The Metamorphosis and Gregor States Essay

Submitted By KKellerman
Words: 1001
Pages: 5

Finally in the Correct Form Life is very fragile and should be used carefully, and also should be lived to the fullest. Instead of letting family, friends, and associates walk over and use a person, one should learn to use and extort others for their gain; even though this is sad, it is true. Unfortunately, Gregor Samsa, from the story “The Metamorphosis” written by Franz Kafka, did not learn these personality traits. Instead, Gregor has been pushed around, used, and treated bad his entire life. Gregor is being used by his family to settle their debt with the director. While Gregor is working for the company, as a traveling salesmen, he is ruled over like a slave. Being pushed over and walked on like this, day after day, can have a major affect on one’s personality and feelings, and can make them feel small and walked over just like a bug. After years of essentially being extorted, Gregor has finally been turned into the form that he has been treated like for whole life, a bug: and the same thing could happen to any of us. Being used by your family that you have known and lived with is very demeaning to one’s self esteem, and can put one down in the dumps and make them feel futile. When a parent uses their son to settle a debt with someone it can be very degrading and make the person feel expendable to the parents and to the person that the person has been sent to, to settle the debt. Gregor states,“…As soon as I’ve saved enough money to pay back what my parents owe him- that should take another five or six years…”(Kafka 303). Gregor’s parents have accumulated enough debt that it will take five or six years for their son to pay it off rather than settling it themselves. His parents have made him take up a job that requires him to be alone most of the time and tire him out almost to the point of exhaustion. “”My God,” he thought, “what an exhausting job I’ve chosen! Always on the go, day in and day out. There are far more worries on the road than at the office, what with the constant travel, the nuisance of making your train connections, the wretched meals eaten at odd hours, and the casual acquaintances you meet only in passing, never to see again, never to become intimate friends.”(Kafka 302). Being forced by your family to be a traveling salesmen is not right, a traveling salesman is a very tiresome job that causes one to lose most friends due to constant traveling, and while traveling, one might meet many people, but people that will not be met again. Being used to settle debt by family makes one feel extorted and alone. Not only does he get bossed around at home but he is also told what to do at work, and that can also tear a person down. While at work Gregor is held to the tightest rules by his company. The company that Gregor works for does not let him have any down time. Gregor says, “He slid back down to his former position. “Getting up this early,” he thought, “would turn anyone into an idiot. A man needs his sleep. Other salesmen live like harem women. For example, when I get back to the hotel in the morning to write up the sales I’ve made, these gentlemen are sitting down to breakfast. If I tried that with my director, I’d be fired on the spot.” (Kafka 303). Gregor is pushed almost to the verge of madness. He has to wake up at the early hours of the morning and go to bed in the latest hours of night. The businessmen that work for other firms