...Franz Kafka is the author of the book Metamorphosis. He was born in Prague on July 3, 1883. Born a German-speaking Jewish boy. Lived with his parents for most his life. He is best known for describing absurd situations with simple, cold words. Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis could fall under a couple of genres in literature, they would include: classic, fiction, and fantasy. The way that Gregor changes illustrates that the theme would be the absurdity of life. In the beginning Gregor wakes up as a bug and is kind of scared along with his family. Towards the middle he is used to his body and isn’t scared anymore. His family is starting to get used to the idea that the bug is Gregor and that’s what he looks like now. At the end though all of that changes, his sister wants to get rid of the idea that that’s Gregor and they want him out of the house so they can be free from fear again. Change can happen at anytime and it can be very destructive and life changing....
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...Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka , is a story about change, as the title of the novel implies. But As we go deeper into the story, the continuous changes brings us to the root that it is the desire to existence that Gregor truly wants. In an unsettling dream, Gregor Samsa wakes up and realizes that he has transformed into a “monstrous vermin”. By examining the story, the metamorphosis of the protagonist represents his true self and his yearning of freedom from maintaining the entire financial stability of his family. Gregor’s metamorphosis and the dependence on him greatly affects Gregor’s sister, Grete. This leads to Grete’s drastic transformation from a child to a young woman and is in turn the biggest effect to Gregor's fate. Gregor’s mind never fully copes with his physical change into a bug. Gregor approaches life the same after the metamorphosis, doing almost the same routines; in fact Gregor almost completely ignores the change of his physical body, and only spends a small amount of time worrying about such a significant occurrence. Gregor becomes travelling salesman because his father loses his job, “At that time Gregor’s sole desire...
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...Kean Nicole Nagui Master Ho English 116-602 4/8/2014 Essay 1, prompt 2 Common grounds of “The Trial” and “The Metamorphosis” Works from the one of the most influential author, Franz Kafka, is like trying to read hieroglyphics. Unless, of course you are Egyptian. It is difficult to comprehend someone that comes from a total different era or background. Usually an author, relates their theme of their works with simple and easy literary devices, such as symbolism. So does Franz Kafka, but on a greater scale. All of the aspects and elements of his works seem unimportant, because of the different interpretations of his works. Most of his works , depicts his own thoughts and dreams. Like some authors, Kafka focuses on a single character symbolizing himself or his life. To fully recognized and understand this method , the audience must study his background and just basic history to understand his motive. He stands out against all these other authors because he goes against the flow of the writing norms. Some of the genre's found in his works are Kafkaesque, Magic Realism,Dystopia,Fantasy,Science Fiction,Modernism,Post Modernism and Existentialism. First time reading one of Kafka's predominant novel, "The Trial" was pretty overwhelming. Personally, I have nothing to compare his works to, other than his own work, in particular, "The Metamorphosis." While these two have some obvious similarities, there are some hidden and usually inconspicuous ones that readers, like myself, don’t...
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...Short Essay Kafka, “The Metamorphosis”: pg.1411 beginning with “His father, however,” ending at the end of Part 2. In Kafkas “The Metamorphosis”, the question of how much of Gregor’s humanity remains makes up most of the second section of the story. As the members of the Samsa family adapt to the situation they’ve been put in now with Gregor, each one seems to form a different belief of how much humanity indeed does or can remain in him. At the beginning for instance, Grete leaves milk for Gregor, which means she is assuming that his preference for milk when he was still human continues now that he’s a bug. So maybe Grete believes initially that some part of Gregor might still be there. But then she begins to notice that Gregor’s tastes in food have changed and now likes to crawl about the walls of his room, which makes her begin to realize he is now just an insect. Grete suggests taking all Gregor’s things out of his room to eliminate obstacles to his crawling and to make more space and better for an insect. The mother, on the other hand, argues that Gregor will want his things when he returns to his former human self, and she even refers to Gregor as her “unfortunate son” at one point, saying that she still believes Gregor to be the same despite his appearance. But the father show no sympathy towards Gregor or that he is the same, and attacks him as though he were a wild animal when he escapes his room. During all the commotion Gregor hides as usual, but he becomes anxious...
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...My First Essay My Personal Essay I walked into the first class that I have ever taught and confronted utter chaos. The four students in my Latin class were engaged in a heated spitball battle. They were all following the lead of Andrew, a tall eleven-year-old African-American boy. Andrew turned to me and said, "Why are we learning Latin if no one speaks it? This a waste of time." I broke out in a cold sweat. I thought, "How on Earth am I going to teach this kid?" It was my first day of Summer bridge, a nationwide collaborative of thirty-six public and private high schools. Its goal is to foster a desire to learn in young, underprivileged students, while also exposing college and high-school students to teaching. Since I enjoy tutoring, I decided to apply to the program. I thought to myself, "Teaching can't be that difficult. I can handle it." I have never been more wrong in my life. After what seemed like an eternity, I ended that first class feeling as though I had accomplished nothing. Somehow I needed to catch Andrew's attention. For the next two weeks, I tried everything from indoor chariot races to a Roman toga party, but nothing seemed to work. During the third week, after I had exhausted all of my ideas, I resorted to a game that my Latin teacher had used. A leader yells out commands in Latin and the students act out the commands. When I asked Andrew to be the leader, I found the miracle that I had been seeking. He thought it was great that...
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...Absurdity in Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis” This title is in the reference of the novella “The Metamorphosis” (“Die Verwandlung”) by Franz Kafka (first published in 1915). One day Gregor Samsa woke up to find himself turned into a monstrous insect. And thus begins the story of the Samsa family. Wrapped in a very descriptive narration of Gregor Samsa as an insect and his family adjusting to their new lives, Kafka wove a tale that seem absurd and surrealistic in nature but is soberly realistic. It is the tragedy of Gregor Samsa in which everyone else lives happily ever after. The structure of this novella is a very unique than the standard structure of exposition, complication, climax, and unravelling as Kafka...
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...Michael Willar Essay #1 Alexander Balogh World Lit II The underlying metaphor in Kafka’s “Metamorphosis” The story, which I have chosen, is “Metamorphosis” written by Franz Kafka. Kafka’s “Metamorphosis” can be read as a depiction of humanity’s condition in the modern. The text can be depicted as humanities condition in the modern world, as Gregor Samsa transformation into a “monstrous” insect. Gregor’s transformation is in fact a metaphor for his realization, as what he is in the Samsa household. He is in actual fact an insect; he exemplifies the characteristics of an insect, he leaves no fun for himself, “He just sits here at the table, quietly reading the newspaper or poring over timetables.” This illustrates that Gregor does not possess human characteristics, but is in actual fact an insect to the Samsa household. One could argue that Kafka’s “Metamorphosis depicts human conditions, as these days, everything is about work, the focus on one’s inner self and inner person has diminished. The human race is infatuated with greed, money, power and status, but we as humans have forgotten and lost the beauty of one’s inner being and self. People have lost identity, in Gregor’s case, he is just an insect, who’s sole purpose is to provide for his family, and not for one second think about his own well being. Gregor does not have any real hobbies; any form of fun, friends (apart from his sister Grete) and all he can do and think about is work. Thus drawing the parallels of...
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...Eva Lane April 29, 2015 Essay 2 Modernism/Post-Modernism World Lit Isolation Various radical and utopian influences stimulated by new ideas in psychology, philosophy, psychoanalysis, and political theory were influential to various modernist works. Franz Kafka's, “The Metamorphosis”, which was written during the era of Modernism, provides dynamic visuals meant to awaken its readers to the frightening isolation of individuals in the modern, bureaucratic state, as well as providing an autobiographical undertone. Moreover, the work is reportedly one of the few stories that satisfied him enough that he desired that it be published. In order to truly appreciate Kafka's work it is important to understand who he was and what his state of mind and overall disposition was when he wrote “The Metamorphosis”. In many regards his own personal background mirrors the character Gregor in the story. Although Kafka was intelligent, he lacked confidence and assertiveness in his daily interactions with others. It could be speculated that he felt like an outcast being a German-speaking Jew living in Prague. Throughout the story his inadequacy is represented by the theme of isolation. The insect that Gregor has transformed into following some unpleasant dreams could signify his self-concept, but also his desire to convey the target audience's sense of isolation in the modern, bureaucratic state. There are several themes of isolation that occur during the story. Gregor feels...
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...The Stories Ugly Duckling, “Daphne And Apollo” and Metamorphosis all share the theme of transformation. As seen in the present time appearance transformation change the way other views that person. In the Story the Ugly Duckling, the duckling is seen as ugly by the others only because of its appearance, but when everyone realizes it changes it is not a duck, but instead it is a Swan the view and feelings are changed. In Metamorphosis Gregor the main character goes through an appearance transformation overnight his family see him as different and sympathizing with him. In The myth “Daphne and Apollo” Daphne transforms and Apollo’s feelings change in a different way than in the other two stories. In real life there is no unconditional love and...
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...Despite Gregor’s complete physical transformation into an insect at the beginning of Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, his character’s personality changes very little over the course of the book. Gregor is a good man with a good heart – he is very close with his family, especially his little sister. This essay analyzes Gregor’s lonely yet compassionate and selfless character. The reader is immediately brought into Gregor Samsa’s bizarre world in the first sentence of the novella: “Waking up from anxious dreams, he discovered… he had been changed into a monstrous venomous bug” (3). A normal reaction for someone who goes to sleep as human and wakes up the next morning as a hideous insect would be utter shock and panic – but for some odd reason, this doesn’t happen with Gregor. Instead, he rolls over in bed, looks out the window, and the first thing he thinks is that he will be late for work. “I have to deal with the problems of traveling, the worries about train connections, irregular bad food, temporary and constantly changing human relationships which never come from the heart… to hell with it all!” (4). Gregor is oblivious to the fact that his transformation even occurred. He’s concerned about the morning’s commute – and the crowded train – even the bad food he might eat that day! He’s overly pessimistic. But as the novella progresses, the reader learns more of the Gregor’s personality – in particular, his loneliness. It’s obvious he has a lack of interaction within his own family...
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...1. I think Christopher Plummer played the role of Professor Vladimir Nabokov very well in this film. His lecture was a straightforward summary about the story “The Metamorphosis”. His lecture helped me understand the story better by retelling the story in details. The drawings of the “beetle” help me visualize what kind of insect Gregor was and how Gregor would look out the window. The professor brought life to this story because of the way he explained it. 2. When I read the first sentence to the story I had no idea what this story would be about. The first sentence described a striking image to me when Gregor wakes up and “he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect” (pg. 428). When I first read this I kept wondering why Gregor turned into an insect overnight. I think Kafka chose an insect because insect are not species that are loved or cared for which could relate to how Gregor’s family members behaved towards him after he was transformed. At first all of the family members act sympathetic towards Gregor after his transformation but their feeling of sympathy change to feelings of disgust and ashamed. Grete becomes his caregiver and tries to figure out what kind of food he favors since his transformation but she can barely stand to be in the same room with him because of his appearance. The mother hopes Gregor will change back into his human form but she faints every time she sees him. The father shows the least sympathy and even attacks Gregor twice...
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...Metamorphosis is a change in form, structure, or appearance. Change is a major theme throughout Franz Kafka's novella, The Metamorphosis. There is a significant relationship between the title, The Metamorphosis, and the theme of change. Kafka's main character, Gregor Samsa, undergoes many changes and his transformation evokes change in his family. Several metamorphoses take place involving Gregor. First, a physical change occurs, "When Gregor Samsa woke up one morning from unsettling dreams, he found himself changed in his bed into a monstrous vermin," and after that happened, Gregor's voice changes from human into the voice of a bug. "That was the voice of an animal," Gregor's manager said, but the words seemed perfectly clear to him. Beginning to see things less and less, Gregor experiences a change in his vision. An example, found on page 29, would be Gregor seeing the hospital less and less distinctly. A mental change in Gregor occurs when he starts not caring about or having no consideration for his family. "It hardly surprised him that he was showing so little consideration for the others; once such consideration had been his greatest pride." This has is a growing problem with him in the story because of the social change that Gregor has experienced from the alienation from the rest of his family. The only thing Gregor had to look forward to at one point was when his sister would come and clean his room or the charwoman would come in and clean. This was such...
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...Existentialism talks about man making himself. Man has a dream for himself to fulfill one day. These dreams sometimes get the best of people and become them. These people become isolated from society with only their dream keeping them going. Isolation is everywhere. There are different types of isolation: intrapersonal, interpersonal, and existential isolation. We see the main character Gregor Samsa going through all three types of isolation in the short story The Metamorphosis. Gregor Samsa is an ordinary man with a dream to one day fulfill. This dream or goal of his has become him. The only thing keeping him going is the thought that one day his goal will be reached. This dream has kept him running away from reality, which has led to his isolation. The first type of isolation that we see in Gregor is interpersonal isolation; this is the form of isolation from others. Throughout the short story Gregor isolates himself from his family. He overworks himself to try to maintain his family by himself. People would think that such dedication from a son would bring him closer to his parents; “but for all the work one does, one still doesn’t gain any right to be treated with loving kindness by everyone; on the contrary, one is alone, a perfect stranger to everyone, and merely an object of curiosity.” (Emrich) Gregor did not stand up for himself, he let his parents control his life; a life he despised. His parents had such control over him that he no longer was a son to them, but an...
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...The Hidden Parts Everything is hidden. One watches the movies, reads the literature and even looks at the arts but does not really look at the true meaning behind all of this. The hidden theme. Alienation. “It is used to refer both to a personal psychological state and to a type of social relationship” (Kalekin, 1) Many may have heard of Marx theory. Karl Marx, a well known philosopher in the twentieth century went and pursued his calling. “[His] works inspired the foundation of many communist regimes” (“Karl”, 1). Istvan Meszaros clearly states Marx theory on the origination of alienation in a way that no man can ever forget. “It must be made equally clear, however, that such influences are exercised in the dialectical sense of ‘“continuity in discontinuity”’ (Meszaros, 1). There is very much “continuity in discontinuity” in literature, media, and the arts of today. In Mary Shelley’s book, Frankenstein, the hideous ‘monster’ that was created by Victor Frankenstein was frowned upon, fled from, and even abandoned by his own creator. This shows the inhumanity that society shows towards those who are different. “There was none among the myriads of men that existed who would pity or assist me; and should I feel kindness towards my enemies?” (Shelley, 115) The creature had merely a different look, but his emotions and desires were no different than any other human: love, companionship, and a sense of belonging. Many cast him away because his looks rang out evil. "I am alone...
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...“The more you do for someone, the more that someone takes you for granted.” At the beginning of Kafka's "Metamorphosis", Gregor reveals to the audience that he has "...an exhausting profession! One the road, day in, day out" (1205). We later discover that the motivation behind his work commitment is to pay back debts owed by his parents. When Gregor's mother states " It almost worries me that he never goes out on his evenings off...his only hobby is a little occasional woodwork" (1208), we realize that Gregor has sacrificed any friendships and that he is not gaining any personal reward or motivation for his efforts. In return for his work, Gregor's parents however, were unemployed. To Gregor's father, "Breakfast was the most important meal of the day, which he liked to draw out for hours over the perusal of several newspapers" (1211). Meanwhile, Gregor had to get up and be on the early train for work on a normal basis. It appears that his father has no appreciation for all of the work and effort Gregor completes for the family. Gregor's sister, Grete, had become accustomed to "wearing pretty frocks, sleeping in late...taking part in a few modest celebrations, and above all, playing the violin (1219). These were all due to the amount of work and money Gregor contributed to his family. "They had just become used to it, both the family and Gregor; they gratefully took receipt of all his money, which he willingly handed over, but there was no longer any particular warmth about...
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