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Mrs. Samsa In Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis

1783 Words8 Pages

In Metamorphosis, Mrs. Samsa appears a few times but never grows throughout the text, making her a flat character. Gregor’s mother is the average concerned mother and doesn’t have the strength to see her son. Every time she gets a glimpse of her son, she drops to the floor and faints. There is one time where she viewed Gregor and didn’t pass out: when she steps in to rescue Gregor from his father’s rage. Mrs. Samsa didn’t grow throughout the text; however, her behavior causes her husband to calm down and allows Gregor to live.

C) FOIL
Grete, Gregor’s sister, acts as a foil to Gregor throughout the novel. Their relationships suggest that they are constantly battling for the status of “favorite offspring.” As Gregor’s role in the family declines after his transformation, Grete begins to rise. Others want to separate themselves from Gregor because of his scary looks. However, in regard to Grete, people enjoy her company and encourage her maturity. Lastly, while Gregor fails to find a spouse throughout …show more content…

Throughout the novella, Franz Kafka repeatedly writes about the concern for money in the Samsa family. Money is constantly on the top of Gregor’s mind and is a common topic of discussion in the Samsa family. Gregor took a job as a salesman; from there on, money became the focal point of his life. However, after his transformation, he can no longer provide income for his family, which causes them to separate from him. He also obstructs his family from making money when he sneaks into the boarders’ room. In Part II, when Gregor eavesdrops on his family’s conversation regarding their financial situation, “he had bent all his endeavors to helping the family get over the commercial catastrophe, which had plunged them all into complete despair” (112). This text shows how Gregor still feels responsible as the family’s only source of income. However, his incapability to provide an income leaves him in total “shame and

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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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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.

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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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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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Both characters prove themselves as costly individuals. While dining in Red Sammy’s dinner Grandmother begins to reminisce about her old plantation. A plantation that she believes currently resides in Georgia, but actually resides in Tennessee. This mishap proves costly for the family because through her manipulation they drive to a destination they will never reach. Gregor’s costly mistake of becoming the head caretaker and trying to live lavish proves costly for his family.

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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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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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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.

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Gregor, upon hearing this, goes back to his room and dies. The family finds him dead and their life seems to turn around. They all get jobs and find a new place to live. And in the end, Gregor's parents recognize Grete, Gregor's sister, as a beautiful young woman.

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Unlike before, they are now emotionally distressed and can't live like they did before. His family also makes many sacrifices as they adjust to his isolation. Their lifestyles are abruptly transformed; they no longer live on their own schedule. Gregor overhears them talking about how "there [are] always at least two members of the family at home - no one [wants] to be alone by themselves, and it was out of the question to leave the flat entirely empty" (Kafka, 30). Because of this, they are forced to keep an eye on him.

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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.

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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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Once the sole provider for his family, he now becomes a burden. Internally, he is the same Gregor Samsa, but his physical appearance causes his family to alienate and mistreat him. The use of dehumanization is prevalent in the novel causing the protagonist to suffer with symptoms of depression. He is unable to be a positive contributor in society or for his family. The use of symbolism in the novel displays his isolation and humanity.

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" His sister, who at seventeen was still a child, and whose lifestyle up to that point consisted of dressing herself neatly, sleeping late… taking part in a few modest pleasures, and above all playing the violin” (407). Grete is viewed as innocent and incapable of doing things independently, but roles switch between the two and, instead, is the one who makes the decisions within the family and by using Grete’s reactions after Gregor’s transformation to reveal the boundaries that limit growth in a society with specific gender roles. (To be

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Yet, she is actually exercising her authority over both her mother and Gregor. As Gregor’s mother reasons as to why not to remove Gregor’s furniture, Grete “did not let herself be swerved from her decision by her mother” (Kafka 34). Her conviction to deprive Gregor of the pieces that represent his life as a human reveals the process of her own transformation into a figure of power. Finally, Grete’s most significant show of power is her convincing of the family that the insect is not Gregor. She announces to her family that they “have to try to get rid of it” (Kafka 51), and upon hearing this Gregor retreats to his room and dies.

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