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, he doesn’t know how he became a monstrous vermin in the first place. The Metamorphosis (Die Verwandlung) is a novella written by Franz Kafka, one of the most influential writers of his century. Franz Kafka was born in 1883 in Prague in a middleclass Jewish family and grew up in the shadow of his father, a businessman whose acknowledgement Franz continually struggled to win. Many of Kafka’s works