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Isolation In Franz Kafka's 'Metamorphosis'

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Bugie Eruaga Mrs. Van Dam 10th English Wed 15 February, 2023 The Metamorphosis Summative What is an outcast? What makes someone an outcast? Are you an outcast? I'm sure at least once in our lives we have felt like an outcast, someone who doesn’t belong to someone shunned by society. Being an outcast makes us feel left apart and lonely and it can affect our emotions and our mental and physical health. In literature Authors like Franza Kafka use Absurdist literature to develop the concept of being an outcast. Kafka uses an element of absurdist literature called ambiguity to initiate Gregor's isolation and the differences separating him from his family. Kafka also uses dream-like elements to show how unreal Gregor’s situation is, showing how …show more content…

When Gregor awakes from his nightmare he is in a moment of disbelief because he does not fully understand how he had changed into a bug or why but instead of freaking out like most people Gregor remains calm and tries going back to sleep. It states that “Gregor had awoken from a very anxious dream that he had been turned into a monstrous verminous bug” but soon Gregor will realize it was no dream (2). In an earlier paragraph his features are briefly described to us “His numerous legs pitifully thin in comparison to the rest of his circumference flickered helplessly before his eyes”, “He lay on his armor hard back and saw as he lifted his head up a little, his brown arched abdomen divided up into rigid bow-like sections” (1). We don’t know how Gregor was turned into a bug because of Ambiguity and this caused Gregor to be isolated by his family because of how he just randomly turned into a bug with no explanation and he will probably never turn back into a human. When Gregor had woken up as a bug instead of freaking out Gregor tries to relax a bit because he believes whatever is happening to him will subside very soon and he has a hard time grasping the situation that whatever happened to him is real and …show more content…

Since Gregor is a bug his appearance seems to affect his family because Even After one month of being a bug Grete Gregor’s sister still seems to find Gregor’s appearance still intolerable and she runs away as soon as she sees him. “From this he realized that his appearance was still constantly intolerable to her” (61) because of this Gregor decides to hide away in order to not bother his sister it say that “In order to spare her even this sight one day he dragged the sheet on his back onto the couch (this task took him four hours)” (61). Even after a month of Gregor living with his family as a bug his family still considers him unappealing and can’t really look at him or interact with him and he has to go under the coach just to not bother them this alienates Gregor cause not being able to see his family makes them forget about him making him get neglected more each time. When Gregor was a human he used to work and was the breadwinner of the family “Gregor later earned so much money that he was in a position to bear the expenses of the entire family” (55) but now that he is no longer able to work and has drastically changed it is as if he only use to the family was for the money that he earned “They took the money with thanks and he happily surrendered it, but the special warmth was no longer present” (55) but now that he can’t even do that he is useless and should not be considered in the family since he is

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Here Gregor is contemplating the impracticality of missing work, while completely ignoring the fact that he turned into a vermin. Gregor’s ignorance to his own personal problems highlights his dedication to pay off his family 's debts (pg 9), at the expense of his wellness. The overcast weather and the mention of his depressed mood creates a pessimistic mood which would feed into Gregor’s already gloomy outlook on life. His want to sleep and forget his problems shows a pressure that Gregor must always be under. His hardworking attitude doesn’t match up to his willingness to ignore his problems.

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" Physically: Gregor literally crawls into his room, lays down on the floor, and takes his last breath. Mentally: Gregor's family alienates him and is ultimately responsible for Gregor's death through their negligence. Clearly, the bug is Gregor, but Mr. and Mrs. Samsa and Grete treat 'it' as if he was scum. " They were treating him as though he was invisible. They would literally walk past his room every day and attend their family dinners without saying anything to Gregor at all.

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The narrator said, “During the first fortnight, Gregor’s parents could not bring themselves to enter his room…” He has been disconnected from his family to the point where they’re emotionally unstable and unable to treat him as he deserves with affection and comfort to help him cope with his metamorphosis. The narrator shows this disconnection before the mutation,”Gregor later earned so much money that he was in a position to cover the expenses for the entire family…” He later described the exchange not “particularly warm”. Gregor feels alienated by his parents because of the lack of affection for him providing for them.

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Most notably, his reaction is extremely calmer than normal people would be. As a human, Gregor accepted the hardships he faces by his family without complaint. He is a naive and decent person. He works in anonymity without uttering words to earn money for the whole family even he did not even like this “exhausting job he’ve picked on”(p89) since his dad’s failure in business. Similarly, when he first realized he had transformed into an insect, he was not disgusted by his looking and condition, he did not wonder how he turned to an insect and how to transform back to a human.

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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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While Gregor begins are the all mighty, male provider, he regresses into an effeminate state as he no longer can perform his tasks for work. As his transformation into a vermin worsens, he no longer can perform any action and further conforms to the true identity of a bug. Grete, on the other hand, picks up the male provider role that Gregor could no longer perform, but then, as she becomes tired with the work and as Gregor identifies with an “it”, goes back to her female role. Gregor's physical change forces him to degenerate to death, but allows Grete to thrive, growing into a

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His sister betrays Gregor by stating, "I won’t utter my brother's name in the presence of this creature, and so all I say is this: we must try and get rid of it" (page 124). The word "it" in this dehumanizes Gregor and perhaps Grete said "it" to feel less guilt about desiring him gone. Next, the word creature creates a villain-like description of Gregor which shows the family’s anxiety about him being around them at all. This could represent a moment where family and close friends see their close friend or family member acting differently because of mental health. Gregor becomes a burden to his family because he turns into a bug, this can represent one feeling like a burden to others while dealing with mental

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Do people belong? Often people feel like they do not belong that is often caused by a at home issue or bullying. In this story Gregor does not feel like he belongs because he is transformed into a bug. When he gets transformed into this bug his family is scared of him and think he will hurt them. Another reason Gregor does not feel belonged is because before he was transformed into a bug he did not feel welcomed at his job, and he absolutely hated it.

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For Gregor to be transformed as a cockroach or given an insect appearance is very fitting as it also reflects the former salesman’s psychological perception. Without his job Gregor feels small and a burden to the rest of his family. Cockroaches are small and considered to be vermin because they can only eat and provide no help to anyone else. Its existence is all it has just like Gregor. Cockroaches are also small in a sense that they can be killed by those bigger and stronger than they are, those supposedly deemed superior to others.

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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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During his transformation, the family could not care to even bear a glimpse at the ugly beast, which lead to the improper treatment he received. As the room was described:“[s]mears of dirt were left on the walls, here and there were little balls of dust and filth. At first, Gregor went into one of the worst of these places when his sister arrived as a reproach to her, but he could have stayed there for weeks without his sister doing anything about it; she could see the dirt as well as he could but she had simply decided to leave him to it” (3.beginning). Because of his new exterior, Gregor lost sympathy and human connection from his family, yet he never realized their change in demeanor. After his transformation, Grete could not speak to her brother.

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Gregor made his choice long before he turned into a beetle to give up and continue on his uneventful life. Many incidents support the idea that an outsider is solely responsible for becoming and remaining an outsider. Feeling that they deserve some form of added pity for the stand point they put themselves in.

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Gregor's transformation into a beetle only let his family hide him from society even more. Gregor woke up one morning to find himself turned from a human being to a beetle. Gregor thought people would not accept him less than they already do. Instead of being shocked Gregor was kind of understanding

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He loathes that as a vermin, he is a burden to his family. Under the couch, Gregor is “(…) in a state of worry and murky hopes, which led to the conclusion that for the time being he would have to keep calm and with patience and the greatest consideration for his family tolerate the troubles which in his present condition he was now forced to cause them.” (Kafka 11). Gregor’s family, on the other side, never accepts his new condition and are not capable of adapting psychologically to the sight of a their son/brother as

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Gregor not caring for himself is what eventually lead him to being transformed into an insect. After Gregor becomes an insect he is forced to make himself a priority. Gregor struggles being an insect because he has no idea how to take care of himself. Gregor has never made himself a priority and now he is forced to. All Gregor knows is work and to provide for his family.

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