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Kafka's "Metamorphosis"

The following research is on the subject of Franz Kafka's "Metamorphosis." The central presence in Kafka's "Metamorphosis" is Gregor Samsa, a character who lives entirely through an introspective view of life and the world. The story is a devastating critique of modern social systems and their relationship to them. Gregor lives within himself, and his outward physical change is somehow irrelevant to the mental view he takes of it. The story title has also been translated as "The Transformation," and it is the transformed self of Gregor Samsa that is the true self, the self within. Kafka uses the insect Gregor becomes as a metaphor for the subservient life Gregor leads, little more than an insect crawling through the bureaucracy of the time.

The introspective mind of the protagonist is more important to him than his outward appearance. The change that comes over Gregor comes in the night while he is asleep. The origin is clearly subconscious, as seen in the first line: "as Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect." It is clearly stated that this is not a dream: the transformation of Gregor Samsa is a reality brought about the uneasy dreams of his subconscious. Gregor has seen himself s an insect, and now he has become one. The internal life is now an outward form. Gregor does not even seem overly surprised, and he adapts to his new form slowly and with difficulty, but without undue psychic strain.

Everything is seen through the eyes of Gregor Samsa until his death. Gregor pretends that his metamorphosis is a temporary inconvenience, and he tries to pretend the same to others. Yet, he feels a vague sense of uneasiness and guilt, feeling that he has not fulfilled his obligations to his family. His memories reveal to us that prior to his transformation, Gregor had thought of giving up the job that had become so distasteful to him. He kept it f...

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Kafka's "Metamorphosis". (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 09:30, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1682161.html