The metamorphosis by franz kafka

Essay by MasrawyHigh School, 11th gradeB, June 2004

download word file, 5 pages 4.3 1 reviews

Downloaded 127 times

Nora Ismail

World literature 2b

5/19/04

Period 3

The Metamorphosis Word count: 1,198

In the novel, The Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka, the author uses the omniscient narrator along with the structure of the book to reflect Gregor's feelings through passive aggression. The narrator does not see and report things from Gregor's standpoint, making the limited narrator not very reliable. Having the story in a third person point of view seems more ambiguous, contrary to a first person narration with an active voice and the inner mind of the protagonist. Kafka's artistic intent of passive aggression results by having the narration in a third person perspective. Through such narration, realistic restriction emanates the protagonist's disabled consciousness. Even though the narration focuses on the inward characters and scenes, the tone of the narration emphasises the action of others, making the focus and the relationship appear to be outward (Kafka, 138). So the events seem like first hand accounts when they actually represent restricted reports of the events, or Kafka's use of the passive voice.

The nature of this task however, gives Gregor an active voice so that he can explain his thoughts, feelings, and his rational, philosophical reasoning to what has happened to him and how he feels about it. The task consists of a dramatic monologue that plays the self-perception of Gregor against the view created by the omniscient narrator. A first person perspective humanizes Gregor more and makes him initiative and active so that the reader feels better towards the protagonist. The limited narrator causes a repulsion and frustration towards Gregor's passiveness. Kafka did not write the story from a first person outlook because it affects the submissive mood that cause the reader's annoyance. Whether or not Gregor changes physically or psychologically, he remains the same spirit on the...