Influences On The Metamorphosis By Franz Kafka

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

In “The Metamorphosis”, Kafka mentions a picture of a women dressed in nothing but fur hanging on the wall of Gregory’s bedroom. This picture is a symbol of those failed relationships. Gregory had a younger sister by the name of Grete, and after undergoing his transformation, she was the only one who cared for him, the only one who dared step into his room, and the only one that his father allowed to care for him. Grete observed Gregory’s behavior on a daily basis and would try to accommodate things for Gregory so that he felt more comfortable in his current situation. One day, Grete observed the trails that Gregory had left on the walls, so she decided it would be best if she removed some furniture from his room so that he had more space to crawl, and was able to climb the walls better. She knew that her father would not agree with what she was trying to do, and the furniture was too heavy for her to lift alone, so she asked the one person that her father and she had been trying to keep away from the room, her mother. She agreed to help, and Gregory was happy at the thought that his mother was going to walk into the same room he was in, even though he knew that he would have to stay completely hidden under the couch so that he did not scare her and so she would not faint. He was also excited about having more space to move around, and at

Kafka was the reason for his failed relationships, and he was aware of this, and just like Kafka, Gregory never attempted to have relationships, even when he had time he never liked going out and meeting new people, so why was he trying to save the picture of a woman he did not even know instead of his writing desk, something that had true meaning and sentiment to him, “they were now loosening the writing desk which was fixed tight to the floor, the desk on which he, as a business student, a school student, indeed even as an elementary school student, had written out his assignments” (Kafka). Kafka once said that “a man without a woman is no person” (Kafka), this means that Kafka believed that love did matter, and having love and feelings was what it meant to be a person. He had previously mentioned how he wanted to be successful at marriage just like his father was. In this case, Gregory was no longer a person, but an insect, which is why Kafka felt like he needed Gregory to save the picture of the woman. Saving the picture was meant to give both Gregory and Kafka himself a sense a reassurance. For Gregory, it was assurance that someday he could go back to being who he once was, a person, and for Kafka assurance that there is someone out there for him to marry, someone he would be able to have a successful marriage with, just like his