The Metamorphosis

(1912)

A sad, short little story about a desperate man who wakes up to a surprise that changes his life.--Submitted by Anonymous.

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Recent Forum Posts on The Metamorphosis

Some questions about alienation

I am doing a term paper on this novella, and I have ran into two questions. First let me say what I have found. With the sister, I can tell she is alienation Gregor through the way she feeds Gregor (bowls, throws out everything even if untouched), talks with him less and less, and eventually rejects him completely at the end. With the father, he physically alienated him through the way he backs him off (cane and newspaper), throwing apples at him (and one becomes a sore), and always wearing his uniform with the noticeable golden buttons. But I'm stuck on the mother. All I can tell is that she wants to do little with Gregor wherever possible. How does the mother alienate Gregor? Also, I'm discussing the maids' role in this by showing the levels of alienation: separation, rejection, and confrontation. I'm stuck on rejection. Was there a time in the novella where no maids wanted to be hired due to Gregor's presence?

Posted By imnotanerd at Sun 18 Dec 2011, 1:02 AM in The Metamorphosis || 0 Replies

My Thoughts

I just finished reading this story and I really enjoyed it. It was quite different which is one of the reasons why I liked it so much. I could not help but to find some humorous aspect within the story. Particularly the very beginning I found quite comical, but it was also very touching and sad as well. At first I was very touched by the care the sister had continued to give her brother, before it became too much for her and she started to neglect him. Though I had wondered at the symbolism and the deeper meaning behind the story, and I have read some of the other posts upon this thread regarding just what was the meaning of the metamorphosis. I thought at first it was a social or class statement, or if it was some statement regarding the daily drudge of people that have signed their lives over to day in and day out repeat the same routine over again, going to jobs they do not really care about and be trapped within the system and loosing perspective on who they really are and what they really want, but becoming "slaves" to the clock, or to "The Man" and the fact that Gregor was working in order to support his family and he always but the thoughts and needs of others ahead of himself.

Posted By Dark Muse at Wed 2 Jul 2008, 1:54 PM in The Metamorphosis || 1 Reply

Death in "Die Verwandlung"

So for my "Expressionist German Literarure" Subject for university I must make an essay about Kafka and Annemarie Schwazenbach! And I choose the theme of death. Now as I was reading some essays about Kafka I came to the point where I asked myself if Gregor's death was truly necessary? And isn't the metamorphosis a kind of death to the Human World? I am affraid of thinking too much about this and ending up making up some stupid theories that my teacher will then refuse, but isn't the metamorphosis a kind of death? The same way Gregor is, when the book begins, no longer a human, he can't go to work, the family can't go out, and he's sort of dead and alive at the same time. Probably the same standard life killed him, yet he is not comprehended when he is turned into an animal. The metamorphosis might also be a dream, which might even symbolize Gregors inner "wunsche" of death and escape. If you think I am being too much phylosofical please say :( thanks :)

Posted By Laporis at Wed 25 Jun 2008, 8:40 AM in The Metamorphosis || 0 Replies

symbolism of Kafka's Metamorphosis - Samsa

Hello. What is the symbolism of Kafka's Metamorphosis? In particular, what do you think the cockroach itself meant? When Samsa turned into a cockroach, what do you think that really symbolized? Lets really take this apart. I have my own opinions, of course, but I'm interestedin what your thoughts are on this subject So, What do you think the cockroach symbolizes? hopefully, nacreous

Posted By nacreous at Thu 1 May 2008, 4:24 PM in The Metamorphosis || 23 Replies

Ah, Kafka...

Greatness.

Posted By Matt the Man at Sat 24 Mar 2007, 5:27 PM in The Metamorphosis || 3 Replies

Why a vermit??

What do you think why Gregor became a vermit and not something else??

Posted By bazarov at Sat 9 Sep 2006, 2:48 AM in The Metamorphosis || 17 Replies

The Metamorphosis by Kafka

When Gregor Samsa woke up one morning from unsettling dreams, he found himself changed in his bed into a monstrous vermin. . . . Thus begins The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka (not Ovid, though truly a great epic). For anyone who has not read this, but intends to, I recommend you not to read this thread, as I hope to discuss some of the short novel's contents. For anyone who has read it, do you have any thoughts as to the origin, symbolism, theme, and undertones of it? Reading of some of Kafka's life, I realized that the main characters' manners reflect much of Kafka and his family's lifestyle. He lived a short life of much seclusion, never marrying (but getting engaged twice), and ruled much by his over-bearing father, getting over-worked and supporting his family. A reader may easily realize the main character's full name, Gregor Samsa, and, wanting to do a bit of research, I found that Samsa seemed connived name by Kafka, originating from the Czech phonetics of sám ('alone') and jsem ('I am'), literally meaning 'I am alone.' Gregor's sudden metamorphosis caught me at a random surprise, and did not strike me as the science-fiction and fantasy I tend to avoid by bias, and controversy exists of what kind of 'vermin' he turned into - but something, surely, with antennae, segments, small legs, and can crawl on walls and ceilings; most think of a dung beetle, others some kind of louse. The significance of Gregor's name and his sister's name, Grete, who mostly cares for him, I find very important. Gregor's father, a retired militaryman of some type, influenced much by Kafka's own father, detests Gregor's transformation, and fights every chance he can attempt. His mother, in my opinion, remains mostly indifferent, and, as all eventually do, ignore the obvious problem in the home, 'the elephant in the room,' so to speak. As something so drastically deviant, Gregor seems much more of a liability on the family as time passes, much like an infant, but because of appearing a different species (though he understands their speech, but cannot speak), Gregor eventually gets entirely rejected, and dies as his 'vermin' self. The end somewhat perplexed me, feeling that I somehow missed something essential in the plot. I would like to think that the theme revolved much around the consequences of sudden deviance, as if Gregor felt so emotionally distraught from his history, explained only vaguely in the short novel, possibly indicated slightly by his 'unsettling dreams,' in a rather Freudian manner, his cognition, conformed personality to his family, and behavior, like in Ovid's Metamorphoses, reflected to his physical appearance, only exacerbating his already-felt emotions. From a standpoint, I visualized this story as a very emotional and symbolic tale, saturated with metaphors and similes that I cannot ignore. Does anyone else have any thoughts? I would love to discuss this further.

Posted By mono at Tue 9 May 2006, 9:44 PM in The Metamorphosis || 30 Replies

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