Franz Kafka & Gregor Samsa Franz Kafka’s novella, The Metamorphosis, has been a popular topic amongst the literary world for years. Many articles, papers, and lectures have been inspired by the curious story of a man waking to find himself transformed into a large insect. The topic has been widely debated. Did Kafka simply write an absurd story meant to entertain the audience? Was it meant to be a satirical piece about the different economic classes, as Marxists have theorized? Or is the character of Gregor Samsa the reflection of a real life person, with Kafka using his transformation into a bug as an allegory for something much deeper and more complex? The opening sentence of Kafka’s story is offered very calmly and matter-of-factly, “When …show more content…
She does her best to help keep him fed and clean, but it becomes pointless in her mind. Gregor is dead and all that is left is this thing that holds no resemblance to him physically or otherwise. ““It has to go,” Gregor’s sister cried out, “that’s the only way, Father. You just have to try to let go of the notion that this thing is Gregor”” (Kafka 429). Looking at this particular part of the story with the theory that Gregor has not literally turned into a bug, but has been beaten down by his own depression and psychosis, it is easier to sympathize with what Grete is saying. Gregor is far too lost in his own mind. He, for all intents and purposes, is dead. The person he once was no longer exists and what is left is the shell of the man she knew him to …show more content…
His father was a successful businessman who looked down on his son’s efforts in writing and was angry that his son did not wish to go into business to make a living. His father was also abusive and outright despised his son. Mauro Nervi states, “It may be that all the physical and emotional abuse Kafka suffered, in some way inspired him to write about his own extinction” (kafka.org). Nervi theorizes, based on Frank Kafka’s diary entries, that the writing of Gregor’s transformation and his continual feelings of disappointment and being unwanted reflected the way that he felt in his own life. Kafka may have chosen Gregor’s death to take place over a long period of time to ease the pain of losing a loved one abruptly. If he had just died then it would have been a shock to his family members, but instead he started to become an inconvenience so that it was almost a relief to his family. It could be that with Kafka’s low self esteem he thought of himself as being Gregor, who is also shunned by his father because he is disappointed in him
She renounced the idea that Gregor could actually still be there. Despite hesitation from her father Grete demanded his removal, “It has to go… that’s the only answer father” (Kafka 49). This illustrates that he went from a person to a thing in Grete’s eyes. The lack of remorse she displays after his death further solidifies her feelings. Gregor was betrayed by the person he least expected and it was one of the main influences in his
...haracter, Gregor, transforms into a cockroach in the beginning. Throughout the story, Gregor is portrayed as a “helpless bug” and is treated unfairly and poorly by his own family. His parents are more astonished than pitiful when they first see Gregor. Later on, his mother faints at the sight of him. His father throws apples at him because his mother fainted from the way he looks. Grete, in the beginning of the transformation, is nice and takes care of him. Later, she changes her mind about Gregor, quits taking care of him, and comes up with the idea to get rid of it. ‘If it was Gregor, he would have long ago seen that it’s impossible for human beings to live together with an animal like that,’ (139). Kafka, throughout the story, tries to get the reader to feel sympathy towards Gregor in many scenes, and it works because his family doesn’t show sympathy towards him.
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.
“It has to go”, cried his sister. “That’s the only answer, Father. You just have to try to get rid of the idea that it’s Gregor. Believing it for so long, that is our real misfortune. But how can it be Gregor? If it were Gregor, he would have realized long ago that it isn’t possible for human beings to live with such a creature, and would have gone away of his own free will” (Kafka 52). The relationship between family member’s in Kafka’s Metamorphosis is an interesting theme addressed, and somewhat distressing subject. Why is it so hard to accept that this monstrous bug is Gregor? Is it so bad for him to want to stay and be near his family- the only thing he’s ever had and known? For the sister to even come out and say these words seems somewhat selfish. Why can’t it be turned around to a viewpoint through which we have a family loving their son, unconditionally, regardless of what state he’s in? The word love is definitely one which is not seen in close companionship with the Gregor family. And we can see that this lack of affection carries on to be one of the driving forces behind the theme of alienation in the novel.
Many scholarly writers such as Robbie Batson believe that Gregor is an extension of Kafka himself, both having been traveling salesmen, similar family life with an abusive father, a dependent mother, and although Kafka had three sisters he had a close relationship with Ottilla like that of Grete and Samsa. Kafka even is similar to Samsa in spelling, almost like a cryptogram(Barfi, Azizmohammadi, and Kohzadi). As the breadwinner in his house, both Kafka and Gregor had the responsibility of taking care of their family through
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 ...
Kafka’s shows the shifting in the structural dynamics when Gregor’s new formation changes the attitudes from supportive to neglect when his needs affect their wants, needs and lifestyle. Gregor’s sense of duty to family was his main propriety towards his family. Even though he loathed his job as a travelling salesman, his devotion to financially clear his parent’s debt and care for his sister Grete was more important. He dreamt of fleeing the tightly coiled grip from his parent’s hands, but his loyalty was a pertinent family duty. To Gregor, this was what family was all about.
his father incurred, Gregor has had to suppress his rebellious wish. Kafka alludes to the
Gregor’s family and how they treat him reflects the way that Kafka interacted with his family. The similarities between Kafka’s family and Gregor’s family can be seen in their name. Kafka’s friend remarks, “The hero of the story is called Samsa, it sounds like a cryptogram for Kafka” (Kennedy and Gioia 299). Kafka’s family was middle-class, and his father was a businessman. They had servants and maids just like Gregor’s family. Kafka was the eldest out of six children, and was very close to his sisters. This is seen ...
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 Franz Kafka’s the Metamorphosis, the author conveys the consequences of the Industrial Revolution on the working class of society as they became increasingly dehumanized through Gregor Samsa’s transformation into a bug as he slowly loses his human characteristics and privileges as a human.
Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis is a novella that follows the story of Gregor Samsa who, one day, wakes up as an insect. On the surface, it’s just a story about a man who’s transformed into a bug; but, when deeper analyzed, you come to understand that it’s a about a man who was always a bug conflicted by his identity in a class struggle between what is known as the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. Kafka’s work was written in a time in history when the struggles between the classes were becoming more defined due to the rise of industrialization and other changing social structures. This story can best be interpreted though a Marxist lens. In Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, his Marxist ideology comes through in the way the characters represent the struggle between the proletariat and bourgeoisie classes during the turn of the century.
Gregor’s denial takes place when he prepares for work, ignoring his transformation, “First of all he wanted to get up quietly, […] get dressed, […] have breakfast, and only then think about what to do next” (Kafka 6). By characterizing Gregor as determined, Kafka shows his protagonist’s resolve to remain firm in ignoring his transformation for his family’s sake. Typically, such a metamorphosis would warrant panic, but Gregor is so selfless that he denies his own emotions to be useful for his family. Through the sequential syntax employed in this quoate, Kafka shows that Gregor does not want to stray from his usual routine. This attribute, along with his physical transformation, separates Gregor from humanity.
On the surface, Franz Kafka's 1916 novella, The Metamorphosis, seems to be just a tale of a man who woke up one morning to find himself transformed into an insect. But, a closer reading with Marx and Engel's economic theories in mind reveals an overarching metaphor that gives the improbable story a great deal of relevance to the structure of society. Gregor Samsa, the protagonist, signifies the proletariat, or the working class, and his unnamed manager represents the bourgeoisie. The conflict that arises between the two after Gregor's metamorphosis renders him unable to work represents the impersonal and dehumanizing structure of class relations. The metaphor of the story can be divided into three main parts (although they overlap within the story.) First, Kafka establishes the characters and the economic classes which they represent. Then, he details Gregor's metamorphosis and the way in which it impedes his labor. Finally, he describes the final results of the worker's inability to work: abandonment by his family and death. Although a man cannot literally be transformed into an insect, he can, for one reason or another, become unable to work. Kafka's novella, therefore, is a fantastic portrayal of a realistic scenario and provides us with a valuable insight into the struggles between economic classes.
Following his family’s discovery of his new transformation, they begin a slow and harsh isolation from him. In “The Metamorphosis” Kafka uses the metaphor of Gregor’s transformation, as well as the new difficulties he faces following his transformation, into a cockroach to symbolize his own depression and how he felt as part of society.