ipl-logo

The Metamorphosis By Franz Kafka

928 Words4 Pages

Strained Relationships between Father and Son
Have you ever questioned your own identity to the point where you ask yourself a multitude of questions? “The Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka raises countless questions in the wake of transformation and the perception of belonging and non-belonging. Nonetheless, the tale of the unfortunate Gregor Samsa makes us think more deeply about his identity, and how it parallels to the author Franz Kafka. The novella “The Metamorphosis” written by Franz Kafka is about a young man named Gregor Samsa who turned into an insect and the troubling life he lead due to this transformation. Gregor Samsa, who is the main character, is modified physically, emotionally and mentally and he changes his outlook toward himself. …show more content…

When looking at Franz Kafka and Gregor Samsa in “The Metamorphosis” many will see some very close ties between the two, such as issues with their family, particularly their father. It can be said that “The Metamorphosis” is a reflection of the author Franz Kafka’s real life issues with his father. Kafka, an astonishing author, reflects his reality into “The Metamorphosis” and also shows a peak of his identity who he really was and what he had to deal with through his work. The many encounters Gregor has with his father, while as an insect were never pleasant. For example, his father tries to kill him by throwing apples at him and his mother has to beg for his life to be spared, “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, 64) The apple is symbolizing the object to lead Gregor to his death. One of the apples lodges into his back injuring him quite seriously. From this point on, physically he is less able to function and can no longer do a lot for himself, marking the start of his long demise which results in his inevitable death. His father was always pushing or poking him to get back in the lonely room when he is trying to help his family to understand him. His father does not understand him and they isolate him in his room, becoming

Show More
Related

Mr. Samsa In Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis

616 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More

How Did Gregor Samsa Change Throughout The Metamorphosis

484 Words | 2 Pages

“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”.

Read More

Cruelty In Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis

777 Words | 4 Pages

The Repercussions of Cruelty Cruel actions lead to cruel endings. Gregor Samsa, the protagonist in Franz Kafka’s novella The Metamorphosis, is turned into a bug from the mental and emotional abuse by the hands of his own family. The cruelty in the Samsa household is apparent from the beginning of the storyline. Their neglect and lack of compassion for Gregor's condition immediately sets the dark and miserable mood of the novella. Gregor’s whole existence has been about caring for his family and making sacrifices for their well being.

Read More

How Does Kafka Present Gregor's Relationship In The Metamorphosis

754 Words | 4 Pages

The Metamorphosis is a novella written by Franz Kafka about a man, Gregor, who wakes up one day and has turned into a gigantic insect. The story follows Gregor’s experience following the transformation, as well as how every member of his family is affected. Since Gregor is unable to work anymore as a result of the transformation, his family was forced to adapt to a new way of life. The relationships between the characters in The Metamorphosis show how Kafka believes that a person's isolation and alienation in society is initiated by individuals at the highest levels of social hierarchy and gradually extended downward until everyone in the society has been persuaded to accept the original decision of one individual. Due to his parents’ debt, Gregor is obliged to work for a corporation that Kafka employs to illustrate the top of the social hierarchy, with the manager serving as the most significant figure.

Read More

Metamorphosis Franz Kafka Euphemism Analysis

747 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More

Gender Roles In Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis

1047 Words | 5 Pages

Gregor Samsa’s transition from human to vermin was not the only shift that happened through the duration of Kafka’s The Metamorphosis. The novel is centered around Gregor who wakes up as a vermin, presumably a cockroach, which catalyses a series of emotionally traumatic experiences for him and his family, culminating in Gregor’s death. Yet the most significant change is, in fact, the gender role reversal seen both with Gregor and Grete, his sister, as Gregor becomes more effeminate and Grete becomes more emasculate, directly correlating with their societal and emotional transformation due to Gregor's physical change. From the moment, Gregor wakes up he has transformed. But not just as a vermin.

Read More

Freedom Of Choice In Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis

1058 Words | 5 Pages

Neither Kafka nor Gregor followed the existentialist idea of freedom of choice in a person’s life. They both had a life they didn’t ask for and responsibilities they were forced to assume. This principle of lack of freedom is clearly shown by the unexpected transformation of Gregor, waking up as an insect and obtaining the freedom he lacked, emancipating himself of obligations, injustice and final duties. He is freed from the obligation to work to maintain his family and liberated himself from his tyrannical father. Although he turned into a horrible insect, the metamorphosis did not change the beauty of his soul.

Read More

Are Outsiders Misunderstood

532 Words | 3 Pages

The apple is lodged in a painful place and causes pain every time he moves, but he gets used to it. In my opinion, this is trying to convey how dealing with severe depression is. Gregor is clearly depressed because he is cut off from his family. “ Gregor’s serious wound, from which he suffered for over a month (since no one ventured to remove the apple, it remained in his flesh as a visible reminder), seemed by itself to have reminded the father that, in spite of his present unhappy and hateful appearance, Gregor was a member of the family, something one should not treat as an enemy, and that it was, on the contrary, a requirement of family duty to suppress one’s aversion and to endure-- nothing else, just endure”(Kafka

Read More

Summary Of Deconstructionism In Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis

769 Words | 4 Pages

As the main character, Gregor Samsa, transforms from human state to that of a beetle, there are many aspects that are left unexplained and seemingly unstable. For example, in the novel, Gregor’s transformation into a beetle is left unexplained by Kafka. Kafka opens up the novel by stating, “When Gregor Samsa woke up one morning from unsettling dreams, he found himself changed in his bed into a monstrous vermin” (Kafka 1). There is no scientific or physical evidence as to why this transformation occurred, but it can be ascertained that it is a psychological transformation.

Read More

What Is The Symbolism In The Metamorphosis

1454 Words | 6 Pages

The apple is seen as a double edged sword that symbolizes two things. The apple symbolizes destruction and growth. The apple is the cause of many events in Gregor’s life which eventually all lead to his total annihilation. Though the apple is also as symbol of destruction it is also seen as a symbol of growth. Grete and her parents are able to move on with their lives after the apple incident.

Read More

The Metamorphosis: The Negative Effects Of Change

947 Words | 4 Pages

Later on in the story, when his mother asks him what is wrong, he lies and tells her he doesn’t feel well. He’s ashamed of what he’s become and does not want her to find out what has happened to him. At the end of the

Read More

Identity In Ovid's Metamorphosis

1857 Words | 8 Pages

Franz Kafka, heavily influenced by Ovid’s Metamorphoses, devises the character Gregor Samsa in order to portray a detailed experience of an individual’s metamorphosis. Kafka’s narration style differs greatly from Ovid’s, in that, the narration begins with a first person perspective and changes to a third person narration, which remains consistent to the end of the novel. Unlike the stories within the Metamorphoses, there is a clear contrast in the portrayal of Gregor’s transformation. Ovid and Kafka’s depiction of a metamorphosis incorporates the concept of identity in the individual’s transition, however Kafka emphasizes the family dynamic and the hostility Gregor feels. Gregor’s family’s inability to look past Gregor’s exterior appearance

Read More

The Oedipus Complex In Kafka's The Metamorphosis

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.

Read More

The Reaction To Change In Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis?

1092 Words | 5 Pages

With such a title, one might expect that this story will express the metamorphosis of a caterpillar to a beautiful butterfly, but with Kafka’s troubled upbringing, abuse and feelings of being devalued for most of his life, it’s easy to see how Kafka felt the need to symbolically dehumanize himself. Kafka’s choice of human-to-insect transformation exudes self-loathing because there’s nothing lower than a cockroach. While Gregor is the one who took on the grotesque transformation, it’s actually his family’s behavior towards his change which conveys complete hostility. Grete, for one, had enough near the end when she said, “If it were Gregor, he would have realized long ago that it isn't possible for human beings to live with such a creature, and he would have gone away of his own free will” (Kafka). It’s very disheartening knowing that his own family couldn’t handle his transformation when his first thought in the morning was getting to work on time for their

Read More

Critical Analysis Of The Metamorphosis

1168 Words | 5 Pages

Franz Kafka’s novella The Metamorphosis is the tragic story of young travelling salesman Gregor Samsa who becomes alienated by his family after he transforms overnight into a giant insect. The Metamorphosis, while open to various interpretations, clearly depicts Kafka’s own views of the suffocating capitalist socio-economic structure and the struggles for power that occur within one. In The Metamorphosis, Kafka illustrates the incessant oppression that occurs as a result of a rigidly capitalist society. First, Kafka illustrates the expendability of workers in a capitalist society with the role of Gregor at his workplace and within his family. Gregor is a traveling salesman, utterly unimportant to the company to which he dedicates his life.

Read More

More about The Metamorphosis By Franz Kafka

Related Topics

Open Document