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The Metamorphosis By Franz Kafka

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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

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Mr. Samsa In Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis

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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 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 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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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.

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1857 Words | 8 Pages

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1092 Words | 5 Pages

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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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1454 Words | 6 Pages

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1168 Words | 5 Pages

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