The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka - 1021 Words

Franz Kafka’s, The Metamorphosis, is a novella about Gregor Samsa, a man who devotes everything to fulfilling the needs of his family. Kafka’s existentialist perspective on the meaning of life is illustrated through the use of the protagonist of Gregor Samsa. Existentialism is a philosophy â€Å"concerned with finding self and the meaning of life through free will, choice, and personal responsibility† (Existentialism). Gregor is unable to fulfill the existentialist view of finding meaning in one’s life; he acted only according to what his family wanted. Kafka’s belief that there is no meaning to life and that the individual has to create his own meaning in life is entirely missed by Gregor. Kafka uses the juxtaposing mindsets of Gregor and his family members to express the importance of an individual fulfilling his own needs. The protagonist of Gregor is meant to resemble Franz Kafka. Out of a sense of duty to his parents, Kafka took jobs that he did not enjoy. His relationship with his father remained strained throughout his life; his father’s impact can be seen in much of Kafka’s writing (Kafka Birthday: A Letter From Franz Kafka To His Father). Gregor’s relationship with his father is similar to Kafka’s relationship with his father. For most of Kafka’s life, he did not live to fulfill his own needs; Kafka was living under his father’s expectations. He was under enormous pressure to become a successful businessman like his father, but Kafka had a profound love for literatureShow MoreRelatedThe Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka1052 Words   |  4 PagesFranz Kafka wrote one of his most popular books, The Metamorphosis, during the literary period and movement of existentialism. His novella stresses many existential ideals. The most predominant ideal that is seen throu gh Gregor Samsa and his father in The Metamorphosis is that choice is the opportune of the individual. One’s ultimate goal in life is to successfully find a balance between work and leisure. It is through the juxtaposition of Gregor Samsa and his father, the conceding tone of the authorRead MoreThe Metamorphosis By Franz Kafka867 Words   |  4 Pagesincluding rapid growth spurts. Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develop after birth or hatching. Involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt changes in the animal’s body structure through cell growth and differentiation. The author Franz Kafka, who relatively wrote little in his short life and who published less has been enormously influential on later writers. He is considered an export of German expressionism. The metamorphosis is Kafka’s longest story and oneRead MoreThe Metamorphosis By Franz Kafka Essay1496 Words   |  6 Pagesâ€Å"The metamorphosis,† is a story b y Franz Kafka, published in 1915 is a story divided in three chapters: transformation, acceptance, and the death of the protagonist. There are many interpretations that can form this tale as the indifference by the society that is concerned with different individuals, and isolation pushing some cases to the solitude. Some consider The Metamorphosis as an autobiography of the author, which tries to capture the loneliness and isolation that he felt at some pointRead MoreThe Metamorphosis By Franz Kafka1246 Words   |  5 PagesIt can be hard to understand the meaning of the novella â€Å"The Metamorphosis,† written by Franz Kafka, without thinking of the background. Due to the fact that, â€Å"using† and knowing â€Å"[the] background knowledge† of a story is important to read a â€Å"text† (Freebody and Luke). In the novella â€Å"The metamorphosis†, â€Å"Kafka’s personal history† has been â€Å"artfully [expressed]† (Classon 82). The novella was written in 1916, before the World War 1 in German {Research}. When the novella was written, in the EuropeRead MoreThe Metamorphosis By Franz Kafka1380 Words   |  6 Pagesâ€Å"I cannot make anyone understand what is happening inside me. I cannot even explain it to myself†: A Psychoanalysis reading of â€Å"The Metamorphosis† by Kafka The Metamorphosis is known to be one of Franz Kafka’s best works of literature. It demonstrates the interconnection between his personal life and the protagonist, Gregor Samsa, of â€Å"The Metamorphosis.† Franz Kafka was born in 1883 and grew up in a financially stable Jewish family in Prague. He was the only son left after the death of his youngerRead MoreThe Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka656 Words   |  3 PagesMuch of Franz Kafkas story â€Å"The Metamorphosis† spends its time talking about Gregor as he struggles to live his new life as a bug. Gregor tries to find a analytical reason as to why he has taken upon this form but later on finds on that he has to accept the truth. From being an ordinary travel salesman and provider for his family to a abomination, Gregor becomes hopeless as he cant work or provide for his family. His new life as an insect causes a hardship as he is faced with isolation from hisRead MoreThe Metamorphosis By Franz Kafka783 Words    |  4 Pages In the story â€Å"The Metamorphosis†, written by Franz Kafka, Gregor’s family represents the causing factor that prompts Gregor to become a cockroach. Gregor’s family is a symbol of a repressive structure that inhibits Gregor’s every thought and action. When Gregor gets up in the morning to get ready for work and finds that he has been transformed into a cockroach, he ponders about how maybe he should just go in to work late and get fired, but then realizes that he cannot because â€Å"if [he] were not holdingRead MoreThe Metamorphosis By Franz Kafka947 Words   |  4 PagesThe Metamorphosis is a novella written by German author Franz Kafka which was first published in 1915. The novella tells the story of Gregor Samsa, a traveling salesman who one day awoke to discover he had transformed into an insect like monstrosity. Throughout the story, Gregor struggles with the horrible prospect of coming to terms with his situation, as well as copin g with the effects of his transformation, such as the fact that his family is repelled by his new form, and that he is no longerRead MoreThe Metamorphosis By Franz Kafka1050 Words   |  5 PagesOn the surface, â€Å"The Metamorphosis† by Franz Kafka is an evocative story of a man transformed into a â€Å"monstrous vermin†. It seems to focus on the dark transformation of the story’s protagonist, Gregor, but there is an equal and opposing transformation that happens within Gregor’s family. Although Gregor has physically changed at the beginning of the story, he remains relatively unchanged as the novella progresses. The family, on the other hand, is forced to drastically change how they support themselvesRead MoreThe Metamorphosis By Franz Kafka1324 Words   |  6 PagesFranz Kafka’s ‘The Metamorphosis’ embodies the dehumanising effect placed on man by the Capitalist system, through an economical perspective. In the Capitalist ‘ system’ men can only maintain their efficiency and value by the ‘status of an object’; the man must label and objectify themselves in order to know the humanitarian state of ‘being’, then contrast that state of ‘being’ with the idealised expectations placed upon them by the Capitalist system, for efficiency. This links to Kafka’s ‘The Metamorphosis’