...The Metamorphosis The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka is a fictional novel written in the early 20’s about a traveling salesman named Gregory Samsa, who is spontaneously transformed into a bug. The Metamorphosis gives no clear explanation as to why many of the events in the novel occur including why the metamorphosis occurs. Life itself gives no explanation to why things happen. Gregor does not understand the forces shaping his life, and neither do we, but we are free to interpret them as we wish. And although nobody’s interpretation of their own life or someone else’s for that matter, is the same, no interpretation is wrong. Gregor Samsa wakes up one morning to come to the realization that he has transformed into a bug. “It wasn’t a dream” (The Metamorphosis). Gregor, However, does not seem at all concerned that he has unexpectedly woken up as an insect. Although he is a bit perplexed, he doesn’t seem worried or petrified as one might assume. He simply notices his odd state of being and tries to go back to sleep hoping to “forget this nonsense” (The Metamorphosis). He cannot find a comfortable position to sleep because his insect body does not allow him. Samsa is a bit bothered but immediately begins to think about his job and the regret of becoming a salesman, considering it is such a strenuous job. "Oh, God", he thought, "what a strenuous career it is that I've chosen! Travelling day in and day out. Doing business like this takes much more effort than doing your own business...
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...Gregor Samsa is barely starting to wake up and does not feel comfortable in his body. He tells himself he is a hard working man and needs a lot of sleep to put up with his stressful life. Gregor believes the lack of sleep is making his body feel unnatural. Samsa goes into deep thought about his life and is complications with work and his family. He compares his life to everyone else's life and wishes he could be like them. This quote illustrates that Samsa's mental state is not very strong and he is not happy with the life he is living. Samsa feels trapped beneath his parents' rules and they are the only reason why he is able to stay sane when it comes to work. He does not get along with his boss and knows that his boss has control over his daily life....
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...The Effects of Gregor Samsa’s Metamorphosis on Himself and on the Other Characters Submitted by: Andrea Mendoza Maunahan IV- Yakal Submitted to the English and Literature Department in partial fulfillment of the requirements in English IV and Literature IV for the Academic Year 2012- 2013 February 26, 2013 Introduction In the world of fiction, there have been many stories about people transforming, or partially transforming into animals. Some make the most out of it, like super heroes; while others, aren’t very fortunate. Peter Parker, or Spiderman, acquired spider abilities but his appearance was still of a human. On the other hand, his enemy, Lizardman, who was once Dr. Osborn, has a body and has the abilities of a lizard. The only thing human left of Lizardman is his ability to speak and think like a human. There is also Beastboy from Teen Titans whose body turns into a beast’s and can turn back into a human, a green one at that. But how did they turn into what they are? Peter Parker can turn into Spiderman because a certain kind of spider bit him. Dr. Osborn can turn into Lizardman because he injects a green chemical he created himself on his body to mutate it. Beastboy can turn into different beasts because it’s his special power. But in Gregor Samsa’s tale, The Metamorphosis, he didn’t turn into a super hero. He didn’t even turn into someone’s enemy. His transformation isn’t a power but instead, a curse. He can’t turn back into a human. And worst of all,...
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...about others, just like Gregor, mankind seems to live a meaningless and ineffectual existence. Although Gregor's metamorphosis is actual and physical, Kafka implies through his change that all too often mankind is forced into an insect-like existence, no better than the bugs at the bottom of the natural order. When mankind tries to rise above their insect status and connect with humanity, as Gregor did when he emerged from his room to see his sister and listen to the violin, they are cruelly driven back into isolation and alienation. Through Gregor, Kafka presents a totally tragic view of man's existence. Kafka also shows that mankind is driven by materialism, often to the exclusion of developing human relationships. Modern life demands that a person have a job to earn money to fulfill materialistic desires. The materialistic mind-set usually enslaves the individual and transforms him into a beast or insect who does not have time to care for others. Gregor is the perfect example. He hates his job as a salesman but endures it in order to provide material things for his family. In order to have and give financial security, he sacrifices a social life, companionship, pleasure, and dreams. His life is miserable, and he counts the days until he can quit his job. Ironically, the people that he supports and loves prove they have no depth of emotion for him. Once he cannot financially care for them, they one by one desert him, adding to his total misery. Gregor is literally left to climb...
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...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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...capitalism which shaped the global struggles in the latter half of the twentieth century. In 1847 Frederick Engels, defined communism in The Principles of Communism as, “the doctrine of the conditions of the liberation of the proletariat” (1), the proletariat’s being the lower working classes which sell their labor to gain capital (Engel 2). The communist ideal calls for the rejection of capitalistic ideals and the adoption of a classless society with no private ownership of resources but rather public ownership of capital resources in order to avoid the evils of capitalism (Engel 13). The Metamorphosis reflects communistic ideals in its depiction of Gregor and the Samsa family, Gregor in the first pages of the book is depicted as a massive vermin, unable to provide or care for himself or his family (Kafka 3). Soon after we learn that Gregor works a low paying menial wage job as a traveling salesman (Kafka 4), Gregor’s lowly position presents him as the proletariat enveloped into...
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...in a suburban lifestyle experience a lot that shapes their future. Example of Self-Identity is the feeling of a teenager that he/she can be who she wants instead of falling into the pressure of drugs and alcohol. Either way from this typical example, the teenage could find his/her from falling for the drugs or rejecting them. If he/she went under the influence and became hooked on drugs then he/she would learn that drugs effect life terribly and need to change immediately. Numerous of books, plays, and There are a plethora of different texts that shows the search for self-identity like “Metamorphosis”, “Story of an Hour”, and “Things Fall Apart.” “Metamorphosis” is a novella by Franz Kafka published in 1015 about a traveling salesman, Gregor Samsa, awakens to discover he is transformed into an insect in order to see the truth about himself and his family. “Story of an Hour” is a short but intriguing story written by Kate Chopin which was published on December 6, 1894 about a period of time, an hour, Louise Mallard had to experience her husband’s death which contributes to her path to discovering her self-identity. “Things Fall Apart” is a post-colonial novel written by Nigerian author, Chinua Achebe, in 1958. This is an amazing novel that has a lot of major conflicts and an interesting story line that contribute to this self-fulfilling quest. An analysis of these three texts will reveal ones challenge with the process of discovering their identity, explain the possible outcomes...
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...Doll House To what extent do the historical and biographical context necessary or helpful in understanding A Doll House? The historical and biographical context are helpful in understanding A Doll House because they give outside information that helps to better understand the play. The biographical view helps one understand that many of the themes are taken from real life situations and they are not just made up. An example of this is the sacrificial role of women. In the story Nora sacrificed a lot for her family. She sacrificed everything when Torvald was about to die she took a loan out of the bank and that was illegal at the time. This parallels with the life of Henrik Ibsen because his mother sacrificed a lot for his family. Her father was a successful merchant and she married into a merchant family but her husband made some bad decisions that caused them to lose all of their money. He became abusive and started to abuse Henrik’s mother. She sacrificed time and again for the sake of her family. What values are shown in A Doll House? Henrik Ibsen presents values such as gender roles, family, marriage, and social status. The main value that I personally agree with is the idea of gender equality. I believe that men and women are equal and should be treated as such. This has not been reflected in history as men have taken advantage of their leadership roles and extended them into the huosehold. A Doll House presents this value in a subtle manner, but it is prominent. For...
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...only values the person monetarily. By comparing modernity to slavery, Kafka reveals how society depends on the willingness of its participants to be dehumanized. Morrison’s use of characters like Sethe and Paul D reveals how slavery ignores the humanity of a person, whereas Kafka uses Gregor to explore how...
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...had just woken up in the morning. “He found himself changed in his bed into a monstrous vermin”. It is unclear what this transformation symbolizes at first, but soon we begin to realize that he has worked like a "bug" for much of his life and his work dehumanizes him. It is arguable that that the author may be indicating that a bugs life is more desirable than a humans life. An animal’s life would stereotypically be to sleep, eat and reproduce, different from the stresses of a human’s life if work and stress. The author may view dehumanization in a positive light, as the book progresses and the main character become more content with the changes to him. “One could breathe more freely”. Dehumanization as a physical sense allows for more freedom and less restriction upon the character. The author may be implying that the main character turning into a giant bug has been stripped off his human qualities which are the result on over working. The dehumanization on the main character is evident in the first thoughts of his, “oh God, what an exhausting job I’ve picked on!” The author may have intended to attack society on what priorities are set in life. Rather than spending more time and effort with making a living , enjoy living a appreciate those around you before it is all lost. This is the result at the end of the novel as he dies. The metamorphosis may be a representation of the side effect of family conflict which the author experienced himself. The main...
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...individual freedom, and individual choice. Runaway by Kanye West is a great example of this philosophical theory and many connections can be made to his work and the work of Soren Kierkegaard, Franz Kafka, and Albert Camus. These four artists apply existentialist themes in their literature and even their private lives. The two themes that I found preeminent in these artists work are isolation and death. The four artists have a very philosophical cohesion between them. They all have a sense of isolationism in their works which makes their creations so unique. In Runaway by Kanye West, a phoenix falls to earth like a meteor and doesn’t know where she has ended up. The phoenix attempts to fit in with our society but she doesn’t know how to act in front of all these people so she is isolated. When the phoenix is at Kanye West’s dinner party, she sees a turkey that is about to be served for dinner and she is shocked and shrieks obnoxiously in front of all the guests and they look at her very differently and isolate her. In Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, Gregor Samsa is portrayed as a bug and people look at him very differently. Gregor is isolated in his home and can’t leave because he doesn’t want his parents to look bad. “During the day Gregor did not want to show himself in the window” (Kafka 30). This quote explains his isolationism and his self consciousness of him not wanting to be seen by others. Kafka and Kanye both include death in the end of their stories. Gregor and the phoenix...
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...10000 quiz questions and answers www.cartiaz.ro 10000 general knowledge questions and answers 10000 general knowledge questions and answers www.cartiaz.ro No Questions Quiz 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 Carl and the Passions changed band name to what How many rings on the Olympic flag What colour is vermilion a shade of King Zog ruled which country What colour is Spock's blood Where in your body is your patella Where can you find London bridge today What spirit is mixed with ginger beer in a Moscow mule Who was the first man in space What would you do with a Yashmak Who betrayed Jesus to the Romans Which animal lays eggs On television what was Flipper Who's band was The Quarrymen Which was the most successful Grand National horse Who starred as the Six Million Dollar Man In the song Waltzing Matilda - What is a Jumbuck Who was Dan Dare's greatest enemy in the Eagle What is Dick Grayson better known as What was given on the fourth day of Christmas What was Skippy ( on TV ) What does a funambulist do What is the name of Dennis the Menace's dog What are bactrians and dromedaries Who played The Fugitive Who was the King of Swing Who was the first man to fly across the channel Who starred as Rocky Balboa In which war was the charge of the Light Brigade Who invented the television Who would use a mashie niblick In the song who killed Cock Robin What do deciduous...
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