The Metamorphosis of the Family
Before the caterpillar can transform into a butterfly, it must go through a metamorphosis. The cocoon in which the caterpillar hibernates is in fact just a conveyance towards another life form. Gregor, in Franz Kafka's novella The Metamorphosis, is similarly a vehicle for such an important transformation, in this case the reformation of his family. The metamorphosis of Gregor facilitates the gradual change of his entire family, demonstrating that an outside source is sometimes needed in order to push people out of stagnation and into life.
Before the family members begin to make their transformations, they rely heavily on Gregor. The dutiful son sets out to provide for his family after the failure of his father's business. He secures a decent job and the family gladly accepts this new way of life, with a steady income and means of support. Over time, "they had simply got used to it, both the family and Gregor; the money was gratefully accepted and gladly given, but there was no special uprush of warm feeling" (95). Each member of the family becomes accustomed to an easy life in which needs and wants are provided for. This routine causes the individuals in the family to stagnate and live unproductively.
The family begins to follow a path of existentialism because of what their lives have become. Existentialism entails taking responsibility for one's own actions and finding meaning in life. Through the course of the novel, the family proceeds from a state of senselessness to a gradual form of existentialism. In the beginning, the lives of the family members mean nothing and have no purpose. They are not individuals, but rather mindless drones who take advantage of a convenient situation...
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...ther, and daughter emerging arm in arm" (11). Gregor's death is a necessary sacrifice, for it is through his loss of humanity that his family is able to find humanity of their own. He forces them to understand their environment and their role in society, creating meaning in their lives.
The transformation of Gregor is a catalyst for the gradual metamorphosis of each member of his family, illustrating the importance of discovering purpose in one's life. In order to truly experience life, people must find meaning in it. However, sometimes it is only through the changes of another, in this case Gregor, that people themselves begin to transform. The sacrifice of Gregor allows his family to leave its protective cove and journey out into the world, discovering what life has to offer.
Works Cited:
Kafka, Franz. The Metamorphosis. Mattituck: Vanguard Press, 1946.
... to do this every day Gregor would have had to have some sense of time. His dwindling human aspects are prominently marked in two places: the first when Gregor is incapable of communicating with his family and the sales manager and the second when he takes pleasure in rutting about in dirt and filth. Lastly, Gregor's loss of consciousness causes a polar change within his family. As Gregor is no longer able to earn money to support the family, everyone else is forced to take action to bring in capital. The most obvious change is in the father who transformed from a dead weight into a zealous worker. Despite Freedman's employment of flawed logic to formulate some of his theories, the majority of his conclusions are quite valid and probe deeply into the meaning behind Kafka's writing.
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...
‘’This internal lack of self-esteem and the insecurities it produces are heightened by the change in his body. One of the major problems to reading The Metamorphosis is accepting Gregor’s transformation as literal and not merely symbolic; he has really turned into an insect. The strangeness of this fact, along with his and his family’s reactions to it, is what makes the narrative so fascinating and rich in interpretative possibilities’’(Silet). In the Metamorphosis it’s quite odd the way his family reacts to him during his transformation from a human to a creature. They act as if it was something common like, a flu or something.
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
His family had no choice but to let her go. But, since then, the mother has been cooking and all she would serve Gregor was scraps from their leftovers. After all, the things he did for his family, not one had the audacity to say thank you. In fact, his mother, father and sister seemed as if they did not enjoy the things he did for them. The new apartment, the servants, was too much for his family.
...increase her figure in the eyes of her parents. It was basically Grete who looked up to Gregor, but now it is flipped around. Lastly Grete states "It will be the death of you two, I can see it coming." Grete continues to insist that Gregor is no longer part of the family. In fact, according to her, Gregor is contributing to the disintegration of the family and must be killed to help save the family. Grete was the concerned one and now she refuses to call him her brother, and insists that he has to be disposed of just like any old household pest.
Gregor Samsa awakes one morning to discover that he has been transformed into a repugnant vermin. One may never know what initiated this makeover, but the simple truth is that Gregor is now a bug, and everyone must learn to live and move on in this strenuous situation. In Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, the characters that interact with Gregor, including his mother, his father, and his sister Grete, must come to terms with his unfortunate metamorphosis, and each does so by reacting in a unique way. Gregor’s family members are constantly strained by this unusual event, and all three of them are pressed to their breaking point.
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
Thirdly, he suffers isolation from the physical world, which he is no longer able to participate in due to his presence and lack of mobility. Lastly, he suffers isolation from other people around him, especially his family. By the end even his sister, Grete, the most compassionate member of the family, explanations that they should stop thoughtful of the creature as the person they knew. She says that “the fact that we’ve believed it so long is the root of our trouble” (Kafka 48), which can be taken to mean that at some point Gregor stopped being a person not only because of his entrance but since of his non-conformist actions. The beating he receives from his father shows the extent of the cruelty he endures, though his father knows that “family duty compulsory the conquest of disgust and the use of endurance, nothing but patience” (Kafka 36). The tragedy is that this alienation ends up killing Gregor, who “dies not as a vermin, but as a human being thinking of his family”. The transformation is an indication of the breakdown of Gregor’s psyche and alienation within his self. The reader is not told how the transformation
In The Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka, Gregor’s evolution to an insect symbolizes the loss of thorough communication, representing the disconnection of the individual from his family and his surroundings. Through this metamorphosis, the once loving family begins to remove itself from any past interactions with Gregor. In addition, the setting and surroundings of Gregor completely overcome him and persuade him to lose hope. The family and surroundings, not the change to an insect, lead Gregor towards death. Not only do the uncontrollable surroundings change Gregor, but so does the family.
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.
Kafka’s The Metamorphosis takes on an wide variety of main themes. One of the most important of these is the collapse of morality and mercy, even among those people who are expected to be most fair and compassionate. Gregor’s metamorphosis is indeed terrible, but more terrible still is the psychological corruption of Gregor’s family. Their inability to adapt to the changes that have occurred signal a total breakdown in the family structure, and offer a cautionary tale about the fragility of notions of justice and mercy and how a certain change can change a persons perception of them.
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.
In sequence, the story progresses into an ultimate partial realization of Gregor’s predicament and its origins. Gregor Samsa’s obliviousness to his daily experiences, in essence, produce his present plight by allowing himself to fall farther from reality. Occurrences after the transformation collectively form reasoning for the bizarre situation Gregor remains in as a result of Kafka’s muddied plot setup. Various characters partake amongst this indirect syntax as symbols of the world Gregor is not aware of. Work takes over as Gregor stands as the sole provider, leaving him with few focuses or cares.
In Franz Kafka’s short story, Metamorphosis, the idea of existentialism is brought out in a subtle, yet definite way. Existentialism is defined as a belief in which an individual is ultimately in charge of placing meaning into their life, and that life alone is meaningless. They do not believe in any sort of ultimate power and focus much of their attention on concepts such as dread, boredom, freedom and nothingness. This philosophical literary movement emerged in the twentieth-century, when Kafka was establishing his writing style in regards to alienation and distorted anxiety. A mirror to his own personal lifestyle, this story follows the short and sad life of a man unable to break out of the bonds society has placed on him. These bonds are not only evident in the work place, but at home too. Being constantly used and abused while in his human form, Gregor’s lifestyle becomes complicated once he becomes a giant insect and is deemed useless. Conflicts and confusion arise primarily between Gregor and his sister Grete, his parents, and his work. Each of these three relationships has different moral and ethical complications defining them. However, it is important for one to keep in mind that Gregor’s metamorphosis has placed him into a position of opposition, and that he has minimal control over the events to take place. Conflicts will also occur between family members as they struggle with the decision of what to do with Gregor. In the end they all come to the agreement that maintaining his uselessness is slowly draining them and they must get rid of him.