The problem of money played a major role in the Samsa household. It is clearly evident in many of Gregor’s actions. After discovering he was a bug, his first thought was about getting to work. Gregor is so overrun with thoughts of debt, he has lost concern for himself. After gaining so much debt from his father's failings, the entire family is burdened with this problem as well. Many of the conversations shown in the narrative are based upon the finances. It is mentioned when the father is explaining the economical situation of the family causing more grief to Gregor. The rest of the family takes on jobs, fire the extra help of employees, and rent out their home to boarders. The final conflict that leads to Gregor's death is about the loss
Inherited money is held in much higher esteem than earned money in Savannah, Georgia. This is a theme seen throughout Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, John Berendt's non-fictional account of life in Savannah. Characters such as Jim Williams, who worked for their money and brought themselves up the social ladder, are seen as being beneath those who inherited their money, such as Lee Adler. The old wealth tend to look down on anyone who wasn't born with their money. Their views of just about everything, including laws and punishments, differ depending on whether the person in question is of wealth due to blood or sweat.
Even before Gregor Samsa’s random transformation, Gregor was practically dehumanized by his family members. They did not see him as a family member but rather as a source of income. Each member seemed to have a scarce to almost zero amount of interest or
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, a hard working salesman providing for his family in need, has sacrifice his own freedom for the sake of the survival of his family. As a provider, his family is expecting him to work, be successful, and bring home the wealth. Although Gregor doesn’t enjoy his tedious job in the slightest, he still agrees to do it. This is more influenced by his father’s debt rather than his own morals. “If it weren’t for my parents, I would have quit long ago, I would have gone to the boss and told him off” (Kafka 2). This shows that he is a frustrated individual. Gregor is someone who would likely hold in his own personal feelings to preserve the family name. A night of nightmares later, Gregor awakes to see his many little legs flailing about. He isn’t initially shocked by this horrid transformation and however terrible it looks to him, his primary focus is how is he going to get to work? In spite of everything, he is still in the mindset of working no matter what the cost. After all, he doesn’t want to lose the tr...
Just as Jesus makes personal sacrifices to help his people, Gregor similarly sacrifices his dreams and happiness to provide a good life for his family. Gregor's life revolves around his job as a travelling salesman. He is committed to his work, although he dislikes his job, "what a gruelling job I've picked. If I didn't hold back for my parents' sake, I would have quit long ago" (4). Gregor's life lacks comfort and joy; he is constantly travelling, and is unable to form quality relationships. However, he sacrifices his dreams for future happiness so that he can provide for his family. As the sole 'breadwinner' of his family, Gregor keeps only a few dollars from his paycheque each month, using the rest to pay family debts and sending the money home to his parents. His family is completely dependent on him for financial security, and Gregor's generosity preven...
The parents of Gregor ultimately failed to care for him in a time where he needed the emotional support. They also neglected Grete as well and handicapped her true potential as a musician. The biggest betrayal of all; however, took place after Grete quit believing in Gregor and left him to die. While Gregor changing into a bug did put new stress on the family, it was the betrayal of each other that lead to their demise. In conclusion the Samsa family proved to be unloyal amongst each other, and Gregor happened to lose his life because of
The aspect of greed shows itself as the heart of the many immoral acts committed by fictional characters and real people. From Adam and Eve’s betrayal to Macbeth’s collapse portrays what greed can produce as a result: destruction. Whether it destroys one’s health, it inherently portrays as a force to the path of corruption. The Pardoner, from The Canterbury Tales, defines greed’s purpose. This includes how greed pulls them to degeneration. No matter how subtle the fall, it still brings to distasteful events for the characters from The Importance of Being Earnest. Although the characters differ, their obsessions with their immoral acts decline their personalities. Thus, the authors portray the characters’ greed, as a pernicious force that drives
Gregor’s father demotes societal views of himself by his actions. Gregor’s father depends on Gregor for the income for the family. When Gregor morphs into a bug, Mr. Samsa reluctantly becomes the sole provider for his family. Getting a ...
Gregor is the focal point of the family, he provided for them when they needed the money. Gregor also brought the family into turmoil with his change. Just as Gregor brought them into turmoil he brought on growth for the family. His death gave his family a new life. Before Gregor’s metamorphosis, his family was a helpless and selfish. There was little meaningful interaction among them. Once Gregor had become a creature the family had to become resourceful, they learned valuable skills. Gregor gave his family something that could bond them together, they discussed what to do about Gregor almost every night. Gregor’s tragedy brought his family together. Gregor served as a “savior” for his family, he played the same role that Jesus did for the world. Gregor’s life was taken so that the rest of his family may achieve salvation. His family had changed from a selfish and lazy group of people to a loving and caring family. As Gregor grew closer toward death, his family grew closer to
In Chapter 4 of a book titled Escape from Freedom, the famous American psychologist Erich Fromm wrote that "Greed is a bottomless pit which exhausts the person in an endless effort to satisfy the need without ever reaching satisfaction" (Fromm 98). Fromm realized that avarice is one of the most powerful emotions that a person can feel, but, by its very nature, is an emotion or driving force that can never be satisfied. For, once someone obtains a certain goal, that person is not satisfied and continues to strive for more and more until that quest leads to their ultimate destruction. For this reason, authors have embraced the idea of greed in the creation of hundreds of characters in thousands of novels. Almost every author has written a work centered around a character full of avarice. Ian Fleming's Mr. Goldfinger, Charles Dickens' Scrooge, and Thomas Hardy's John D'Urberville are only a few examples of this attraction. But, perhaps one of the best examples of this is found in William Shakespeare's King Lear. Edmund, through his speech, actions, and relationships with other characters, becomes a character consumed with greed to the point that nothing else matters except for the never-ending quest for status and material possessions.
Since Gregor's physical change renders him no. longer able to work, the family's financial situation changes. Gregor's. mother, father, and sister have to get jobs. Mrs. Samsa, Gregor's. mother, sews lingerie for a local clothing store.
Kafka’s main character, Gregor, is used for monetary purposes all throughout his life. He is often regarded not a part of the family but rather as a means of income so that neither of his parents had to work, his father because he did not want to and his mother because of asthma. In fact, Gregor’s father set up the job for him so that neither of the parents would have t...
Long before the story takes place, Gregor Samsa's father had a business failure that left him deep in debt. His son, Gregor, works as a commercial traveler for the company to whom he owes money; in effect, Gregor is slowly working off his father's debt. Gregor is not happy with his job, which Greenburg calls "degrading" and "soul-destroying," but believes that his family's existence depends upon him "sacrificing himself by working at this meaningless... job," and so he continues (274). Heinz Politzer goes far enough to say that Gregor is a slave to his boss (276), which would imply that there is no escape for Gregor- at least, no conventional escape.
Throughout the novel Gregor mainly feels guilty about being a burden to his own family. Once Gregor underwent his metamorphosis he was no longer able to provide for his family, thus causing his father to return to being the main source of income. Likewise, as the novel progresses Grete must also begin to work due to the fact that the family needs more money to continually support themselves along with Gregor. However, Gregor begins to feel even more guilty when he overhears his family discuss plans to move out of the apartment. Gregor’s family upon realizing they can no longer support themselves in the current apartment seeks moving to a cheaper location; however, the sole problem with leaving the apartment becomes Gregor. The family refuses to leave Gregor, and has no means to transport him out of the apartment, thus like Gregor his family is stuck within the apartment. This predicament ends with the family taking in three tenants, causing Gregor to remain hidden within his own house and room in order to help his family survive, increasing his own guilt. Guilt causes Gregor to fall into a deep depression, for he believes he is nothing more than a burden to his own family, and to society. Guilt is the driving force in The Metamorphosis for it establishes the main conflict for Gregor, himself. Furthermore, guilt causes Gregor to become a recluse to his own room, refusing to eat, constantly wishing for death to take him. The climax of the guilt in the novel strikes when Grete refers to Gregor as a pest that must be taken care of, thus Gregor overrun with guilt returns to his lair, where he ultimately dies. Gregor is finally free of the burden of living, the burden of finding out he is nothing more than a burden to his own family; thus, death symbolizes peace and sanctuary for Gregor, a state that would not have been achieved without the main theme of guilt throughout the
Nonetheless, the first thing on his mind was about his job and was worried more about missing the bus to attend work rather than himself. In the text, Gregor says: “It’s a lot more stressful than the work in the home office, and along with everything else I also have to put with these agonies of traveling-worrying about making trains, having bad, irregular meals, meeting new people all the time…” (Kafka 118). Gregor was more concerned about missing work rather than accepting the fact that he had lost his form as a human being. But, he was not the only one who was concerned about his well-being, but his family as well. The problem was his family only viewed him as the money maker; without him, the family will likely be poor without his support. Gregor’s family relied on him to provided them since his salary helped them a lot due to his traveling as a sales person. Kafka writes, “‘Gregor,’ a voice called-it was his mother- ‘it’s a quarter to seven. Didn’t you have a train to catch?’” (Kafka 120). The mother was concerned about Gregor not leaving the house on time to go to work. Although, readers/audience may assume that the mother was performing her role as a mother and checking on her children. But, if the mother was concerned about her son, she would of helped him instead of relying on him all the time. Gregor’s identity had been revealed when he is no longer