ipl-logo

Metamorphosis By Franz Kafka Conflicts Essay

830 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Personal response to metamorphosis by franz kafka

Have conflicts with others ever changed how you feel about yourself? In 1915, Franz Kafka published the novella, Metamorphosis. He included many personal connections that can be seen through the character of Gregor. Due to the bad relationship that Gregor shares with his father, he possessed many conflicts within himself. His conflicts can be seen when he becomes a vermin, when he starts to become distant from his family and lose the connections he once had, and when he begins to not eat. In the beginning of the novella, Gregor undergoes a transformation. Many readers view him transforming into a bug because of the way Kafka describes Gregor. Kafka may have been undergoing a transformation of his own. Kafka dealt with many issues growing up …show more content…

When Gregor leaves his room, his father does not like what he sees and drives him back into his room away from everybody else. Upon learning Gregor has become a bug, Gregor’s father wants nothing to do with him. The entire family avoids Gregor as much as they can, only going into his room so bring him the occasional meal. When Gregor’s mother spotted him on the wall, she shouted “Oh, God, Oh, God (Kafka 36)!” His family quickly came to the conclusion that they did not want anything to do with him, and most of the time, were frightened at the sight of him. Gregor quickly becomes lonely and feels like he is a burden on his family. If Kafka is becoming more distant within his family, he may not feel that he is a part of his family. Often times, he felt as if his father did not appreciate the things he did for himself or the family. He started out going to school for a law degree to please his father even though his interest was in literature. Gregor also did things for the family, including making the income for the entire family. Nobody appreciated the work he put in to support the family, even when Gregor could not work anymore and the rest of the family had to find jobs. This would cause him and his family to separate from each other and only see each other when it was …show more content…

Gregor initially lost his appetite when his mother and sister had the idea to remove his belongings from his room so that he could have more room to crawl around on the walls (Kafka 45). Since Gregor does not eat, he becomes very weak and starts to lose his energy and strength. Gregor got to the point he was so weak that he could hardly move. He would lie still for hours on end to reserve the little bit of strength he had left. Gregor starved himself so that he would eventually pass away. He thought he was too big a burden on his family as evident through how his father treated him and looked at him. Through Gregor’s struggles and finally with his passing, in a way, it also sets his family free to move on to bigger and better

Show More
Related
507 Words | 3 Pages

He is willing to take on anyone in order to support his family, which plays into the theme of family duty. Also, Gregor’s determination and military experience (pg 12) is displayed in his plan making and strategizing to capture his manager. The loyalty to his family, displayed by working and trying his best to keep a job he doesn’t want, gives insight into Gregor’s character. The unhealthy relationship Gregor has with his family is very common for a character in Franz Kafka’s book. His own tumultuous relation reflected onto his characters lives.

Read More
1865 Words | 8 Pages

Some of the relationships with his family members began to break immediately after they found out about his metamorphism and others slowly decayed over the course of months. For example, after finding out that his son has transformed into a giant cockroach, Mr. Samsa immediately rejects Gregor and shows no affection for him from that point onwards. This has little to no effect on Gregor, however, as Gregor gets more distressed by any cold behavior exhibited by his mother or sister. In part two, after Grete insisted on removing all the furniture in Gregor’s room, Gregor expresses a kind of wistful sadness over not being able to talk to his mother because of his vermin form, and even entertains the idea of his mother coming in his room occasionally just to talk to him. At the time, this was a strange idea for Gregor to conceive because he was embracing his new cockroach form and didn’t even show himself to Grete when Grete came into his room to clean or give Gregor food.

Read More
484 Words | 2 Pages

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.

Read More
804 Words | 4 Pages

This is the reason he isolated himself from his family. Gregor is forced to work in an environment he hates but his transformation overlooks that. He doesn’t have to suffer from his occupation and allows him to spend more time with his family. However, this change only had a positive affect temporarily.

Read More
777 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More
542 Words | 3 Pages

We can see that Gregor’s sister takes all of the responsibility for Gregor’s well-being during Part 2 of the story. Eventually, however, the lack of food that Gregor receives suggest that the family has stopped loving Gregor and now just view, him as a burden they wish to be rid of. Gregor is not the only one that makes a transition in this

Read More
1604 Words | 7 Pages

Not offering much financial addition to the family because he was known as the family breadwinner. The family and he couldn't adjust to his loss. Which created a rift in the family that started to turn into hate. " He must go,” cried Gregor’s sister, “that’s the only solution, Father. You must just try to get rid of the idea that this is Gregor.

Read More
1058 Words | 5 Pages

Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka was written in 1915, it was based on a man named Gregor, a travelling salesman who wakes up to find himself transformed into an insect. Disgusted by his appearance he tries to deal with his new condition, but he is forced to endure the rejection of his family, which is what eventually drove him to his death. Despite having two different characters, one in real life and the other fictional, there is still a correlation between both; showing the author´s feelings, ideas and even problems, that are thrown into the story in a way to express his anguish.

Read More
150 Words | 1 Pages

Throughout the entirety of the story, Gregor did his best to serve an ungrateful family who could hardly tolerate his presence. If anything, death was the best thing that came to Gregor throughout the book. He suffered his father’s wrath, feinted his mother, was betrayed by his sister, and witnessed his family’s status deteriorate because of him. After the family took everything

Read More
705 Words | 3 Pages

He tries to keep himself separated from his family and others, but that fails after a while. His family cannot take the sight of what he has become, except for his sister who becomes the one to look after him. In the story, Gregor’s family feels that he cannot communicate with them, but he still can understand everything they are saying. So, they lock him inside of his room away from the world. Gregor’s mother and father feel that Gregor will eventually get better, and turn back normal.

Read More
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

Read More
775 Words | 4 Pages

Essentially, he was paying off his parents’ debts – a symbol of original sin or guilt. Once the Samsa family realized Gregor was no longer present to provide for their needs, they became angry with Gregor; thus, the significance of Gregor’s work shifted from being a complementary “self-sacrifice” action to some form of an expectation. Holland further supports this fact by reiterating it was “only after he has expiated the sin-debt can he ‘take the big step’ toward freedom.” Kafka additionally intensifies spirituality in the novel by composing Gregor’s transformation from man into an atrocious cockroach to directly correspond with the passion of Christ. Moreover, proof of this biblical allusion is supported throughout a great number of similar circumstances occurring in each figure’s lives.

Read More
1092 Words | 5 Pages

It’s quite remarkable how differently people react to change; how one could be so rebellious while the other embraces it. In “The Man in a Case” written by Anton Chekhov, Byelikov is not only a reserved, quiet man who revolts against any form of change, but is also a man who makes no exceptions to his mental disciplinarian handbook of rules whether it was for personal or professional purposes. On the other hand, “The Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka begins with Gregor Samsa treating his change from a human being to an insect with complete disregard as though his transformation is a natural occurrence in his life. Chekhov and Kafka, in their respective works of literature, use profound figurative references and discuss the different reactions to change, which as a result intrigue and arouse the reader’s curiosity.

Read More
795 Words | 4 Pages

He became embodied by his weak form and closed off to the real world, literally. Gregor’s influence on his family also allowed his father to grow as an individual and appear superior when dressing within his

Read More
2826 Words | 12 Pages

Why did Gregor change into a bug? Did he deserve it or perhaps, it was just a metaphor and Gregor was actually an immoral and lazy person himself? A parasite who suck everything out of people who surrounded him. The mistrust of the manager could be a reflection of Gregor’s laziness and dishonesty. Gregor was not an honest person and could not be trusted for a minute, and had given a good reason why the boss sent the manager to his house immediately when he was late for work.

Read More

More about Metamorphosis By Franz Kafka Conflicts Essay

Related Topics

Open Document