Communication
Communication is key to any family dynamic; without communication no one knows what is going on and people get isolated. In Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis, the family’s communication, or lack thereof, is a big problem. Gregor’s metamorphosis into a world of complete isolation is seen through four stages of communication.
Gregor understands what his family is saying when he first morphs into a bug and he assumes that his family can understand him as well. “ Because the door was made of wood, the alteration in Gregor’s voice was probably not noticeable, since his mother was pacified by that explanation.”(13) Gregor has to explain why he didn’t go to work and since his mother never said anything about not being able to hear him, Gregor assumes that his voice has changed in only the slightest way. There are no telling factors to help Gregor come to the realization that his family can’t understand him. Gregor starts to become more isolated from his family because he thinks/assumes that they can understand him.
Gregor finally realizes that his metamorphosis into a bug has changed his whole being, including his voice. “He now realizes that his speech was no longer intelligible, even though it had seemed clear enough to him, clearer than before, perhaps because his ears were getting used to it.”(19) Gregor wants to communicate with his family but he has lost the “only” way of communicating. HIs voice doesn’t register with his family and because of this slight problem, ...
‘’This internal lack of self-esteem and the insecurities it produces are heightened by the change in his body. One of the major problems to reading The Metamorphosis is accepting Gregor’s transformation as literal and not merely symbolic; he has really turned into an insect. The strangeness of this fact, along with his and his family’s reactions to it, is what makes the narrative so fascinating and rich in interpretative possibilities’’(Silet). In the Metamorphosis it’s quite odd the way his family reacts to him during his transformation from a human to a creature. They act as if it was something common like, a flu or something. The fact that Gregor initially greets his metamorphosis with a chilling calm suggests that he previously saw himself as vermin like. In the same sense even when he knew he was a bug all he could think about was not being late for work. And even though Gregor was not the best salesmen he made going to work a priority because he wanted to provide for his family, Gregor never missed
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.
Gregor’s major transformation occurred not when he turned into a bug, but through the changes in his life. Gregor’s life before the changed into some sort of bug was like a bumble bee. He would go through life doing as others told him. In the story Gregor said, “For the time being, however, I must get up because my train leaves at five” (Kafka 4), which explains how he was just someone going through life on a schedule, just like a worker bee. But even before his time as a traveling salesman, he was someone else, “On the wall just opposite hung a photograph of Gregor from the time of his military service” (16). He was a military man, so at this point; he has already changed from someone who was in the military, to a boring worker in a modern industrial world. The greatest change that happened to Gregor was of his appreciated for music. Before, Gregor hardly noted his sister’s violin playing, but at the end of the novella, he said, “Was he a beast if music could move him so? He felt as though the path to his unknown hungers was being cleared” (49). Gregor was never so appreciative towards music in his entire life, but the changes he went through, came out with a new lenience towards it. The obvious assumption about Gregor’s metamorp...
Family’s ignorance has also quickened the process. In exposition of The Metamorphosis, Gregor is presented as a relatively successful citizen. He and his family live in their own house, although Gregor is the only one working, they still have a maid to work for them. Nonetheless in the end, Gregor dies alienated and involuntarily. As “his head involuntarily sank down altogether” (Kafka 49), his destruction as a human is determined. Kafka reveals to readers the process of Gregor’s self-destruction throughout the story. Some would argue that the story begins with a climax, which is most biggest sacrifice Gregor made: He is transformed into “an enormous bug” (Kafka 11). As he did not make sacrifices to the family, he is still considered as an individual with all the human attributes as the rising action develops. He is able to think logically; there is a detachment between his bug body and human mind, as “each time he rock[s] back into the supine position” (Kafka 11) when he wants to move. He is also able to see. However as the rising action develops, the family begins to ignore him as Gregor but see him as a monster, he is forced to make sacrifices and compromises to wards the family. His human qualities begin to destruct. He has more connection with the body, and starts to enjoy “hanging up on the ceiling” (Kafka 32) like a bug. He also “no longer derive[s] the slightest pleasure from eating” (Kafka 32) when Grete starts to neglect him. When the story getting closer to the climax, Gregor loses more humanity when he sacrifices his room into a cave where a bug lives. His last confrontation with the family is when he comes out to save his sister from the lodgers. He has almost no humanity at the time; to others Gregor is only a giant bug. Grete eventually declares that “[they] have to get rid of it” (Kafka 47). The declaration can be
Franz Kafka had explored two conflicting ideas with the use of his protagonist Gregor: unity and isolation. Gregor’s transformation formed a whole life in which he could not escape. But on the other hand his family members were able to improve from his isolation. Especially Grete who went through a metamorphosis of her own
Before the transformation, Gregor was a human form of nonchalant reclusiveness. It’s almost as if it was crucial for him to go through the conversion so he could become more emotionally aware despite the irony of him not even being human but a bug. For someone who has been human for about 20 years with absolutely no experience of being an insect, then suddenly become more humane as a creature is odd and outlandish. Gregor’s care for his family increases and begins to worry about their loss of financial and emotional security. He fears that what “if all the peace, the comfort, the contentment were to come to a horrible end?” Gregor’s attitude towards his transformation is hopelessly mundane: he does not question why he has been transformed into a cockroach. Significantly, he fails to find the horror and the absurdity in the situation. Right before his death, Gregor feels all kinds of warm and fuzzy feelings about his family members. Despite his pathetic condition, he seems more humane than the rest of the characters. In a way, Gregor’s transformation and all of the events after that day illustrates both the rewards and sacrifices of defying social convention and living the extraordinary
Gregor’s alienation first comes about after he wakes up one morning having been transformed into a giant bug. The negative effects from Gregor’s alienation can first be shown through the minimal interaction that he begins to have with the rest of him family. His metamorphosis to a giant bug creature is what keeps his from wanting to interact with other people. He is no longer a human being and thus cannot act like one. The effect that this metamorphosis has on Gregor can be understood through a quote where Gregor’s business manager says, “what’s the matter? You barricade yourself in your room, answer only ‘yes’ and ‘no’, cause your parent...
In conclusion, because Gregor’s identity in his insect form was entirely based on his memory of having once been a human, and because of a lack of any physical proof of his past, he struggled with accepting his own humanness. During this stage of doubt and self-questioning, he went through a mental and physical metamorphosis, turning insane and drowning in depression and anxiety. However, the last straw for him was exactly his family’s refusal to accept him as a human, contributing to him finally breaking and giving up.
Gregor as a human loved and would do anything to help his family, even if the same affection was not reciprocated to him. As a bug, he attempted to stay true to his human values, even if he was no longer human. This can be seen in the very beginning of the story, when Gregor was anxious to get to work to support his family, even though he was a bug. But, as the story progresses, Gregor becomes less human and more buglike, as seen in this quote: “‘I hereby declare,’ the middle lodger said, raising his hand and casting his glance both on the mother and the sister, ‘that considering the disgraceful conditions prevailing in this apartment and family,’ with this he spat decisively on the floor, ‘I immediately cancel my room. I will, of course, pay nothing at all for the days which I have lived here; …’ In fact, his two friends immediately joined in with their opinions, ‘We also give immediate notice.’ At that he seized the door handle, banged the door shut, and locked it” (Kafka 66). In this scene, the three lodgers staying in the Samsa home spot Gregor for the first time, because Gregor was supposed to stay locked in his room always, and wasn’t allowed out. In coming out of his room, Gregor has betrayed his parents, and therefore also betrayed himself. Gregor as a human would never dare to disobey his parents, because he cared too deeply for them. But, as a bug, Gregor openly disobeyed them, and betrayed his own human values in doing
Gregor Samsa awakes one morning to discover that he has been transformed into a repugnant vermin. One may never know what initiated this makeover, but the simple truth is that Gregor is now a bug, and everyone must learn to live and move on in this strenuous situation. In Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, the characters that interact with Gregor, including his mother, his father, and his sister Grete, must come to terms with his unfortunate metamorphosis, and each does so by reacting in a unique way. Gregor’s family members are constantly strained by this unusual event, and all three of them are pressed to their breaking point.
After Gregor’s metamorphosis he not only loses his physical attributes of a human but also loses his ability to communicate with humans, which contributes to his detachment from humanity. This is particularly evident when Gregor tries to communicate with his sister but she: “…can’t understand a word you say.” (p.39 Grete to Gregor) Gregor responds: “You’re not trying!” (p.39 Gregor to Grete) Here the question arouses if she doesn’t want to understand Gregor because of his condition and she is too ignorant or if Grete is too passive towards Gregor and due to the lack of effort is not able to understand him. The failure of communication creates a barrier between his inner life, which remains essentially "human," and the exterior world of appearances,
In Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis, Gregor Samsa's sudden transformation into a cockroach is appalling to all that encounter him, but none attempt to cure him of his affliction. The acceptance of his condition by Gregor and those around him highlights the underlying existentialist and absurdist perspective within the characters' attempt to come to terms with this circumstance. In the face of this dramatically absurd metamorphosis, Gregor does not blame a higher power, nor himself. As time wears on, he not only refrains from questioning his transformation but, at times lavishes in it and embraces it. His adjustment, and the adjustment of his family members, is not one of questioning his new life, but rather attempting to accept it for exactly what it is. In this way, Gregor and his family, particularly his father and sister, epitomize rationalization and freedom of choice in the face of absurdity.
Gregor sticks to the same mindset that he had even before the change. Even though Gregor awakes one morning to find himself transformed into a giant bug, his thoughts don’t seem to change at all. The transformation is a sign of the breakdown of Gregor’s mind and his alienation. The audience is not told how the transformation happened or why; the event just happens unexpectedly. His life should have turned upside down bu...
Relying on Gregor to support their lifestyle for years, Gregor’s mother, father and sister, Grete, no longer have any use for him once he is transformed into a bug. The transformation is more of an inconvenience to them than a tragedy. Now, the must go out and get jobs, and instead of Gregor taking care of them, they now are responsible for taking care of Gregor. Grete uses her brothers new outer casing as a way to gain respect and power in the family by becoming his caregiver (1093).Grete continues to gain power in the family, as Gregor begins to descend to the bottom of the family hierarchy. His entire family is disgusted by his new form and terrified of his next move. They resent Gregor and consider him to be a burden, taking care of him slowly begins to ruin their lives. Gregor’s family only seem to care about themselves and ignore the blatant issues that Gregor must be going through
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...