisfaction and the deterioration in their family ties. Each family member acquires a job to compensate the loss of Gregor’s salary. Kafka writes: “They were fulfilling to the utmost the demands the world makes on the poor: Gregor’s father fetched breakfast for the petty employees at the bank, his mother sacrificed herself for the underclothes of strangers, his sister ran back and forth behind the shop counter at her costumers’ behest... And the wound in Gregor’s back would begin to ache anew when… Gregor’s mother…would say: ‘shut the door now Grete’; and Gregor was left in the dark again” (Kafka

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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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821 Words | 4 Pages

Upon his death, a great sense of relief roams his family; a feeling that is not obtained in such situations normally. Ever since childhood, we automatically associate loyalty with family, yet little did we know that a capitalistic society and its way of thinking could get between these two terms, particularly the latter. Kafka reflects that, realistically, his odd fiction narrative can become a reality, when cornered by such society. Even Grete, the only one that took care of Gregor, seems to resent her brother after facing poverty and blames him for their current financial status. Kafka demonstrates that society's norms have the power to adjust normality, according to its desires.

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1454 Words | 6 Pages

There are many circumstances in the book that tie to Franz Kafka’s life. Kafka was abused by his father as a child just as Gregor is abused by his father. “From the fruit bowl on the sideboard his father had filled his pockets, and now, without for the moment taking accurate aim, was throwing apple after apple” (Kafka 49). Gregor’s father is throwing apples at him just as Kafka was also abused by his father who would hurt him. The apple here is seen a weapon that later on leads to Gregor’s

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