Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Kafka early essays
Essays on german culture
Essays on german culture
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Have you ever wondered what makes a family unique and different from everyone else's? There are many similarities and differences between many families. In the story, The Metamorphosis, written by Franz Kafka the protagonist Gregor Samsa awakes to find himself alienated from the rest of his family and from his role as a salesman. Throughout Gregor's life, he has sacrificed a lot to create a better life for his family. My life is In some ways similar to Gregor's life and the samsa family is both similar and different my own family. So how does the similarities and differences from the Samsa Family relate to my own?.
First of all, in the story The Metamorphosis Gregor's mother starts off by saying “Gregor, it's a quarter to seven. Hadn't you a train to catch” (Kafka) Gregor also notices that his mother speaks to him in “that gentle voice” (Kafka). Gregor then responds to his mom “yes, yes, thank you, mother, I'm getting up now” (Kafka) Gregor's mother wakes him up in the morning in a gentle way so that he can go about to start his day.
In my family, my mom does the same for me and she usually says to me every morning “ Josh get up it's 6:30 we leaving ” (Costa). My mom is very similar to Gregor's when it comes to
…show more content…
At times in my life, I also feel like Gregor and that it's my job to take good care of my family. The Samsa family is very different from my family because whenever I do good things for them they always seem show appreciation towards me and continually thank me for all that I do. My parents have always shown appreciation to me by saying “ Thanks ahh boy ”(Costa) or they would also say “ Good job my son
with all his might" just to liberate himself from the bed (Kafka 9). Freedman recognizes that since getting out of bed is such a formidable task to Gregor, Gregor's spatial world has already shrunk immensely. Until he manages to fling himself out of bed, Gregor's habitable world consists only of the bed. Another limitation to the world that Gregor is capable of inhabiting in his current state is foreshadowed when Gregor "fixed his eyes as sharply as possible on the window" but is not able to distinguish anything because of "the morning fog" (Kafka 7).... ...
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.
...development of your identity. Gregor, the family man, tried as hard as he can to be there for his family. His family is everything he has got and this is his identity. While Sonny, the trouble kid turned musician, abandoned his family’s suggestions and went his own way by keeping true to himself and being dedicative to a specific goal. Both of these characters are polar opposites in a sense that one follows his family and the other does not. But, both characters were forced into difficult situations and both have experienced some sort of sacrifice.
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
Grete’s isolation from society stems from her passion and interest for her loved ones. Grete spends all her time at home caring for her family members. Kafka describes her as “perceptive; she had already begun to cry when Gregor was still lying calmly on his back” (Kafka 16). Throughout the text she becomes the sole reason Gregor stays alive. Grete spends her days worrying about the various foods Gregor likes and dislikes, how to make his room more comfortable, and trying to make him feel more comfortable. Gregor is not the only family member whose health is cared for by Grete. “Now his sister, working with her mother, had to do the cooking too; of course that did not cause her much trouble, since they hardly ate anything” (Kafka 25). Kafka incorporates household chores and her mother’s illness, escalating Grete’s isolation. During her mother’s many asthma attacks, Grete arrives first
He overheard his father speaking to his mother and sister about their financial status. As well as, how his father has been using the money he had saved from his business. Like any caring child, Gregor did not ask or question his father, just aided with no remarks. Even after his family started changing towards him, he only worried about cooperating financially in order to avoid any stress or family destruction. He slowly came to the conclusion that he will always be a bug, and because of that he isolates himself.
"'Believe me, sir, there's something the matter with him. Otherwise how would Gregor have missed a train? That boy has nothing in his mind but the business. It's almost begun to rile me that he never goes out nights. He's been back in the city for eight days now, but every night he's home. He sits there with us at the table, quietly reading the paper or studying timetables."(10)
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.
Gregor’s relationship with his father shows resemblance to the relationship between Kafka and his father. Kafka, as a child, suffered abuse from his father. Kafka viewed his father as a forceful monster, which resembles Gregor’s father. Gregor wanted nothing more than the love of his family, especially his father, just as Kafka had wanted. His reason for writing “The Metamorphosis” could also relate to the situation which he lived in. He was a Jew raised in Austro-Hungarian Empire, modern day Czech Republic. He was a Jew in an area of the world which Jews were not well accepted. Gregor was described as cockroach, something that Jew were often equated to during this time period. Jews were treated like vermin, they were thought of a creature that was to be rid of. Gregor experienced similar treatment from his family. They discussed leaving or getting rid of Gregor during the story. Experiences of Gregor are similar to those that Jews would have experienced during Kafka’s life. “The Metamorphosis” could also demonstrate the issues that normal people face every day. People face trials and tribulations every day that change their lives dramatically, nobody has ever been transformed into a bug, but it does represent the extreme circumstances that may
From the beginning of The Metamorphosis Kafka offers a comical depiction of Gregor’s “squirming legs” (Kafka 13) and a body in which “he could not control” (7). Gregor’s initial reaction to this situation was the fact he was late to his dissatisfying job as a salesman, but Gregor knows that he has to continue his job in order to keep the expectation his family holds upon him to pay of the family’s everlasting debt. When Gregor’s family eventually realizes that Gregor is still lying in his bed, they are confused because they have expectations on Gregor that he will hold the family together by working. They know if Gregor was to quit his job there would be a great catastrophe since he is the glue to keeping their family out of debt. The communication between his family is quickly identified as meager and by talking to each other from the adjacent walls shows their disconnection with each other. Kafka introduces the family as lacking social skills in order to offer the reader to criticize and sympathize for Gregor’s family dynamics. Gregor’s manager makes an appearance quickly after experiencing the dysfunction within the fami...
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.
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 ...
His family used to care about him but after the transformation, they were no longer concerned for him. Every time the family talks about money, Gregor feels guilty and embarrassed because he can no longer provide for them. When he was able to work before, he had brought money home and “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” (Kafka Ch 2 pg 6). Now that he can no longer provide, the family had to come up with ways to keep up with finances. Gregor is dehumanized each time his sister Grete walks into the room to look after him because she cannot bear the sight of him so he hides each time. Each day following Gregor’s transformation, the family’s behavior towards him became more cynical and resentful towards him. They do not allow him to leave his room and worry about how they can go on living with him. They think of him as being a creature, losing their view of him as a human being and no longer important. When Grete decided to take his furniture out of his room, Gregor feels he is dehumanized because they are taking away the link to his humanity. When it came to Gregor’s father, Gregor would “run before his father, stopping when he stopped and scuttling forward again when his father made any kind of move.” His father then threw at apple at him which ‘landed right on his back and sank in; Gregor wanted to drag himself forward, as if this startling, incredible pain could be left behind him” (Kafka Ch 2 pg
When first reading a story about a family, the reader typically thinks of the perfect usually family that is portrayed in many movies and television shows to come. The father works and loves his family, the mother is a stay-at-home mom and takes care of the whole family, the son goes to college to make a life for himself, and the daughter goes to school and excels in everything she does. In the short novel The Metamorphosis written by Franz Kafka, the family is not portrayed in this way. The father stays at home and is abusive not only physically but emotionally as well, the mother does stay home but only to take care of the father, their son Gregor is the breadwinner of the family but he has no say in anything, and the daughter Grette stays in her room to avoid trouble. Kafka wrote all of his stories to express his emotions, but The Metamorphosis expressed it on a whole new level by
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