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Pragmatism In The Metamorphosis

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Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a pronounced German novelist and short story writer, he is very well known as one of the main figures of 20th-century fiction (Reference). His work, which vehemence elements of pragmatism and the imaginary, naturally features isolated characters faced by weird or surrealistic predicaments and unintelligible social-bureaucratic powers, and has been inferred as exploring themes of estrangement, existential concern, fault, and incongruity (Reference). The Metamorphosis is a novella by Franz Kafka 's (1916) describing a young salesman’s transformation from human being into giant creature and relating his consequent experiences within his family circle. "Metamorphosis," reflect a recognition on the part …show more content…

I 've got the torture of traveling, worrying about changing trains, eating miserable food at all hours..." (Kafka 4). He describes his work as a salesman by using words like "torture," "worrying and "miserable" and radically show his restlessness with his daily work. But, he has to continue working as a salesman because he has no option to let this job, because he is a part of "the class of modern wage-laborers who, having no means of production of their own, are reduced to selling their labor-power in order to live" (Marx and Engels 769). The unspecified manager is portrayed as demanding, insensible, and uncongenial by Kafka signifies his lack of humankind. Gregor describes the manager as he "sits on the desk and talks down from the heights to the employees" (Kafka 4). The character of the manager represent as the superior to the workers because of his advanced economic position, who is only concern about the output from his worker. The manager is the representation as the member of the bourgeoisie, who comes to Gregor’s house because of the few hours late in getting to work after the five years of his working time. As the member of bourgeoisie, the manager has no work of his own to execute; he has the time to come Gregor 's house just to

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“The Metamorphosis”, written by Franz Kafka, takes place in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, the city is unspecified. The protagonist, Gregor Samsa, is turned into a giant bug and struggles to regain his harmonious life as a traveling salesman. Gregor goes through both a physical and emotional change throughout the novel, from turning into a bug and then being unable to provide for his family because of his condition. Gregor has been changed into a giant bug where he is a not a pleasant eyesight to his family and isn't accepted by his father and mother but only his sister. As the novella begins,”he found himself transformed right there in his bed into some sort of monstrous insect”.

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Gregor, as the breadwinner and dominant male figure of his household, is committed to his job of traveling salesman. In fact, he awakes as a vermin and is immediately concerned about work. He even ventures to say, “The business worries are far worse than they are on the actual premise at home” (Kafka 77), when he has just turned into a beetle, illustrating just how important his position in the family’s social hierarchy is. He is the breadwinner, while the rest of his family is practically leeching off of his work. But, due

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Transforming and Romanticizing a Storyline The Metamorphosis, a novella written by Franz Kafka, attracted the attention of many of its readers due to the writing framework and shocking concepts. The story depicts a man named Gregor Samsa who has befallen the fate of a cockroach- literally. After being transformed into a large bug, Gregor goes through the struggles of misunderstanding, neglect, and loss of his family relationships.

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625 Words | 3 Pages

The Metamorphosis is a novella written by Francis Kafka. Metamorphosis, according to the Miriam-Webster dictionary, is “the developmental change in the form or structure” of a creature like an insect (Metamorphosis). Metamorphosis can also simply mean change. Even though the novella is about a bug going through a metamorphosis, a whole family changes throughout the story, especially Grete. Grete is the younger sister of Gregor Samsa.

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1058 Words | 5 Pages

Both Kafka and Gregor were tormented characters facing the absurdity of their complicated situations, which brought both of them to their ruin, one by death, and the other by escaping into literary fantasies. Throughout the story I deduced the resemblance between the author, Kafka, and the main character, Gregor. There are many similarities that can be seen between both as shown above, it is as if Kafka projected his problems onto Gregor and discarded them into a fictional

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2015 Words | 9 Pages

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

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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

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753 Words | 4 Pages

Franz Kafka is a German novelist who wrote “The Metamorphosis.” In the story, he uses a third person point of view narrative. The novel uses absurdum, which exaggerates and dramatize the absurdity of modern life. The protagonist, Gregor Samsa, a traveling salesman, struggles with an external factor of transforming into an insect like creature. The transformation was not under his control and now struggles with a new identity.

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947 Words | 4 Pages

The short story, The Metamorphosis, written by Franz Kafka, shows a negative change that has taken place in the main characters life. When he is transformed into a vermin overnight, it is clear he is not excited or happy. Gregor says, “What’s happened to me, it wasn’t a dream?” It’s evident he doesn’t want to believe he’s been turned into a bug and wishes that it had only been a dream instead of reality.

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1857 Words | 8 Pages

Hurry, get the doctor. Did you just hear Gregor talking?’ ‘That was a voice of an animal’” (12). Through Gregor’s perspective, one may assume that his response to his manager was heard loud and clear and the only modification to his identity is the physical change he has undergone which highlights the importance of Kafka’s change in perspective. Although Gregor believes himself to be in control of the situation, the third person narration as well as the other character’s remarks reveal quite the opposite.

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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.

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1259 Words | 6 Pages

Published in 1915, Kafka’s The Metamorphosis is a tale of a salesman named Gregor Samsa who one day wakes up to discover that he has quite literally transformed into an insect. Unable to support his family as an insect, he is only able to stay in his room and eat the rotting scraps of food that his sister brings him. Over time, Gregor’s transformation into a large bug begins to affect the lifestyle of his family, and they slowly become resentful of him. His family secretly wishes Gregor would leave, and knowing this, Gregor willfully dies in his room.

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745 Words | 3 Pages

Many uses of literature develop family relationships within the story. This helps characterize the people in the story and develop the theme. In the novella The Metamorphosis, the author Franz Kafka uses family dynamics to show the relationships within the characters and show how they have changed throughout the piece. The relationship between Gregor and his younger sister, Grete, changes as the story goes on.

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1454 Words | 6 Pages

There are many circumstances in the book that tie to Franz Kafka’s life. Kafka was abused by his father as a child just as Gregor is abused by his father. “From the fruit bowl on the sideboard his father had filled his pockets, and now, without for the moment taking accurate aim, was throwing apple after apple” (Kafka 49). Gregor’s father is throwing apples at him just as Kafka was also abused by his father who would hurt him. The apple here is seen a weapon that later on leads to Gregor’s

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797 Words | 4 Pages

However, people have failed to find the ultimate solution in a constant cycle. On the other hand, some people find life meaningless. These people do not seek any element in life, nor do they search for the true meaning of life. . Kafka, the author of the story “The Metamorphosis”, illustrates the concept of meaningless of life through the usage of the character Gregor Samsa, who faces a crisis where he is transformed into a bug-life figure and gradually doubts his own existence.

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