Metamorphosis Essay, Research Paper

Metamorphosis: "Metamorphosis" By: Franz Kafka What is

reality? Every person has his or her own "reality" or truth of their

existence. For some it may be nothing they expected while others can just be

successful in anything. The true reality is that regardless of what direction is

taken in life a person brings the same inner self, motivational levels and

attitudes.

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[Category]:

Book Reports

[Paper Title]:

Metamorphosis

[Text]:

Metamorphosis

"Metamorphosis" By: Franz Kafka What is reality? Every person has

his or her own "reality" or truth of their existence. For some it may

be nothing they expected while others can just be successful in anything. The

true reality is that regardless of what direction is taken in life a person

brings the same inner self, motivational levels and attitudes. As followers of

literature we often escape our own "reality" and experience life

through the imagination of the author’s we read. By doing so, many people find

themselves gaining information about themselves. In Franz Kafka’s

"Metamorphosis," Gregor Samsa’s reality changes indifferently in spite

of his drastic physical changes. Before the Metamorphosis, Gregors life

consisted of working and caring for his family. He led a life of a traveling

salesman, working long hours, which didn’t permit to him living his own

"life". He reflects his own life as "the plague of traveling: the

anxieties of changing trains, the irregular, inferior meals, the ever changing

faces, never to be seen again, people with whom one has no chance to be

friendly" (Kafka 13). Working to pay off his family’s debt, Gregor never

left anytime for himself. Kafka himself counterparts this sentiment in a quote

taken from his diaries; "no matter how hard you work that work still

doesn’t entitle you to loving concern for people. Instead you’re alone, a total

stranger, a mere object of curiosity" (Pawel 167). So in-depth with his

work, Gregor becomes unknown to himself and to life. In Gregor’s life he had no

room for anyone other than his family which in the end left him without love or

caring or any other kind of companionship. He worked so industriously for his

family that this became his only goal in life. They became so dependent on

Gregor to support them but did nothing for him in return. Up until now Gregor

was living a life of obligations, he came home every night to an empty hotel

room to ensure his family was taken care of. His parents and "their

dominance thus extends to the system which deprives him of creative life and

married love" (Eggenschwiler 54). Apparent to everyone, Gregor was no

longer thought of a member of the family but nothing more than a "support

system." The fact of the matter become, "everyone had grown accustomed

to it, his family as much as himself; they took the money gratefully, he gave it

willingly but the act was accompanied by no remarkable effusiveness" (Kafka

48). Gregor still "believed he had to provide his family with a pleasant,

contented, secure life"(Emrich 149). Before the metamorphosis, Gregor’s

existence was much like it was after it. After being transformed into a

cockroach Gregor lived in isolation with his family. In a "dark bedroom, in

the jumble of discarded furniture and filth, monstrous vermin, a grotesque,

hidden part of the family"(Eggenschwiler 211). Gregor’s sister was the only

one who helped poor Gregor, in his time of transformation. She was frightened

but managed to put her fears aside, she even got angry with others for trying to

help. Upon his sister taking care of him, the rest of Gregor’s family would not

associate with him. "No one attempted to understand him, no one, not even

his sister, imagined that she could understand him"(Kafka 45). Before long,

Gregor noticed that through his metamorphosis he had not lost nor gained

anything. "The actual metamorphosis symbolizes a rebellion assertion of

unconscious desires and energies" (Eggenschwiler 203). After the

metamorphosis, Gregor’s family undergoes some pretty harsh changes. For after

the change, Gregor would not be able to support his family’s lazy asses. He went

to his boss and begged him to "please sir, spare my parent" (Kafka

24). Strangely, after what his family put him through he still looked vigorously

for a way to help his parents, "his duty was to remain docile and to try to

make things bearable for his family"(Kafka 42). As time passes, Gregor

realizes that his family doesn’t need his help and support and that he is

nothing more than a burden to them. The family never realized the strain that

the transformation had put Gregor through, and now they have cut off relations

instead of supporting Gregor they desert him. Even his sister had gotten to the

point of no longer feeding or cleaning Gregor’s room, she might stop in and give

him a piece of bread but not stay and talk to him. The thing that really got to

Gregor is the memories of all the things he had done for his family and now here

he is being shoved into some room and given nothing in return. Thinking of his

family Gregor decides he must go. Gregor died that night and when his family

found out they mourned for only a minute and went about their sick ways. Did

responsibility prove to be too much for the family Gregor had taken care of for

so many years? The true reality of Gregor and his family can be seen through the

resulting condition of the family itself. For five years Gregor had remained a

slave to his own family not finding out they could have taken care of themselves

until it was too late. Now Gregor realized he was forced to live a life of not

loving anyone and basically just a life of loneliness. Upon hearing that his

family could have taken care of themselves, Gregor was not angry but glad that

his father had made his understand what life was about. After observing a family

who lived on in the comfort of someone else, we are shown a "family

exhausted and depressed form laboring at menial jobs-messengers, seamstress, and

salesgirl. In this story the "Metamorphosis", we tend to believe that

Grego’s change into a cockroach is the main purpose of the story but after close

consideration I believe it was a story of the transformation of the family.

Franz Kafka asks us to fathom if only for a moment the thought of our lives

changing due to some radical change. Do we feel like Gregor? Would we be better

off as a "cockroach?" I believe the answer is no. Through the

"Metamorphosis" we observe as one man’s life is proven to be in vain

and no better as a cockroach than a human. Can anyone be sure that their lives

are good and perfect and that their family’s would understand and accept any

change that could arise? However selfish this may seem, the fact is that above

and beyond all things a person must consider his/her self first. Sense of self

will keep you through all the adverse times in life and be a companion to rely

on when no one else cares.

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