...Modernism in the Metamorphoses and the depiction of Modern man The modernist movement in literature began around the turn of the century and created a dramatic change in the way that authors viewed their work. The new breed of writers were extremely affected by the new perception of the world and our place as human beings in it. WW2 was on the verge of the beginning, and the literary world was expressing their fears and attitudes toward their impending doom through their writing. Modernism has a few key themes that Franz Kafka follows throughout his piece ‘The Metamorphosis”. One of the most common themes among popular modernist literature are the rejection of literary tradition through experimentation with a darker style writing. Surrealism was common among pieces which often involved the decaying of the human existence that was occurring in the (at the time) current, more face-paced, disconnected society. In this paper, my goal is to show modernism in “Metamorphoses” and highlight the factors which make Gregor, the epitome of modern man. The isolation and despair that Gregor experienced is obvious from the start. From the very first sentence of the story we notice this solitude. Gregor is lying on his bed in a shape of a gigantic insect and there is nobody around to help him. This theme of isolation is even more present in the rest of the story as we see that Gregor can't depend on anyone for support. He locks himself in his room when he is...
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...In Franz Kafka’s novel ,The Metamorphosis, the author pertains to his character, Gregor Samsa,with uncontrollable circumstances such as isolation caused by outside forces. Gregor Samsa, upon waking one morning finds himself transformed into what he already feels like, an insect. His parents deem him unworthy of their love and throw him away like the rest of their junk. Gregor’s father chooses a job for him that dismisses all hopes of forming human connections because of its time consuming nature. Experiences such as theses parallel with Kafka. Born into an anti Semitic community, along with a very opinionated father Kafka’s life is filled with people pushing him away. Kafka truly lives through his characters, especially Gregor, in this short...
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...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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...The topic that I will be talking about is about is how Gregor is treated bad, and etc. I will writing about how he is treated, how he was ill, and things that pertain to that. I will bring up examples such as no-one would hardly take care of him and how he is mistreated. The reader would probably care because of simply, how he is treated. Gregor would be one of the main characters in the story, and seeing how he is treated. It would catch people's attention on that. They would be worried, or really curious about what is happening. I am trying to prove out of all of this, is where Gregor was mistreated. Well, going toward the end of the book, Gregor gets really ill. No One could possibly care about him at the moment. I know because in part...
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...Submission is a major theme that is displayed in Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis. According to biblical passages, ‘submission’ is defined as making a choice that results in placing others above yourself and this is exactly what Gregor does throughout the novella. In Leopold von Sacher-Masoch’s Venus in Furs, the story starts off with a man talking to the Goddess of Love about submission to female authority. She claims that a woman must treat a man like a slave and a plaything because her cruelty will secure his love and admiration. Her concept of submission illustrates Gregor’s relationship with his family. The goddess begins by saying that no northerners are able to understand the concept of love. The man argues that...
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...One day Gregor the human awoke from unsettling dreams he noticed that he turned into a monstrous vermin a bug.He didn't know what was happening to him,he didn't know how it was happening,nor did he know how it happened. He didn't know what he was going to do his work was traveling ,changing trains eating miserable food seeing new faces no relationships that don't last or just get more intimate. How was his family going to react to this situation that has happened, Will he still be loved and taken care of, will they still treat him like he is the human Gregor? I'm going to be writing about how he makes it through life being a bug. How is he going to do work, if he is going to get the same love by his family since he is not a human he is a bug....
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...understanding of the cultural and contextual considerations of Kafka’s novella, The Metamorphosis deepened. I learned about Kafka’s life, the social structure of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the late nineteenth century, as well as the interpretations of his work, which helped me understand the themes of oppression and alienation, and how it influenced Kafka’s writing of The Metamorphosis. Although the novel is not a representation of Kafka’s life, parallels between Gregor and Kafka can be noted throughout the novel. The Metamorphosis may have been a metaphorical allegory written to expresses Kafka’s unvoiced antipathy with his life and authoritarian father. According to the presentation over Kafka’s biography,...
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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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...Franz Kafka, through “The Metamorphosis”, exhibits the limits of familial loyalty and love which reveals the abhorrent reality: unconditional love in the modern world is fictitious. The contrast between Gregor’s love for his family and theirs toward him clashes. The absence of loyalty in the families bond is what drives them to mistreat and use him. Even in the midst of Gregor’s metamorphosis his parents neglect him and his needs. Mr. Samsa throws apples at Gregor to show the reality of the family’s true feelings towards him. Furthermore, Gregor never has a cross thought of his parents or his sister, instead, mid death he meditates on their good qualities. Gregor loves his family even though they don’t feel the same. After Mr. Samsa loses...
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...Absurdity stresses the incompatibility between rational thought and the universe. Camus considers the recognition of absurdity an act of liberation from the restraints of humankind. In Camus’s The Stranger and Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, the absurd is continually repudiated by society; individuals in these novels shun the human condition of absurdity, aligning with any trend of mankind. Existentialism emphasizes self-reliance and individualism. The philosophy encourages people to make their own decisions without accounting for societal trends or laws. Humans inherently have free will which is encroached by social structure and man-made laws. Similarly, the emphasis on freewill yield choices made only by an individual’s mind. These personal...
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...My idea of existence is that we are all existing and we always will until we die. We never stop existing while we are alive on earth. Even though Gregor was not himself anymore on the outside he was still Gregor on the inside. Throughout his life his parents have just used him to do their work. Gregor still exists after he turns into a bug. Gregor is still existing because he still has emotions and feelings even after he turns into a bug. He can still talk and try to communicate but they can’t understand what he is saying. “Unmistakably his own voice, but as if from below, an insistent distressed chirping intruded, which left the clarity of his words intact only for a moment before so badly garbling them.” Gregor may be a bug and can’t do all of the things that he used to be able to do but he is still Gregor on the inside. In his family’s eyes Gregor doesn’t exist anymore. His family just sees him as a bug and no longer Gregor. They don’t want to take care of him but his mother and sister do because they know they have to. His father doesn’t want anything to do with Gregor. He is so disgusted with Gregor that he beats him with a cane and throws apples at him. Gregor and his family were not very close before he turned into a bug and now they are even farther apart. During Gregor’s life over the past few years they have only used him for his money. Gregor did not see that and he was just happy to help his family. He is the one who is paying for their apartment and working to...
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...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 usually pick out. Finding some common themes in “The Trial” and “The Metamorphosis” provides a...
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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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...Marcus Bryant English 1302 Spring 2012 Kafka’s Dream World In his short story “The Metamorphosis,” Franz Kafka tells the story of Gregor Samsa, a traveling sales clerk whom one day awakens to find himself transformed into a giant insect. His state prevents him immediately from living the type of life he would otherwise have been leading, causing a series of reactions from himself and his family that would eventually lead to his demise. Not only is the this short story a precisely worded, tense modern fairy tale that shows Kafka’s imagination, but it also acts as a vessel of analysis of not only Kafka’s personal life, but how he felt about his life and the times that he lived in. In “The Metamorphosis,” Kafka creates a dreamlike parallel between the world he has created and his own reality, historically and symbolically, and uses this to criticize himself and the world around him. Kafka connects the reality of his life to the fiction of his story to create a sense of reality in the dreamy feel created by the text of “The Metamorphosis.” Dr. Ianc Lulian writes about the many of the commonalities between Kafka and the character Samsa, especially around the time of Kafka’s life in which he wrote this particular story. (424) Kafka worked a job that he considered a waste of time, much like he describes the dead-end sales clerk position Samsa worked, according to Lulian. (424) Kafka works at the sacrifice of himself, much like Samsa, to provide for his family that he even lived...
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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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