Gregor, before metamorphosis is portrayed as alienated from many things in his life including his family, job and his body in many ways as he barely realises his transformation. The extent of his alienation reaches how his consideration of his family in his thoughts seems to disappear. Gregor after his changed state is completely alienated from his environment and others as he is the only of his kind. His room symbolises the detachment based on the fact that “he can’t see the street out his window.” The metamorphosis therefore is a powerful condemnation of the alienation brought along with the modern social order. Seclusion is a motivating factor of the absurdity in the lives of Jane and Gregor, as it enforces to be alienated from the rest …show more content…
For the narrator, living in seclusion-in the upstairs room in the mansion- prevented from physical activity due to “illness” and instructed to repose and stay passive as well as voiceless and withdrawn from society, causes herself to question her husband’s idea of confinement together with the apparent “illness” she has. The absurdities increasing temperament allows her to think about how she is being wronged; constructing her path to strain an escape. Kafka, on the other hand represents Gregor to search for freedom for different reasons. Firstly, Gregor, in accordance to Jane in the yellow wallpaper is trapped by his family as he has to work for them to pay off their debts. He dreams of the day that the debts can be paid ad he can quit his job as a travelling salesman. The change in his body shape allows him to run away from work duties. Nevertheless, his freedom is not justified just yet as his family now the ones to snatch his freedom from him by imprisoning him in his room. Either way, (work or family) Gregor is imprisoned by one or the other. There is no balance between his duties and freedom and he has to grub for one or the other. The only escape which can be seen for Gregor after this point is death. “From his nostrils streamed his last breath”. The ridiculous end to his death, as again showing his absurdity through him breathing his last breath out his nose, concretes the fact that his difference is completely callous to
Franz Kafka’s clear isolation of Gregor underlines the families’ separation from society. In The Metamorphosis, Kafka emphasizes Gregor’s seclusion from his family. However, Gregor’s separation is involuntary unlike the family who isolates themselves by the choices they make. Each family member has characteristics separating them from society. These characteristics become more unraveling than Gregor, displaying the true isolation contained in The Metamorphosis.
... to do this every day Gregor would have had to have some sense of time. His dwindling human aspects are prominently marked in two places: the first when Gregor is incapable of communicating with his family and the sales manager and the second when he takes pleasure in rutting about in dirt and filth. Lastly, Gregor's loss of consciousness causes a polar change within his family. As Gregor is no longer able to earn money to support the family, everyone else is forced to take action to bring in capital. The most obvious change is in the father who transformed from a dead weight into a zealous worker. Despite Freedman's employment of flawed logic to formulate some of his theories, the majority of his conclusions are quite valid and probe deeply into the meaning behind Kafka's writing.
Many views of existentialism are exposed in Kafka's Metamorphosis. One of these main views is alienation or estrangement which is demonstrated by Gregor's relationship with his family, his social life, and the way he lives his life after the metamorphosis. Namely, it suggests that man is reduced to an insect by the modern world and his family; human nature is completely self absorbed. Kafka reflects a belief that the more generous and selfless one is, the worse one is treated. This view is in direct conflict with the way things should be; man, specifically Gregor should be treated in accordance to his actions. Gregor should be greatly beloved by his family regardless of his state. This idea is displayed in three separate themes. First, Gregor's family is only concerned with the effect Gregor's change will have on them, specifically the effect it will have on their finances and reputation. They are more than willing to take completely gratuitous advantage of Gregor; he works to pay their debt and they are happy to indulge themselves with luxury. Gregor is the soul employed member of his family and this is their primary interest when Gregor is transformed. Secondly, Gregor is penalized for his efforts to be a good son, and a good worker; his toils are completely taken for granted by his family. The Samsa family is not interested in Gregor beyond their own needs, outsiders are reverentially treated. Thirdly, it is displayed by the positive changes that occur in the Samsa family as Gregor descends into tragedy and insignificance. As Gregor's life becomes more painful, isolated, and worthless the Samsa family becomes more functional and self-reliant.
First and foremost Gregor was betrayed by his own parents who failed to care for him after his transformation. The initial reaction of the parents, especially his father, set the tone for the whole novel. Instead of trying to resolve the issue with a reasonable solution, his father physically abuses him, “when from behind, his father gave him a hard
Gregor’s relationship with his father shows resemblance to the relationship between Kafka and his father. Kafka, as a child, suffered abuse from his father. Kafka viewed his father as a forceful monster, which resembles Gregor’s father. Gregor wanted nothing more than the love of his family, especially his father, just as Kafka had wanted. His reason for writing “The Metamorphosis” could also relate to the situation which he lived in. He was a Jew raised in Austro-Hungarian Empire, modern day Czech Republic. He was a Jew in an area of the world which Jews were not well accepted. Gregor was described as cockroach, something that Jew were often equated to during this time period. Jews were treated like vermin, they were thought of a creature that was to be rid of. Gregor experienced similar treatment from his family. They discussed leaving or getting rid of Gregor during the story. Experiences of Gregor are similar to those that Jews would have experienced during Kafka’s life. “The Metamorphosis” could also demonstrate the issues that normal people face every day. People face trials and tribulations every day that change their lives dramatically, nobody has ever been transformed into a bug, but it does represent the extreme circumstances that may
his father incurred, Gregor has had to suppress his rebellious wish. Kafka alludes to the
Kafka’s The Metamorphosis takes on an wide variety of main themes. One of the most important of these is the collapse of morality and mercy, even among those people who are expected to be most fair and compassionate. Gregor’s metamorphosis is indeed terrible, but more terrible still is the psychological corruption of Gregor’s family. Their inability to adapt to the changes that have occurred signal a total breakdown in the family structure, and offer a cautionary tale about the fragility of notions of justice and mercy and how a certain change can change a persons perception of them.
People want their family to love and support them during times of need, but if they are unable to develop this bond with their family members, they tend to feel alone and depressed. In the novel The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, Kafka describes the theme of alienation and its negative effect on people and their relationships with the people around them. This theme can be shown through Gregor Samsa, the main character in The Metamorphosis. After Gregor’s metamorphosis, or transformation, he is turned from a human being into a giant bug which makes him more and more distant from the people in his life. The alienation that Gregor experiences results in his eventual downfall, which could and would happen to anyone else who becomes estranged from the people around them. Gregor’s alienation and its effect on his relationship with his family can be shown through his lack of willing interaction with his family members due to his inability to communicate to them, the huge burden he puts on the family after his metamorphosis, and his family’s hope to get rid of him because he is not who he was before.
In sequence, the story progresses into an ultimate partial realization of Gregor’s predicament and its origins. Gregor Samsa’s obliviousness to his daily experiences, in essence, produce his present plight by allowing himself to fall farther from reality. Occurrences after the transformation collectively form reasoning for the bizarre situation Gregor remains in as a result of Kafka’s muddied plot setup. Various characters partake amongst this indirect syntax as symbols of the world Gregor is not aware of. Work takes over as Gregor stands as the sole provider, leaving him with few focuses or cares.
Society also has expectations of Gregor that he cannot escape even when he is locked up in the room that eventually becomes his grave. On one of his agonizing sleepless nights he is still thinking of his workday and of people he mingles with on a daily basis. He realizes that instead of helping him and his family, they were all inaccessible and he was glad when they faded away(Kafka 43). Gregor receives no help from the society that he is so loyal to.
...trayed by his family, he is imprisoned in his room; however, he "thought back on his family with deep emotion and love". His affection for his family results in his conviction that he must disappear, so that he can bring them happiness and peace. Gregor sacrifices his life and dies during the night to save his family from hardship. He loves them unconditionally, like Jesus loves his people, and does not criticise them for betraying and mistreating him. Gregor's final sacrifice of his life is the strongest comparison of his Christ-like attributes.
With his unfamiliar mindset, seen through the denial of his metamorphosis, and his lack of human physical charac... ... middle of paper ... ... sis and The Stranger, they can be applied to the experiences of Gregor and Meursault to give a sense of humanity to the surrealist and absurdist novels. By allowing their characters to go through the death cycle in their own right, Kafka and Camus emphasize the importance of individuality and how it leads to isolation. Despite the fact that both males encourage uniqueness, the end results differ for Gregor and Meursault greatly; Gregor seems to show the negative side of individuality while Meursault’s is positive.
From the beginning of The Metamorphosis Kafka offers a comical depiction of Gregor’s “squirming legs” (Kafka 13) and a body in which “he could not control” (7). Gregor’s initial reaction to this situation was the fact he was late to his dissatisfying job as a salesman, but Gregor knows that he has to continue his job in order to keep the expectation his family holds upon him to pay of the family’s everlasting debt. When Gregor’s family eventually realizes that Gregor is still lying in his bed, they are confused because they have expectations on Gregor that he will hold the family together by working. They know if Gregor was to quit his job there would be a great catastrophe since he is the glue to keeping their family out of debt. The communication between his family is quickly identified as meager and by talking to each other from the adjacent walls shows their disconnection with each other. Kafka introduces the family as lacking social skills in order to offer the reader to criticize and sympathize for Gregor’s family dynamics. Gregor’s manager makes an appearance quickly after experiencing the dysfunction within the fami...
Despite his situation Gregor still feels that he can go to work. However he proves unable to do this when he encounters so much trouble when trying get out of bed and open the door. Gregors manager comes to his home, wondering why he didn’t show up for work. The manager gets irritable and tells Gregor in the presence of his family that he wanted a real explanation as to why he would not come out of his room. Gregor finally has enough strength to open the door with his mouth but by that time his manager had already left. He is now saddened and in fear that he lost his job, because he knows that he is the financial “backbone” of the family. When his family finally sees that he is an insect they are immediately disgusted. His mother faints, and his father forbids his mother and daughter to see him. Grete, Gregors ...
In Franz Kafka’s short story, Metamorphosis, the idea of existentialism is brought out in a subtle, yet definite way. Existentialism is defined as a belief in which an individual is ultimately in charge of placing meaning into their life, and that life alone is meaningless. They do not believe in any sort of ultimate power and focus much of their attention on concepts such as dread, boredom, freedom and nothingness. This philosophical literary movement emerged in the twentieth-century, when Kafka was establishing his writing style in regards to alienation and distorted anxiety. A mirror to his own personal lifestyle, this story follows the short and sad life of a man unable to break out of the bonds society has placed on him. These bonds are not only evident in the work place, but at home too. Being constantly used and abused while in his human form, Gregor’s lifestyle becomes complicated once he becomes a giant insect and is deemed useless. Conflicts and confusion arise primarily between Gregor and his sister Grete, his parents, and his work. Each of these three relationships has different moral and ethical complications defining them. However, it is important for one to keep in mind that Gregor’s metamorphosis has placed him into a position of opposition, and that he has minimal control over the events to take place. Conflicts will also occur between family members as they struggle with the decision of what to do with Gregor. In the end they all come to the agreement that maintaining his uselessness is slowly draining them and they must get rid of him.