"Maus" & "The Metamorphosis"

The family in Maus is torn asunder by the Nazi efforts to destroy everything Jewish, including and especially the family which is the glue of the Jewish culture. The family members who are killed are obviously not able to be a part of the family any longer, except in memory. The other members of the Spiegelman family, including children such as Art himself, are scarred forever by their experience.

The three survivors in the Samsa family in "The Metamorphosis," on the other hand, can be said to be happier than ever after the death of Gregor. They not only survive, they seem to be prospering, however illusory that prosperity might prove to be in the long run. In any case, the happiness they seem to be experiencing at the end of the story is not a testament to human love or endurance, but to the selfish relief they feel after the death of their brother and son in his beetle form.

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egor himself seems to be the only character with any decency or caring for others. His sister does at least care about providing his basic necessities, but she seems to act more out of duty than love. It also may be that for the first time she feels her brother's dependence on her and is empowered by that fact, in contrast to their previous relationship in which she lazed around the house dreamily and he worked hard to support her and their parents. In fact, she is the family member who first broaches the idea of "get[ting] rid of it" (Kafka 876), "it" referring to Gregor in his beetle transformation. Unlike the Spiegelmans, who make every effort to remain a family and do so out of love for one another, the Samsas---except for Gregor himself---are self-centered individuals who care only about themselves: "What really kept them from moving into another flat was rather their own complete hopelessness and the belief that they had been singled out for a misfortune such as had never happened to any of their relations or acquaintances" (Kafka 870). We feel no connection whatsoever on a humane level among the Samsas, except for the relief the sister and parents feel when Gregor dies. They do not even care enough about Gregor to per
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Samsas---except Gregor, Franz Kafka's, Auschwitz Anja, Jews Art's, Jewish Spiegelmans, Typical Kafka's, Internally Spiegelmans, Unlike Spiegelmans, Art Spiegelman's, York Pantheon, sister parents, samsas hand, spiegelman family, rational explanation suffering, rational explanation, hands nazis, explanation suffering, external forces, gregor family, samsa family, families torn,
Approximate Word count = 1600
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)

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