The Metamorphosis Analytical Essay

Words: 649
Pages: 3

The short story “The Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka, contains many subliminal messages, metaphors, and themes underneath it's physical storyline. The source of the conflict in this short story is debatable because the story can be experienced in many different viewpoints. A viewpoint can depend on whether the reader thinks literally or figuratively of a story. Throughout the “Metamorphosis”, the characters often have conflicts, which can all be directly linked to stress, gluttony, and Xenophobia.
Throughout this explanation it will become very apparent that the majority of Gregor’s conflicts derive from his family. Gregor is always working because of his inconvenient job as a salesman, which requires him to be absent from his family. Gregor’s work is dehumanizing and it could be argued that his transformation into a bug is a metaphor for his degrading life. During the story Franz Kafka says,”Why did Gregor have to be the only one condemned to work for a company where they immediately became highly suspicious at the slightest shortcoming?” Gregor is afraid of upsetting his boss and his company. This ultimately leads to his obsession to work, which stresses Gregor out.
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Gregor appears to be unaware of his family’s gluttony. The reader, however can easily see that Gregor’s family is only concerned with Gregor’s income, rather than him as a human being. Whether this is justified is debatable. The family wanted Gregor to die partly because he wasn’t providing for his family. They see Gregor as a disposable tool rather than an actual person. Once they don’t need him he is discarded like trash. This ties back to the previous statement about Gregor’s degrading life. However Gregor is all but greedy to his family. In the story it states,”Gregor was still there and had not the slightest intention of abandoning his family.” This love hate relationship is where most of the conflict is taken place within the