Metamorphosis Existentialism

245 Words1 Pages
In Metamorphosis, the meaning of the protagonist’s life reflects one basic theme of existentialism: existence precedes essence. For existentialists, human beings have to create their own values of life for there is no inherent meaning of existence. People’s own actions decide who they are. In the story, Gregor’s values are mostly embodied in his family. The whole family lives in an apartment in a city with a maid and a cook, although Gregor is the only bread-winner. Gregor’s father usually spends hours on breakfast while he “sat reading a number of different newspapers”. (Kafka 36) It’s fair to say that Gregor has offered a comfortable life for his family and actually is the welfare of his family the only thing he concerns for all the time.