Metamorphosis Analysis

1622 Words4 Pages

Ralph Waldo Emerson said “What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you.” “In a Good Man is Hard To Find” the Grandmother expresses herself as a lady of upmost standards. In actuality, she lives as a Grandmother from the old South whose mouth runs on its own. The Metamorphosis includes Gregor Samsa a self-proclaimed family man who tries to take on all of the responsibilities in the Samsa household. His way of living seems great for everyone, but at the same time does not seem necessary. In A Good Man is Hard to Find” and The Metamorphosis, The Grandmother and Gregor despite being completely different, also share very similar qualities. They differ in values, but in the same way they are irresponsible and nuisances to the people around them.
As individuals Gregor and The Grandmother mostly share contrasting …show more content…

The appearance of both characters differs considerably. The Grandmother considers herself as a “Lady” and tries her best to maintain it. She wears a navy blue dress with various colorful accessories in case of an unfortunate event to always maintain that “Lady” image. Gregor however, believes his self-image remain the least of his worries. Even through the difficulty of getting out of bed because of the transformation of his body into a beetle, his focus remains on getting to work. Gregor realizes that even though he may look like a beetle, he still needs to take care of his responsibilities. Gregor’s mindset keeps him sacrificing for his family and not thinking of himself. He wants his family to live in a big house but doesn’t mind sleeping in the smallest room the size of a closest. Gregor intends to live lavishly for his family, but not for himself. The Grandmother however, insists on living life all about herself. Even though her family agrees on going to Florida she insists on going to Tennessee because of personal preference. She tries to convince the family by saying a Misfit

Show More
Related

  • The Metamorphosis Theme Essay

    1330 Words  | 3 Pages

    The feelings of loneliness and betrayal are feelings that we all feel one too many. Some have these feelings for a few simple days, and then those feelings soon pass. For others, however, this is a feeling that is felt for most of their lives. Our loneliness may make us feel alone, when our loneliness is actually common. In The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, the topic of alienation is an ongoing theme from beginning to end. I have interest in this passage because it reveals the writers understanding of a feeling that we all get from time to time. This novella helps us relive these emotions with an understanding that we are not alone in our loneliness.

    Read More

  • Flannery O'Connor's A Good Man is Hard to Find

    1125 Words  | 3 Pages

    In addition to demonstrating the value of tolerance, the Grandmother is the first character who serves as a caveat for the public in “A Good Man is Hard to Find”. Throughout the story, the Grandmother attempts to present herself as the archetypical “good”, spiritual old woman. Ironically, she is a particularly repugnant human being. She is set in her archaic mentalities, pretentious, and selfish. In the beginning, her egotism becomes evident when she rejects her family’s desires to go to Florida and insists on traveling to Tennessee, where she could, “visit some of her connections” (O’ Connor 61). Irving Malin, professor and literary critic, also notes that the Grandmother is an unpleasant because she, “…forces her family to obey her… [and] she sees them as an extension of herself…” (Bloom 21). Although she processes a blatant disregard for others, she still considers herself highly. Furthermore, the Grandmother is als...

    Read More

  • Betrayal In Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis

    936 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Isolation in Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis

    876 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout The Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka shuns Gregor. At first glance, Gregor’s transformation creates the only isolation. As the story evolves, the Samsa family’s segregation begins to play a larger role. Through intuitive actions, each family member isolates themselves. The Samsa’s accommodate the renters generously, in order to win communal approval. Failing the renters positions the Samsa’s lower in society than they previously were. Not only do the Samsa’s isolate themselves, they are also secluded from society. Many instances allow the Samsa’s severance from society to shine through Gregor’s isolation.

    Read More

  • Franz Kafka's Metamorphisis

    958 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Metamorphosis Literary Analysis

    1398 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and “The Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka both incorporate “irreal” elements throughout their works. These elements provide an alternative point of view where the lives of main characters are recreated and imagined as part of their surroundings. It’s almost as if the characters are watching their lives from an outside vantage point, rather than living in the moment, which makes it easier to cope with their difficult circumstances. These two works are complementary in establishing relationships, exposing internal conflicts, and escaping the reality that these characters yearn for in their lives.

    Read More

  • The Metamorphosis In Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis

    1084 Words  | 3 Pages

    The story The Metamorphosis revolves around Gregor Samsa, a devoted son and brother who works tirelessly to provide for his family, waking up finding out that he has been transformed into a larger than life insect. Franz Kafka enlightens the readers to how being dependent on one person can lead a family to being weak when that support system is ripped away from them. The situations that Gregor is put into knocks him down from the head of the family into nothingness while at the same time boosts his family from that nothingness into being a strong support system for each other. Gregor 's transformation, his dependency on his sister for food, his injury, the family choosing strangers over him, and ultimately his death are all things that lead to this downfall, or metamorphosis.

    Read More

  • Monstrosity In The Metamorphosis

    1267 Words  | 3 Pages

    It is very difficult to make a set definition of what a monster is. Monsters may look frightening, have unnatural body proportions, or even a dark and evil aura. We often see monsters as ghosts, werewolves, vampires, or artificial creatures, but it is still hard to say exactly a monster is. I believe monstrosity is made within the eye of the beholder. “Monsters” are what you make of them. Most “monsters” are just different and unique and that’s what makes them monstrous- because they are different from what people perceive as normal. That is how Gregor is turned into a monster in The Metamorphosis.

    Read More

  • Metamorphosis Compare And Contrast Essay

    1210 Words  | 3 Pages

    People today live in an absurd world, where they are constantly working and on the go, they forget what matters most to them like their dreams and aspirations and become work zombies. That is why the stories of the Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka and The Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy speak to me, they comment on the absurdity of mundane daily life and tasks that we have become accustomed to and make you think about the life that you are living. The main characters of the two stories, Gregor Samsa and Ivan Ilych, become overwhelmed by the amount of pressures that they put on themselves and by their families. The two characters epitomize what the workers of today have become and the worst part is they never realize how unhappy they have become until it is too late. I know many of us feel the burden of working to much and not living the way we want to. These stories are very bleak and don't offer hope for the main characters, they failed to adapt and perished because of it. The stories make you feel that as if there is no escaping the absurdity of life, as is the

    Read More

  • The Metamorphosis by Kafka

    1497 Words  | 3 Pages

    Many views of existentialism are exposed in Kafka's Metamorphosis. One of these main views is alienation or estrangement which is demonstrated by Gregor's relationship with his family, his social life, and the way he lives his life after the metamorphosis. Namely, it suggests that man is reduced to an insect by the modern world and his family; human nature is completely self absorbed. Kafka reflects a belief that the more generous and selfless one is, the worse one is treated. This view is in direct conflict with the way things should be; man, specifically Gregor should be treated in accordance to his actions. Gregor should be greatly beloved by his family regardless of his state. This idea is displayed in three separate themes. First, Gregor's family is only concerned with the effect Gregor's change will have on them, specifically the effect it will have on their finances and reputation. They are more than willing to take completely gratuitous advantage of Gregor; he works to pay their debt and they are happy to indulge themselves with luxury. Gregor is the soul employed member of his family and this is their primary interest when Gregor is transformed. Secondly, Gregor is penalized for his efforts to be a good son, and a good worker; his toils are completely taken for granted by his family. The Samsa family is not interested in Gregor beyond their own needs, outsiders are reverentially treated. Thirdly, it is displayed by the positive changes that occur in the Samsa family as Gregor descends into tragedy and insignificance. As Gregor's life becomes more painful, isolated, and worthless the Samsa family becomes more functional and self-reliant.

    Read More

  • Gregor Samsa's Metamorphosis in The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

    1283 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Self Identity In Metamorphosis

    1344 Words  | 3 Pages

    The identity that people often desired were neglected due to the lack of attention that they provided themselves which caused them to forget who they truly were. In the story, The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka and Six Characters in Search of an Author by Luigi Pirandello, are about self-identity and how people were more interested other than themselves. By owning a name, this allowed people to have an identity and also defined who people were rather than roles that only claimed what people did. The family in Six Characters did not have any names which caused them to seek for an author that would allowed them to be discovered who they were and rather be the actors for their story in the play as the father mentioned this in the play to the

    Read More

  • 'Metamorphosis' By Grete: An Analysis

    284 Words  | 1 Pages

    Grete again furthers her argument on why Gregor needs to disappear. She believes that if the bug were actually Gregor, he would have realized that a creature is unfit to live among humans. She believes that if it were actually Gregor, he would have gone away on his own free will. I believe that her logic is wrong. Bugs are not able to think, so how does she expect the bug to think like Gregor? She knows the Vermin is Gregor, but she is denying it as in a way to disregard him. She believes that if the vermin disappears, then she would no longer have a brother, but would have his memories to honor. She is tired of how the bug persecutes them, and drives the boarders away. She thinks that the bug/Gregor wants them to live in a gutter, while he

    Read More

  • Metamorphosis By Franz Kafka Character Analysis

    918 Words  | 2 Pages

    Gregor was not segregated from his family in the beginning of the story. He was actually the family’s source of income to pay their expenses. He had to work a job he detested, even though his father could have paid the expenses without Gregor suffering. However, once Gregor transforms into the giant bug, his family is afraid and starts to seclude Gregor from the family. When he makes his first appearance, while Gregor’s manager is at the house, the family’s first reaction is not what he expected. His father, “…seized in his right hand the manager’s cane…picked up in his left hand a heavy

    Read More

  • The Concept of Metamorphosis in Life and Literature

    508 Words  | 2 Pages

    Life is a never-ending metamorphosis. It is always changing, always transforming. Sometimes a change is followed by positive results, but on the darker side, a metamorphosis can lead to damage or suffering. But of course, the concept of metamorphosis can also be related into the wonderful yet unrealistic world of magic and sorcery. Metamorphosis can mean a rapid transformation from one object to another or a distinct or even degenerative change in appearance, personality, condition, or function. The concept of metamorphosis is commonly used in pieces of literature to describe an extreme change in character or form.

    Read More

More about Metamorphosis Analysis

Open Document