ipl-logo

What Is The Symbolism In The Metamorphosis

1454 Words6 Pages

Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis contains many symbols and messages which are portrayed throughout the book. One prominent symbol that is revealed throughout the book is an apple. The apple is seen as a symbol of destruction and growth in The Metamorphosis and is the factor leading to many events. The apple is also tied back to the background of the book, Franz Kafka’s life. The apple is the cause of death but is also the factor leading to the growth of the characters throughout the book, and helping them find their place in the world. Franz Kafka was born on July 3rd, 1883 in Prague, which is now known as the Czech Republic. Kafka experienced many tragic events as a child. He was part of a middle class Jewish family. As a child he faced abuse from his father and suffered from clinical depression and social anxiety throughout his life. 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 …show more content…

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. Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis reveals the symbol of the apple in two lights, destruction and growth, and finding a person’s place in the

Show More
Related
909 Words | 4 Pages

Symbolism plays a major role in the two novels Things Fall Apart and The Poisonwood Bible. The most significant symbols in Things Fall Apart is fire and the locusts. A couple of symbols in The Poisonwood Bible are the parrot, Methuselah, the garden, and the Poisonwood tree. These symbols not only reflect various parts of their respective books, but also provide deeper meaning to the novel.

Read More
302 Words | 2 Pages

In this excerpt of the short story, a biblical allusion is evident. The allusion to the forbidden fruit, the apple, was used when the father threw an apple at Gregor making the reader and Gregor realize that physical action could be done to him; it is now apparent that the family, or at least the dad, wants to get rid of him. It breaks the humorous tone of the piece, with the fantasy idea of being turned into a bug, into a more serious one with the realistic prospect of Gregor being wounded or killed. Throughout the piece, Gregor’s father has always expressed contempt towards Gregor because of Gregor’s “unhappy and hateful” state but never directly took action until now (Kafka 65). The way how this scene breaks the seemingly imaginative piece

Read More
1338 Words | 6 Pages

Zora Neale Hurston used symbolism throughout the novel to express the influences that molded Janie’s emotional life. There were three moments when Hurston’s use of symbolism was used to demonstrate the forces that had an impact on Janie’s emotional life stood out, which are the vision of the pear tree, Nanny’s horizon rope, and Joe Starks’ head rag. One of the most referred and used symbolism throughout the novel is Janie’s pear tree vision. The vision occurs in chapter 2, but it continues to shape Janie’s decisions throughout her life from deciding to leave Logan Killicks to live with Joe Starks and then deciding to live with Vergible Woods after Joe’s death.

Read More
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
1058 Words | 5 Pages

Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka was written in 1915, it was based on a man named Gregor, a travelling salesman who wakes up to find himself transformed into an insect. Disgusted by his appearance he tries to deal with his new condition, but he is forced to endure the rejection of his family, which is what eventually drove him to his death. Despite having two different characters, one in real life and the other fictional, there is still a correlation between both; showing the author´s feelings, ideas and even problems, that are thrown into the story in a way to express his anguish.

Read More
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
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

Read More
793 Words | 4 Pages

“Symbolism is the use of symbols to signify ideas and qualities by giving them symbolic meanings that are different from their literal sense.” Symbols can add a deeper meaning than just an object itself that the author is trying to make. Symbols can also foreshadow what is yet to come. The audience can interpret a symbol in many ways it depends on their experience. In Southside Chicago the Younger family is struggling to have hope as they are always facing society.

Read More
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.

Read More
1857 Words | 8 Pages

Kafka’s narration style provides different perspectives of the same situation in order to reveal how one may misinterpret the actions of others if the perspective comes from an external viewpoint. The variety in the narrative is essential to the development of Gregor’s character because through the eyes of the other characters his metamorphosis becomes undeniable and ultimately forces Gregor to conform to his new identity due to the way he is treated by his

Read More
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
1102 Words | 5 Pages

Near the end of the novel she observes, “In the years she had been tying scraps to the branches, the tree had died and the fruit turned bitter. The other apple trees were hale and healthy, but this one, the tree of her remembrances, were as black and twisted as the bombed-out town behind it.” (Hannah 368) The apple tree represents the outcomes of war. It portrays the author’s perspective that lives wither and lose life due to such violence.

Read More
1167 Words | 5 Pages

In July 13th, 1883, Franz Kafka was born in Prague. He was raised in a family of German Jews

Read More
806 Words | 4 Pages

Authors utilize a myriad of objects in their books to symbolize importance in the story. By using an object or a person, authors can focus or concentrate their story around them to represent meaning throughout the story to help readers infer the central theme and idea of the text that the author was trying to get across. In The Almond Tree a war has been ensued; over different cultures and beliefs. The Palestinians have had to fight to survive. They have held onto any semblance of hope to get them through the hard times.

Read More
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.

Read More

More about What Is The Symbolism In The Metamorphosis

Open Document