“Jealousy” is a word commonly associated with romantic relationships, but in Franz Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis”, it is used when describing a sister’s relationship with her brother. I was drawn to how the word “jealously” interacted with the text alongside words like “small” and “helpless” and they became signifiers to me as I read the story. Words describing the way Grete behaved, such as “shaken with sobs” led me to conclude that there were changing roles within the family. This then led me to question who was changing roles and which roles were changing. This passage shows great examples of the changing roles within the Samsa family. The sister starts this passage in a mothering role and a romantic position, but regresses to …show more content…
the mannerisms of young child. She “beat upon the table” as if she was having a temper tantrum. Her behavior can be analyzed using Psychoanalytic theory.
Psychoanalytic theory examines a person’s desires, dreams, and both the conscious and unconscious mind. One part of this theory examines the desire of a child to remove one parent from their role in order to receive the attention and love from the other; this is called an Oedipal Complex. I used this concept when approaching my questions. During application of this theory, I took the concept of the author using romantic language to describe the brother-sister relationship of Gregor and Grete and the way she takes on a mothering role in taking care of Gregor to determine that she wishes to remove her mother, not to get to her father, but to get the affections of Gregor. This is not an exact translation of the Oedipal Complex, but it does hold similar aspects, especially if you take into consideration what Gregor does in this passage. When his mother cleans his room, he is dissatisfied and regresses to a state where he behaves more like a bug, “hissing loudly with rage” when things do not go his way, contrary to his more human-like behavior in the rest of the story. I saw that Gregor must be glad that his sister is his “caretaker” and that he could be enjoying their unusual
dynamic. Keeping this in mind, I came to the conclusion that each character changed roles in different ways, such as regression, due to both Grete and Gregor’s behavior. As a reader, there is nothing I read about and interpret that isn’t in someway a reflection of who I am and how I see both my world and the world of the character. For example, I see myself in the way that I analyze the sibling relationship. I have a sister so I believe that a strong sibling bond is important and common, so I was intrigued by Grete’s and Gregor’s connection, possibly leading me to see a stronger bond than there actually was. Another example of the meaning I make of the text being affected by me, is the way I interpret the parent child relationship. I see siblings unified against parents they are unhappy with, similarly to how I sometimes perceive my own familial relationships.
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.
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
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. Franz Kafka had explored two conflicting ideas with the use of his protagonist Gregor: unity and isolation. Gregor’s transformation formed a whole life in which he could not escape. But on the other hand his family members were able to improve from his isolation.
“It has to go”, cried his sister. “That’s the only answer, Father. You just have to try to get rid of the idea that it’s Gregor. Believing it for so long, that is our real misfortune. But how can it be Gregor? If it were Gregor, he would have realized long ago that it isn’t possible for human beings to live with such a creature, and would have gone away of his own free will” (Kafka 52). The relationship between family member’s in Kafka’s Metamorphosis is an interesting theme addressed, and somewhat distressing subject. Why is it so hard to accept that this monstrous bug is Gregor? Is it so bad for him to want to stay and be near his family- the only thing he’s ever had and known? For the sister to even come out and say these words seems somewhat selfish. Why can’t it be turned around to a viewpoint through which we have a family loving their son, unconditionally, regardless of what state he’s in? The word love is definitely one which is not seen in close companionship with the Gregor family. And we can see that this lack of affection carries on to be one of the driving forces behind the theme of alienation in the novel.
Bruce, Iris. "Elements of Jewish Folklore in Kafka's Metamorphosis." The Metamorphosis: Translation, Backgrounds and Contexts, Criticism. New York: W.W. Norton, 1996. 107-25. Print.
The relationship between Gregor and his sister Grete is perhaps the most unique. It is Grete, after all, with whom the metamorphosed Gregor has any rapport, suggesting the Kafka intended to lend at least some significance to their relationship. Grete's significance is found in her changing relationship with her brother. It is Grete's changing actions, feelings, and speech toward her brother, coupled with her accession to womanhood that seems to parallel Gregor's own metamorphosis. This change represents her metamorphosis from adolescence into adulthood but at the same time it marks the final demise of Gregor. Thus, certain symmetry is to be found in "The Metamorphosis." While Gregor falls in the midst of despair, Grete ascends to a self-sufficient, sexual
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.
Although Franz Kafka’s reading are not known to be sexist, some of the characters in his book “The Metamorphosis” reflect the views of the time in 1917. The female characters of the book present the stereotypical view of women as weak caregivers whose only value to their family lies in their ability to marry wealthy men. There is evidence to prove these statements throughout, such as Gregor being the only means of income for his sister’s future, how he is the only one who works, and how he gets cast aside by his parents and sister when he cannot work.
Throughout this short story, Gregor who has been reduced to one of the lowest forms of physical animal forms without reason, his family whose psychological development is least human and humane. Although he has changed form, his emotional being has not changed in any fundamental way. Gregor still has human feelings and needs, he still wishes to relate with his family and other members of society, and he still wishes to be responsible, his mother, father, and his sister have not changed form, but their metamorphoses are the most profound because they demonstrate how easily one’s beliefs, values, and basic treatment of others can be compromised because of a failure to adapt psychologically to an unexpected change of something they always considered as normal.
The Metamorphosis is a among Franz Kafka’s famous stories. The story is about a haunted man who changed into an insect. The author has written the story based on various theories such as Marxism, existentialist and religious views. It is also a reflection of a hostile world with major themes being abandonment, self-alienation, and troubles relationship. It reveals people’s struggles while in the modern society where one is neglected in the time of need (Franz 8). The cultural and social setting of the story helps in supporting the major themes of the story. In as much as the story is a dramatic fiction, it is necessary to explore the interior monologue style in order to inform the audience what the protagonist is thinking.
Stephens, J. “Franz Kafka’s personal life reflected in the Metamorphosis” The Kafka Project. 1999-2002. 13 November 2002. .
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.
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 Kafka used to write letters to his family, and his hatred towards his abusive father is shown in his letter Brief an den Vater (Letter to His Father).
Thinking back to your own childhood you would realize your parents did their best to keep you fervid and only punish if you did wrong. For Gregor he was treated the opposite , In The Metamorphosis Kafka portrays Gregors neglectful father by showing lack of love , isolation and treating Kafka as an actual bug rather than a son. If Gregor's father Mr Samsa did not neglect him Gregor would still feel like a bug because of the other things going on, such as having a stressful job, no close friends, and overall no one to vent to. Gregor is a young boy with no love in his way. From the beginning of the story Gregor woke up feeling terrible, it turned out he woke as a bug. If you feel that horrible to wake up with the feeling as a bug , your life must be miserable. Contributing to the horrible parenting and neglectful actions, Lack of love is shown in various ways throughout The Metamorphosis. From Family , Gregors boss , and including the lifestyle he has. “ constantly seeing new faces, no relationships that last or get more intimate. (1.4) “ . The situation gregor is in with the job he has, he travels a lot and does not have time to meet people that will bond and have a relationship with him. Family members continue to insist that Gregor is no longer in the family. Gregor was treated unreasonable , his father considered only the strictest treatment for him. Neglectful actions can lead to Poor mental and emotional health, Social difficulties. (Child Welfare Information Gateway. (2013). Long-term consequences of child abuse and neglect.) Lack of love can leave one questioning their own existence. Gregor was alone before he became a bug, the situation only made him realize how worthless he actually was. No friends , no family , and no ...
The family had lost all three of their boarders because Gregor came out of his room and startled them. In Grete’s eyes, Gregor caused them to lose this major source of income and she is ready to get rid of him. Grete tells her parents, “’things can’t go on like this. Maybe you don’t realize it, but I do. I won’t pronounce the name of my brother in front of this monster, and so all I say is: we have to get rid of it.’ ‘She’s absolutely right,’” [said Grete’s father] (Kafka 1187). This family who has had to deal with this insect, which is still their son, has just agreed to remove him from their house and their support. They have taken the final steps into isolating their son