"Metamorphosis" by Frank Kafka

Essay by melimu78College, UndergraduateA+, June 2007

download word file, 6 pages 5.0

Downloaded 28 times

The MetamorphosisIn Frank Kafka's novella, "The Metamorphosis," the leading character faces a societal alienation. He woke up one morning and his life was forever changed. In the opening paragraph, Gregor Samsa goes through a metamorphosis.

"One morning, upon awakening from agitated dreams, Gregor Samsa found himself, in his bed, transformed into a monstrous vermin. He lay on his hard, armor like back, and when lifting his head slightly, he could view his brown, vaulted belly partitioned by arching ridges, while on top of it, the blanket, about to slide off altogether, could barely hold. His many legs, wretchedly thin compared to his overall girth, danced helplessly before his eyes" (FK 1999).

This change has turned Gregor Samsa, once a perfectly normal human being, into a "monstrous vermin" (FK 1999). The author expresses the anxieties and hopelessness that Samsa is feeling throughout the story.

At the opening of the story, Gregor feels "melancholy" due to the gloomy weather outside his bedroom window.

Although his job, that he is now late for, is very important to him, he is growing very tired of it. Samsa explains through his thoughts:"Oh God, what a strenuous profession I've picked! Day in, day out, on the road. It's a lot more stressful than the work in the home office, and along with everything else I have to put up with these agonies of traveling-worrying about making trains, having bad, irregular meals, meeting new people all the time, To hell with it all!" (FK 2000)Gregor is clearly feeling a great amount of anger and resentment toward his job, which eventually led him to feel even angrier at society as a whole.

His office manager showing up at his house plays an immense role in creating the anxieties in Gregor's mind. Gregor feels strangled by his...