Work To Death “We must try to get rid of it” (Kafka 49). In the novella, The Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka a man by the name Gregor Samsa awakes transformed into a vermin. The transformation itself is not only physical, it turns out to become very mental as well, highlighting how Gregor's parents treat him. The cruelty and isolation that Gregor faces involves physical pain, including many weapons. It is also emotional, insults that lead to his death. The transformation surprises few, but nobody seems to care or see the cruelty that happens to Gregor. One morning, “as Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect” (Kafka 3). Although Gregor has transformed into a vermin with …show more content…
To his surprise it takes him much longer to get up from his bed, and so he starts worrying and overthinking about his job as a salesman and how he is going to finish paying off his parents debt if he gets fired from his job. Gregor is now overwhelmed with thoughts that keep protruding out like how, “he thought back on his family with deep emotion and love. His conviction that he would have to disappear was, if possible, even firmer than his sister’s” ( Kafka 51). The cruelty involves Gregor having to get out of bed on his own with nobody caring to help him, and, to top it off, he does not worry about being late as much as not getting to work, which could lead to him getting fired, and, therefore, he will not be able to pay off his parents’ debt. When Gregor reveals himself to his parents, his mother faints, and his father, on the other …show more content…
He suffers mental and physical pain, including weapons and hurtful words, but, by the end, Gregor recognizes that he is never truly wanted and that everyone fakes compassion for him. Gregor dies in peace knowing that his family will move on without him and that satisfies him. All he wants is for his family's life to be easier, because he loves them. And despite all the cruelty done by both weapons and mental actions, Gregor finds a way to forgive his loved ones and dies to make their life
He overheard his father speaking to his mother and sister about their financial status. As well as, how his father has been using the money he had saved from his business. Like any caring child, Gregor did not ask or question his father, just aided with no remarks. Even after his family started changing towards him, he only worried about cooperating financially in order to avoid any stress or family destruction. He slowly came to the conclusion that he will always be a bug, and because of that he isolates himself.
Gregor Samsa’s mother, whose name is never revealed, is a physically and constitutionally weak woman. She cares dearly for Gregor which is first shown by her distress as Gregor does not wake up at his usual time. It is evident that Gregor’s mother has the hardest time coping with his transformation. She can not bear to lay eyes upon Gregor. Though she has trouble adjusting, she doesn’t stop loving her only son. As Gregor’s mother and sister begin to move furniture out of his room, his mother stops to contemplate whether this is the right course of action. As Sheldon Goldfarb states in his critical essay, “When his mother and sister start removing his furniture, his mother's second thoughts provoke him to resist: he does not want to give up his human past and the possibility of returning to it” (Goldfarb). On the outside, Gregor’s mother reacts with repulsion at the sight of the bug, but on the inside still cares deeply about her son underneath. Gregor is able to see this and it gives him new hope.
Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis is a masterfully written short story about Gregor Samsa, a man who devotes his life to his family and work, for nothing in return. Only when he is transformed into a helpless beetle does he begin to develop a self-identity and understanding of the relationships around him. The underlying theme of The Metamorphosis is an existential view that says any given choice will govern the later course of a person's life, and that the person has ultimate will over making choices. In this case, Gregor?s lack of identity has caused him to be numb to everything around him.
In Kafka’s Metamorphosis, the book begins by the author describing, “One morning, as Gregor Samsa was waking up from anxious dreams, he discovered that in bed he had been changed into a monstrous verminous bug”. It is the body, the form that has transformed and no...
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
In the end, Gregor is basically punished to a life of solitary confinement in his
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.
His family used to care about him but after the transformation, they were no longer concerned for him. Every time the family talks about money, Gregor feels guilty and embarrassed because he can no longer provide for them. When he was able to work before, he had brought money home and “They had simply got used to it, both the family and Gregor; the money was gratefully accepted and gladly given, but there was no special uprush of warm feeling” (Kafka Ch 2 pg 6). Now that he can no longer provide, the family had to come up with ways to keep up with finances. Gregor is dehumanized each time his sister Grete walks into the room to look after him because she cannot bear the sight of him so he hides each time. Each day following Gregor’s transformation, the family’s behavior towards him became more cynical and resentful towards him. They do not allow him to leave his room and worry about how they can go on living with him. They think of him as being a creature, losing their view of him as a human being and no longer important. When Grete decided to take his furniture out of his room, Gregor feels he is dehumanized because they are taking away the link to his humanity. When it came to Gregor’s father, Gregor would “run before his father, stopping when he stopped and scuttling forward again when his father made any kind of move.” His father then threw at apple at him which ‘landed right on his back and sank in; Gregor wanted to drag himself forward, as if this startling, incredible pain could be left behind him” (Kafka Ch 2 pg
Many of Gregor’s desires and needs from his human life remain essentially unchanged. Even after he ceases to want to see his family members, he still wants to provide for them financially, and he feels embarrassed when he hears them discussing the family’s finances and the sacrifices they must make to earn money and support each other, such as selling their assets. Notably, toward the conclusion of the story Gregor dreams about revealing to Grete his plan to pay for her to attend the Conservatorium for violin, revealing that he still loves his sister and wants to provide for her. This tension between Gregor’s different desires and emotions from his human life and the demands and restrictions of his new body leaves Gregor feeling very conflicted.
In The Metamorphosis Kafka illustrates a grotesque story of a working salesman, Gregor Samsa, waking up one day to discover that his body resembles a bug. Through jarring, almost unrealistic narration, Kafka opens up the readers to a view of Gregor’s futile and disappointing life as a human bug. By captivating the reader with this imaginary world Kafka is able to introduce the idea that Gregor’s bug body resembles his human life. From the use of improbable symbolism Kafka provokes the reader to believe that Gregor turning into a bug is realistic and more authentic compared to his unauthentic life as a human.
He didn’t feel that he was wanted in or around work, his family, his friends, or anyone/place that he ever associated with. Gregor, in the first chapter, had been confronted by his boss to see if he was going to be in for work. He was fired after his boss learned that he won’t be and that his condition keeps him from working. His father had treated Gregor as an enemy. His sister was the only one that cared for him for the majority of the novela. He had been feared by most of his family. Even when his sister was playing the violin, Gregor had wanted to come out and see her. He did come out and was greeted with screaming and disgust. His own father went on a rampage and threw apples at Gregor. One stuck in the back of his shell for the rest of the book. Gregor had been shunned by his community, he had lost his position in his family as a human, a provider, a brother, and a son. Now, he is now an unwanted pet. His sense of belonging had been crushed, and he feels that others don’t desire his
As Gregor struggles to get up and prepare himself for work he realizes that he is already late. As he looks around his bed room he thinks that’s he is just dreaming and attempts to go back to sleep. After many failed attempts Gregor realized that he could not turn over on his side, which was the only position he could sleep in. Moments later, each of his family members knock on his door in an effort to see what is taking him so long. Unable to control his numerous legs, Gregor next tries to move his lower body, but finds out that it is almost impossible to move due to the unbearable pain.
The novel begins with Gregor Samsa, a traveling salesman who wakes up one morning to find out he has been transformed into a gigantic insect.
One of Franz Kafka's most well-known and most often criticized works is the short story, "Die Verwandlung," or "The Metamorphosis." "The Metamorphosis" is most unusual in that the first sentence is the climax; the rest of the story is mainly falling action (Greenburg 273). The reader learns that Gregor Samsa, the story's main character, has been turned into an enormous insect. Despite this fact, Gregor continues to act and think like any normal human would, which makes the beginning of the story both tragic and comical at the same time. However, one cannot help but wonder why Gregor has undergone this hideous transformation, and what purpose it could possibly serve in the story. Upon examination, it seems that Gregor's metamorphosis represents both his freedom from maintaining his entire financial stability and his family's freedom from their dependence upon Gregor.
Isolation and alienation of one's own choice and others can lead to the dehumanization of a human. In Kafka’s short novel, The Metamorphosis, the character Gregor Samsa experiences isolation and alienation. Gregor is never recognized by his family for his efforts, but is instead taken for granted. The moment he becomes a bug, his family begins to realize that they can no longer rely on him for support. Due to Gregor’s loss of usefulness and his hideous outer appearance, it leads to isolation and alienation.