Metamorphosis Setting Analysis

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Setting is an important part of any novel. It uses the surrounding of the world to move the plot forward by setting the boundaries by which the world lives. In The Metamorphosis, Kafka uses the setting to create a world that mirrors the perspective of Gregor’s new found form. By using this perspective to establish the boundaries of the world, Kafka sets up the world in which Gregor lives as one that is completely enveloped in Gregor’s transformation. To do this effectively, Kafka shrinks the world of Gregor from one in which he travels to one in which his entire world is a single apartment. This shrinking allows Kafka to make a microcosm of surreal reality. In creating the microcosm, Kafka uses the newfound smallness of Gregor’s world to create a claustrophobic and almost boring setting. This type of setting helps to express Gregor’s new self. …show more content…

For the majority of the story, Gregor can only explore one room. This one room becomes the majority of Gregor’s reality. By designing Gregor’s reality this way, Kafka emphasizes that Gregor has become cut off from reality and is placed in his own enclosed world. This claustrophobic setting helps to add an element of unease to the story and helps to express Gregor’s loneliness. By cutting Gregor off from his former reality, Kafka is emphasizing that Gregor is no longer a part of humanity. By doing this, Kafka shows that Gregor’s transformation has erased Gregor the man and all that remains is Gregor the bug. This is further highlighted by the removal of the furniture of the room. This removal shows that even Gregor’s own family has stopped seeing him as a part of humanity highlighting his loneliness. This can be seen here, “I won't pronounce the name of my brother in front of this monster, and so all I say is: we have to try to get rid of it. We've done everything humanly possible to take care of it and to put up with it."(Kafka

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