The Metamorphosis and the Life of Franz Kafka

1937 Words4 Pages

In his novel The Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka describes his own life through the life of his protagonist Gregor Samsa. Careful study of Franz Kafka's life shows that Kafka's family, workplace, and reaction to the adversity in his family and workplace are just like those of Gregor. So we might ask why Gregor was transformed into a bug since Kafka obviously never turned into a bug. The absurd image illustrates how Gregor lacks self-respect and feels like he's a bug in the eyes of his family and society. Franz Kafka was unhappy and never found his place in life, either. Therefore, he might have felt just like Gregor, like a bug. Furthermore the novel describes Kafka's expectations of his own future and he was partially correct.

The most obvious similarity between Kafka and Gregor is their

negative relationship to their fathers, which is a major theme in the novel and

in Kafka's life. The Kafka and Prague Website describes Kaka's father as "a

notorious tyrant, both to Franz Kafka and to his mother, Julie Löwy." Gregor

fears his father, which is evident in the fact that he keeps working as a

salesman, like his father wants him to, even though he hates that job (Kafka,

2000). Gregor refers to his father as "the father," which signifies that he

feels distant to his father. The father, in turn, acts like a tyrant when he

uses a stick to get Gregor back into his room (Kafka, 2008-9) and throws apples

at him (Kafka, 2019-20). The Kafka and Prague Website concludes that "Kafka's

father was the very opposite of Kafka himself" and that "Kafka's relationship

with his father comes out in some of his books as a hopeless conflict against an

overwhelming powe...

... middle of paper ...

...e a legacy now has a legacy as one of the most famous writer of the

previous century.

Sources Cited

Coulehan, Jack. 'Franz Kafka, The Metamorphosis: Commentary.' 1-29-1997. New

York University Web site. http://endeavor.med.nyu.edu/lit-med/lit-med-db/webdocs/webdescrips/kafka98-des-.html (2-14-02)

Goodwin, Evan. "Kafka". Littlebluelight.com. 07 Nov. 2000. 13 Feb. 2002.

http://www.littlebluelight.com/kafkamain.html>

Kafka and Prague."Kafka and Prague". Tripod.com. 11 Nov. 2001. Tripod.13 Feb.

2002 http://members.tripod.com/Kafka_and_Prague/family.htm>

Kafka, Franz. "The Metamorphosis."The Norton Anthology of World Literature. 2nd ed. Ed. Sarah Lawall. New York: WW Norton & Company, 2002. 1999-2030

Samuels, Bridget. 'Kafka's Existentialism.'2000. Personal Website.

http://bridgetsamuels.com/lit/kafka.htm > (3-5-02)

Open Document