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Literary elements or techniques
Literary approach
Example of metaphor
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Have you ever experience a time when you just wanted to vent out your problems, your thought and opinion about your life but succumb to the fact that even the act of venting will not do you justice or help resolve the issues? Or have you ever felt a time when you wanted to express how you feel but instead, you bit your tongue to stop your comments from portraying you in a negative light, or that your truth will cause the people, the ones that matters, to be in a whole lot of hurt? This was the case of Franz Kafka; his inability to physically express his opinions to his family in reality, lead him to intellectually pursue his thoughts and relationship into the imaginary, his writings, as displayed in his short novella, “Metamorphosis.” Due to Kafka's life background and the nature of his society in the beginning of twentieth century in Prague, his only and main outlet in expressing his thoughts were to put them down onto paper. As a result, Kafka utilizes these two elements to satirize his internal thoughts into fiction. Although his stories are label as fiction, beyond its contextual interpretation, his stories are a reflection of his life. Needless to say, the most apparent factors that bleed through “Metamorphosis” are Kafka’s life relationship with his family and how he saw himself within that dynamic. Therefore, we can imply that the protagonist Gregor Samsa in “Metamorphosis” can well be the embodiment of Kafka himself. However, because the novella was written in fictional form, where taking the impossible of reality and making it possible, it can be hard to relate the interaction among characters to Kafka real life relation to his family. None the less, through the lens of biographical criticism in the analysis of “Metam... ... middle of paper ... ...e it heard. In addition, allowing us, the readers, to better comprehend the extraordinary element of Gregor’s transformation as the personification of his rejected creative mind by his family. Works Cited 1. Eikhenbaum, Boris. “The Theory of the Forma Method.” Literature:Craft and Voice. 2nd eds. Nicholas Delbanco and Alan Cheuse. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012. 1568-1569. Print 2. Friedländer, Saul. Franz Kafka: The Poet of Shame and Guilt. New Haven: Yale UP, 2013. Print. 3. Guerin, Wilfred L., Earle G. Labor, Lee Morgan, and John R. Willingham. A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature. New York: Harper & Row, 1966. 5-6. Print. 4. Kafka, Franz. Franz Kafka: The Writings and Diaries. London: Heinemann Octopus, 1976. Print. 5. Kafka, Franz. Metamorphosis. Trans. David Wyllie. Unknown publication, 2002.10 March 2014 < http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/5200. >
Meyer, Michael. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008. 2189.
Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis is so strikingly absurd that it has engendered countless essays dissecting every possible rational and irrational aspect of the book. One such essay is entitled "Kafka's Obscurity" by Ralph Freedman in which he delves down into the pages of The Metamorphosis and ferrets out the esoteric aspects of Kafka's writing. Freedman postulates that Gregor Samsa progresses through several transformations: a transformation of spatial relations, a transformation of time, and a transformation of self consciousness, with his conscious mutation having an antithetical effect on the family opposite to that of Gregor. His conjectures are, for the most part, fairly accurate; Gregor devolves in both his spatial awareness and his consciousness. However, Freedman also asserts that after Gregor's father throws the wounding apple, Gregor loses his sense of time. While his hypothesis certainly appears erudite and insightful, there really is no evidence within the book itself to determine whether if Gregor has a deteriorating sense of time. If Freedman had only written about Gregor's spatial and conscious degradation, then his entire thesis would be accurate.
Thesis: The similarities between Gregor Samsa's physical transformation and my chronically ill uncle, how both experienced the inability to communicate with family members, all of the changes that occur in their lives, with their family, jobs and physical appearance after the transformation. Gregor Samsa and my uncle Carlos, went to bed and woke up different physically and mentally without a clear explanation of why this happened.
Heberle, Mark. "Contemporary Literary Criticism." O'Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. Vol. 74. New York, 2001. 312.
Kafka wants the readers to feel sympathy for Gregor because of the reactions of the parents and the chief clerk. He wants the readers to pity Gregor because no one else will. Gregor hears ‘the chief clerk em...
“Life can either be accepted or changed. If it is not accepted it must be changed. If it cannot be changed it must be accepted.”- Winston Churchill. Change is frightening, but without change you can never accomplish a greater goal. Gregor experienced a dramatic change in his life. He may or may not have experienced the physical change described, but he did experience a mental change. The mental change opened Gregor’s eyes to what really mattered in life. Once Gregor accepted his physical change he was able to begin his mental change. Gregor’s values in life had changed dramatically from beginning to end. Though Gregor was subjected to ridicule, he was given the greatest gift. The opportunity to change is the greatest gift anyone can
Guerin, Wilford L. A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 1979.
... indifference and loss of love finally kills him. Gregor is our heart-breaking narrator of the story whose never-ending tenderness and love makes you ache to hold on to your own sense of human decency and moral characteristics and cling to the purity in life.
Guerin, Wilfred L., Earle Labor, Lee Morgan, Jeanne C. Reesman, and John R. Willingham. A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. 125-156.
Guerin, Wilfred L., Earle G. Labor, Lee Morgan. A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature. 2nd Edition. Oxford, 1979. 162-165.
Kafka brings secrecy and shame twice in Metamorphosis by having Gregor bottle his hatred for his sales job and burden his parents place on him. His family has no clue that Gregor feels this way. The other secrecy and shame is of Gregor’s metamorphoses into an insect. The Samsa’...
Guerin, Wilfred L. A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature. New York: Harper & Row,
The Metamorphosis is said to be one of Franz Kafka's best works of literature. It shows the difficulties of living in a modern society and the struggle for acceptance of others when in a time of need. In this novel Kafka directly reflects upon many of the negative aspects of his personal life, both mentally and physically. The relationship between Gregor and his father is in many ways similar to Franz and his father Herrman. The Metamorphosis also shows resemblance to some of Kafka's diary entries that depict him imagining his own extinction by dozens of elaborated methods. This paper will look into the text to show how this is a story about the author's personal life portrayed through his dream-like fantasies.
Guerin, Wilfred L., et.al. A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.
Tucker, Martin. Moulton’s Library of Literary Criticism. Volume 4. Frederick Ungar Publishing Company. New York. 1967.