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Symbolism In The Metamorphosis By Franz Kafka

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Could you imagine waking up as a bug? You’ll never believe what happened to Gregor Samsa in the novella “The Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka. The Metamorphosis is about a traveling salesman who wakes up in bed as a bug. Then he had to learn how to deal with his transformation and his relationship with his family. Before his transformation Gregor took care of his family but they abandoned him when he was no longer useful to them. Kafka uses symbolism in “The Metamorphosis” to explore the themes of alienation and isolation by using the portrait of the women in the fur, the apartment, and his family. This novella reveals that you need to enjoy your life because significant changes often come unexpectedly. Body Paragraph 1 Kafka uses symbolism …show more content…

When Gregor transformed into a bug he could no longer leave his apartment. This made Gregor depressed and miserable. To demonstrate this point the text states “These explanations by his father were, in part, the first enjoyable thing that Gregor had the chance to listen to since his imprisonment.” (pg 25). The relevance of this evidence is to show that Gregor felt like a prisoner after his transformation. This connects back to the themes of alienation and isolation because Gregor can longer work his job as a traveling salesman to support his family, so he is now stuck in his apartment. When Gregor turned into a bug his family fell into the poor class of society and they wanted to move to a smaller apartment they could afford. But because they did not know what to do with Gregor they could not leave which made them feel trapped. For example, “But the greatest complaint was always that they could not this apartment, which was much too big for their present means, since it was impossible to imagine how Gregor might be moved.” (pg 40). As shown above, the apartment was causing problems for the whole family. Not being able to leave played a big role in the theme of isolation. To conclude, the apartment was a symbol for the author when he explored the themes of isolation and

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