Metamorphosis Essay
Insecticide
In order to be considered human, one needs to control their own life and have the freedom to express and think. In The Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka, Gregor Samsa transforms into a giant insect, terminating his life as a "human" along with all of his tiring duties. Before his transformation, Gregor's life consisted of little sleep and a strict work schedule with hardly any freedom or importance in his job. Therefore, Gregor underwent a transformation that granted him more advanced human qualities than he had before, when he was simply a working man. After Gregor's miraculous metamorphosis, he was relieved of his unreasonable toils and was able to develop a thoughtful view of his situation as wells as the critical society that...show more content...
This lifestyle trapped him into what he felt was for the benefit of his family, yet also relinquished all of his parents' duties to care for him, and sent him into a brutal world where he was most appreciated for the pay he earned from work. Only once he became a giant insect, these thoughts were revealed.
Unlike his previous life, as an insect Gregor has time to reflect upon his tedious old life as well as begin to advance in his new life each day. He felt for his family, after putting them through the unthinkable and uncontrollable, like what had been done to him for so long. He even begins to question his family's care for him, "he would not be in the mood to bother about his family, he was only filled with rage at the way they were neglecting him"(94). Gregor actually began to experience some sort of emotion for the first time, as an insect. He wasn't very shocked about turning into an enormous bug, which had happened months prior, as Gregor is described as an emotionless and rather peculiar guy. So for him to admit to the human sentiments like moodiness and rage in his situation provides evidence that he is gaining further human qualities. Gregor continuously dwells on his love for his parents and shame about his transformation, and how "the money was gratefully accepted and gladly given, but there was no special outpouring of warm feeling"(78). He doesn't recall any of the "fine times" that he had with his family, but
The Metamorphosis
The Metamorphosis is a novel written by Kafka Franz and published in 1915. The story is about a travelling sales man by the name Samsa Gregor who wakes up to find himself transformed into an insect. The main characters include Gregor Samsa, Grete Samsa, Mr. Samsa, Mrs. Samsa and Samsa. The theme of change is conspicuous on the novel when Gregor Samsa wakes up to find himself transformed into an insect. The theme of economic effects on human relationships is also evident when we find that Gregor Samsa is a slave to his family because he is the breadwinner. Gregor also characterizes the theme of alienation when he is alienated from his family, body, humanity, and job. The themes of personal identity, family duty, and...show more content...
When Gregor can no more provide for his family, Mr. Samsa is forced to work despite his old age (Franz 12).
Mrs. Samsa is Gregor's mother who is shocked by Gregor's metamorphosis and she still wants to get into his room. This results into a conflict between her sympathy and maternal impulse and her fear of Gregor's new state (Franz 12).
The theme of personal identity is evident when Gregor realizes that he had ignored his personal needs and entirely worked for others (Cook 36). He now wants to rebuild his own identity. Unfortunately, he cannot escape from his family role and he continues to provide for them. He resents how his family teats him. He however manages to escape his duty when he realizes in the last chapter that his family had been neglecting him. His search for his identity bears no fruits as he is left hopeless. He realizes his humanity at the end when he remembers the love he had for his family through his sister's playing. He concludes that this love and his freedom would enable establish his identity. The theme of alienation is also conspicuous in the play. Before the transformation, Gregor is alienated from his family, humanity, job, and body to the extent that he cannot notice the metamorphosis. He barely realizes when he loses his consideration for his family; this is because it seems to be alien to him. He has a Get more content
Metamorphosis
In the short story, Metamorphosis, the narrator describes Gregor's new life as an insect. He then goes on to describe Gregor's sister, Grete, with a reflection of Gregor's opinion in the description. Kafka employs a number of stylistic devices including descriptive imagery, metaphors, and symbolism in the passage to describe the situation. While these devices on their own just provide a more complex method of painting the situation, the way they are assembled in the passage serves to depict a comparison of power between Gregor and Grete. The creation of such a multifaceted evaluation further increases the reader's sympathy towards Gregor's situation.
Firstly, Gregor is characterized with many literary...show more content... This contrast is the most powerful symbol of his power after the metamorphosis, and provides the reader with a vivid image of Gregor's situation. His description of his lack of power is further supported by his inability to convey his dissatisfaction with the way Grete enters the room. This builds up the sympathy for Gregor by, in effect, comparing him to a handicapped person. In addition his action of adapting to the circumstances by hiding under the sofa when she comes in symbolizes his primitive instinct is still with him, and he is not completely handicapped.
In the same manner, Grete possesses many literary devices that characterize her. Gregor, as explained before, has no freedom in his life beyond his room, in contrast, the liberty to come and go is exercised by Grete every day, through the description of her chores in Gregor's room. The tone that one gets from reading the line, "without even time to shut the door," is rushed, hasty, and inconsiderate. By portraying this characteristic about Grete, Gregor's pessimistic attitude becomes quite evident, enlightening the reader on the psychological changes going on in his head and allowing for a broader understanding of his psyche.
Gregor's
The Metamorphosis
The longer story The Metamorphosis, first published in 1971, was written by Franz Kafka. He was born in Prague in 1883 and lived until 1924, and he has written many other stories along with The Metamorphosis. The Metamorphosis appears to be a fantastic piece. After reading The Metamorphosis, I do believe that there are many similarities between magical realism and fantastic literature. Kafka showed many fantastic issues in The Metamorphosis.
While reading The Metamorphosis, I did not feel that it had any magical elements in the story, but had manyfantastic elements. In my opinion, I think that the story did have some realist elements. For example, there was a lot of tension with the family. Although it had to do...show more content...
But what is particularly found problematic is the apparent contradiction in the definition of magical realism as "an amalgamation of realism and fantasy" such as The Metamorphosis (129).
Many things are fantasy, but now since I have learned what magical realism is, I see magical realism in The Metamorphosis. I feel that waking up and being something else is magical and a person hearing his family talking and being scared to leave his room is magical. Also, he had to learn how to walk differently, lie differently, and even eat differently. I feel that part is more magical than fantastic.
The Metamorphosis did have some realist elements as well. Before Gregor Samsa turned into an insect, he was a young traveling salesman who lived with and financially supported his parents and his young sister. Another realist element I found was that it is true that insects do not like the same food we eat. Gregor's food habits changed. Even though he was an insect, his sister still found the time to feed him, and when she fed him, she gave him bread and milk because that was his favorite. When Gregor went to eat it as an insect, he no longer liked the taste. He began eating scraps. He also liked staying under the furniture. All insects like to hide, and even though he went from a human to a bug, he is doing the things that an insect would naturally
