Entrapment In The Metamorphosis

Words: 657
Pages: 3
Open Document
We have all been given a feeling of entrapment from our parents at one time or another—some cases, worse than others. In Franz Kafka’s novella, The Metamorphosis, Gregor Samsa awakes and finds he has transformed into a giant beetle like insect. He cannot move or speak, and becomes an object of disgrace to his family—as if he wasn’t already. The situation forces his family to take care of themselves, without Gregor’s usual help. Over the course of the novella, the family continues to treat him poorly because of his beetle crisis. The novel ends with Gregor’s death, and the family quickly renews their life. Gregor’s transformation exemplifies the trapped feeling his parents imprinted on his selfhood. Gregor’s family pays no attention to him, causing him the feeling of negligence. Mr. Samsa and Gregor’s sister, Grete, do not have an issue with Gregor until he is no longer of financial use to them. Before Gregor’s transformation, Grete is considered nothing. But after, slowly she becomes the favorite child. By the end, she becomes more valued by the Samsa’s than Gregor could’ve ever imagined to be. Gregor’s father had a …show more content…
Gregor dies alone and rejected. Had he been able to go to work as the giant insect, the family would have been able to tolerate him. All they cared about was the fact they now had to take on their own financial work and replace all of the deeds they became accustomed to Gregor doing. Gregor Samsa was mentally and verbally abused under the Samsa roof before before his transformation into a giant beetle like insect. As he experienced his transformation, physical abuse was quickly added to the list of his traumas. Gregor lived a heavy hearted, miserable life. In the end, in his family’s opinion, Gregor relieved the heavy burden he carried daily on his family, leaving them satisfied, and Gregor out of his own
Show More

Related Documents: Entrapment In The Metamorphosis

The Awakening and Edna Pontellier Essay example

way she doesn’t seem like the same woman’" (p. 59). Because of these changes, "There was with her a feeling of having descended in the social scale, with a corresponding sense of having risen in the spiritual" (p. 89). A large part of this metamorphosis was to cast off all parts of her…

Words 1592 - Pages 7

Department of English Spring 2014 Course Descriptions Essays

this planet with other animals. Novellas like Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis and J.M. Coetzee’s The Lives of Animals, and films like the recent adaptation of The Life of Pi, bring us face to face with the ethical problems involved in living together. The requirements for this course will include active class participation, very short weekly response posts, and three 5-7-page papers. Possible readings include selections from The Metamorphosis (Ovid), Gulliver’s Travels (Jonathan Swift), Leviathan (Thomas…

Words 9501 - Pages 39