Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Symbolism in Metamorphosis by Frank Kafka
The metamorphosis and how characters change
The metamorphosis and how characters change
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Symbolism in Metamorphosis by Frank Kafka
Adrian Olivas
Mrs. Loeb
AP Literature
December 22, 2014
Following Your Own Path
Sartre once said, “Life has no meaning a priori… It is up to you to give it a meaning, and value is nothing but the meaning that you choose.” Existentialism the philosophy which Satre brought into light questions ones existence. It is a philosophy promulgated in the 20th century that states, every person exists first and his nature, or essence, comes about later through the manner he chooses to live his life. This starting point is often called "the existential dilemma? Leaving for us to question the dread and anxiety in the world. In this absurdity, man must create his own essence, and in so doing so he must be responsible for this essence; he cannot blame
…show more content…
Kafka without any outside information puts Gregor in this situation. All the reader knows is that his transformation was out of control. While Gregor cannot control his transformation into a insect, he can overcome the challenge of him having been turned into a insect, he keeps telling himself that he will get up at a certain time. Yet he passes every time limit he sets for himself. His lack of motavion and effort seems to derive from his lack of identity and tasteless life. Since Gregor lived for his job and nothing else for so many years he was robbed of his human traits. His mundane and remedial task caused for him to believe he was living the life of an insect. The stories title also gives the reader an insight on Gregor, because metamorphosis translates into transformation or change. Gregor having been turned into a bug has changed the world revolving around him. Yet the world did not stop. Gregor being in a state of uselessness did not stump his family but has actually caused for them to go on with their lives. At first Gregor worked and provided for his family but when he is turned into a insect he just fades away and his family learns to go on without him like if he never existed. Making the whole story absurd because even though he lived for the happiness of others, when he is unable to help he is just tossed aside left to …show more content…
To end up being enslaved to your job, not being able to enjoy your life. Well, in the movie “Fight Club” one man is left with nothing after an explosion in his house (This man’s name is not mentioned so I will call him Jack.) After relizing this he states that he didn’t just loose his belongings but what defined him. The movie “Fight Club” explores the existential dilemma, through Jack’s search of missing
Similar to the woman in Gilman's story, Gregor, in "The Metamorphosis," watches as his life slowly deteriorates. He woke up one morning to find himself to have taken the shape of a bug. But early on he tried to continue in his normal activities; he focused on how he was going to make it to the train station so he did not miss his train, and how his employer would be upset with his absence from work. Then he begins to realize that he is a bug, and he cannot live his life the same way he used to. His sister begins to take care of him, and he loses touch with everything human that he used to know. His mother and father take away all of his furniture and other possessions. Gregor's family come to the agreement that the bug must be eliminated, it...
Gregor as a human loved and would do anything to help his family, even if the same affection was not reciprocated to him. As a bug, he attempted to stay true to his human values, even if he was no longer human. This can be seen in the very beginning of the story, when Gregor was anxious to get to work to support his family, even though he was a bug. But, as the story progresses, Gregor becomes less human and more buglike, as seen in this quote: “‘I hereby declare,’ the middle lodger said, raising his hand and casting his glance both on the mother and the sister, ‘that considering the disgraceful conditions prevailing in this apartment and family,’ with this he spat decisively on the floor, ‘I immediately cancel my room. I will, of course, pay nothing at all for the days which I have lived here;.’
This title holds more weight than what meets the eye. It is more than his actual metamorphosis from human to bug. There are many transformations that take place in this novel, even more than the obvious physical change. With the physical change of Gregors body, he also goes through a psychological change with it. When he was a human, his family depended on him. He quickly ended up depending on his family as he could not do anything on his own. His morale also diminishes throughout the novel. We were introduced to him as a very hopeful man who wanted to pay off his family’s debts. In the end, he loses hope and gives up on himself for the wellbeing of his family. Along with Gregors change in the novel, the title represents the change of other characters as well. From beginning to end, Grete transforms from a girl to a young lady. She also becomes more independent on herself by taking on more responsibility and getting a job. The family also must make some changes because they do not have Gregor to support them financially. This finally forces them to all get jobs and give up some luxury things they had
Gregor’s life slowly ends due to the betrayal of his his loved ones. He feels bad once his parents betray him and he feels he is an inconvenience. Then his sister is too busy and exhausted for him and he has nobody to help him or bring him food. Lastly, with nobody left Gregor betrays himself by simply allowing himself to die. Betrayal contributes a lot to this book as it is evident in every part of Gregor’s downfall. If Gregor’s family did not betray him, maybe they could have found him help to get better and back to normal. He also could have learned how to cope with his metamorphosis and lived with it everyday, however; Gregor’s family did betray him, and it slowly led him to end his life by starving
‘’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 fact that Gregor initially greets his metamorphosis with a chilling calm suggests that he previously saw himself as vermin like. In the same sense even when he knew he was a bug all he could think about was not being late for work. And even though Gregor was not the best salesmen he made going to work a priority because he wanted to provide for his family, Gregor never missed
Since Gregor could no longer support the family and pay off the debt, the family members also had to get jobs. In addition, the family did not want the world to see the vermin that was their son, and so Gregor become imprisoned by his family. The Samsa family locked Gregor in his room and, therefore, blocked Gregor off from the human world. Gregor’s room now served as a prison designated to him, where he was unable to communicate with his family and was trapped inside a body that repulses those he loves. Outside, the sky is overcast, and Gregor could hear “rain drops beating on the window gutter” (Kafka 1).
As the story plays out, you can see that Gregor was the only who was transformed into a “monster”. Gregor is actually the one who stays pretty constant throughout the story. Yes, he does start acting like an insect, but his thoughts were always human-like, unlike the rest of his family. They went from being compassionate and dependent to cold-hearted and independent. They saw no use in Gregor, so they potentially cut him off from the family. They went from trying to understand the transformation to wanting him dead and out of the
Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis is a masterfully written short story about Gregor Samsa, a man who devotes his life to his family and work, for nothing in return. Only when he is transformed into a helpless beetle does he begin to develop a self-identity and understanding of the relationships around him. The underlying theme of The Metamorphosis is an existential view that says any given choice will govern the later course of a person's life, and that the person has ultimate will over making choices. In this case, Gregor?s lack of identity has caused him to be numb to everything around him.
Despite his situation Gregor still feels that he can go to work. However he proves unable to do this when he encounters so much trouble when trying get out of bed and open the door. Gregors manager comes to his home, wondering why he didn’t show up for work. The manager gets irritable and tells Gregor in the presence of his family that he wanted a real explanation as to why he would not come out of his room. Gregor finally has enough strength to open the door with his mouth but by that time his manager had already left. He is now saddened and in fear that he lost his job, because he knows that he is the financial “backbone” of the family. When his family finally sees that he is an insect they are immediately disgusted. His mother faints, and his father forbids his mother and daughter to see him. Grete, Gregors ...
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.
When comparing Franz Kafka and his personal life to The Metamorphosis it is obvious in more ways than one that he was writing a twisted story of his life. The emotional and physical abuse Gregor goes through are similar to what Kafka went through in real life. They were both abused and neglected by their fathers when they were disappointed with them. Kafka uses Gregor transforming into a bug as a way of exaggerating himself, trying to express his feelings and point of view. When writing, Kafka felt as if he was trapped in his room which he referred to as "the noise headquarters of the apartment". Gregor was an exaggeration of this because he could not leave the house to escape the noises and abuse.
Helmut Richter analyzed the plot of The Metamorphosis in his essay. He depicts the main plot of the story to be Gregor’s failure at his work, which leads to his death. The climax of the story starts off early in the book. When Gregor wakes up one morning, he realizes that he has turned into a giant insect. Gregor was a salesman and his job required that he was very determined in his work. Kafka proves to us that Gregor did not do a good job as a salesman by transforming into a bug: a strong work force. Kafka’s use of this metaphor stresses the poor work that Gregor does as a salesman.
The Merriam – Webster Dictionary defines existentialism as a chiefly 20th century philosophical movement embracing diverse doctrines but centering on analysis of individual existence in an unfathomable universe and the plight of the individual who must assume ultimate responsibility for acts of free will without any certain knowledge of what is right or wrong or good or bad (Merriam, 2011). In other words, an existentialist believes that our natures are the natures we make for ourselves, the meaning of our existence is that we just exist and there may or may not be a meaning for the existence, and we have to individually decide what is right or wrong and good or bad for ourselves. No one can answer any of those things for us. A good example of existentialism is Woody Allen’s movie, Deconstructing Harry. A man is haunted by his past and his past has followed him into the present. He is a wreck not because of the things that happened to him, but because of the choices he made. He is consumed by regret and insecurity and he tries to find blame in his situation with someone other than himself, however he cannot (Barnes, 2011). Throughout the rest of this paper I will be discussing two of the most prominent existentialists, Kierkegaard and Nietzsche.
Existentialism is a term that was coined specifically by Jean-Paul Sartre in regards to his own life. Sartre had adopted the Atheistic approach to life and its meaning, and while he was not the first or only one to do so, was the first and only one to come up with a way to describe it. Under Existentialism, man lives without higher power or guidance and must rely solely on himself and what he is aiming to do in order to lead a fulfilling life. This can be anything. Critics of Sartre propose that, because such a vast array of options exists within the meaningfulness of life, this philosophy is obsolete and trivial in nature. This is not true, as it is seen in everyday examples – celebrities, namely – that a thirst
In The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, the very first event of the book is the main character, Gregor Samsa, waking up and finding that he has turned “into a monstrous vermin” (3). Kafka never addresses exactly why this happens, and none of the characters in the novel, Gregor included, ever look into the causes of Gregor’s grotesque transformation into what can only be described as a giant insect. However, this omitted detail is an intentional aspect of Kafka’s story; the story that demonstrates in a very physical way the metaphysical effects of living the unsatisfactory life Gregor led before his transformation. Naturally, many critics agree with this assessment, arguing that Gregor’s transformation is his physical form representing the less