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The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

 

 


 
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Symbols

 

 


 

The framed picture of the woman in fur:

  • Represents Gregor's humanity

  • Gregor has a strong attachment to the picture

  • Gregor clings on the picture in panic when his mother and sister start moving things out of his room

 

Food:

  • Symbolizes how the family feels towards Gregor

  • Gregor starves himself as a sacrifice

  • Gregor's father throws an apple at Gregor representing Gregor's downfall

Themes


 

Alienation and Isolation:

  • Gregor is isolated in his room

  • Gregor's family neglects him while they alienate him

 

Freedom and Escaping:

  • Gregor is trapped into his job, but then escapes when he transforms into a bug

  • Gregor is trapped with the responsibility of taking care of his family, but then escapes when he is transformed into a bug

    • His father gets a job to support the family after Gregor's transformation

  • Gregor's family is trapped with the burden of Gregor as a bug, but then escapes the burden after his death when they leave the apartment

 

Major Conflicts


 

  • Gregor becoming a beetle and being unable to provide for his family

  • Gregor transforming into a bug and becoming a burden to his familly

    • His is now seen useless and not as a human

  • Gregor struggles to hold on to his humanity

  • Gregor and his father

    • His father is disgusted with him and lodges an apple in Gregor's back

Setting

 


 
The Metamorphosis
Franz Kafka
Beetle or Human?
Gregor Samsa

  • The Samsa apartment

  • Time is not specified but trains and street cars hint towards late 19th century or early 20th century

  • Germany

Characters

Gregor Samsa:

  • Is a loner

  • Anti-hero

  • Transforms into giant beetle

    • His transformation is argued to be either  a literal transformation or a case in which he suffers from a mental breakdown

  • Is the center of the family

Grete Samsa:

  • Shows pity towards Gregor and helps to take care of him for a period of time

    • Plays the role of an adult


 

Mr. Samsa:

  • Is hostile towards Gregor

  • Is Gregor's foil

  • Is disgusted with Gregor after his transformation

  • Is forced to "transform" himself and get a job

  • Is secretive

    • Keeps money a hidden secret

 

Mrs. Samsa:

  • Not too sympathetic towards son

  • Worries a lot

  • Has asthma

Motifs


 

The metamorphosis:

  • Gregor changes into a bug

    • Argued that his transformation is a  psychological one

  • Grete changes from child to adult

  • Dad changs from a nonworking man to a working man

 

Sleep:

  • Gregor sleeps and wakes as a bug

  •  Gregor spends most of his time in his room and rests

  • Gregor's father dad always rested in bed or on the sofa

    • Rests in sofa with uniform

 

Money:

  • Gregor's family stresses about the family's debt since the beginning of the novel

  • Gregor's father is forced to get a job to help suport the family

  • Mr. Samsa has money saved up that he keeps a secret

 

"When Gregor Samsa awoke from troubled dreams one morning, he found that he had been transformed in his bed into one enormous bug." ~The narrator

 

"She got the notion of enabling Gregor to crawl around freely as possible removing the furniture." ~The narrator

 

"That picture, at least, which Gregor was now completely covering, surely no one would take now." ~The narrator

 

"All you have to do is try to shake off the idea that that's Gregor." ~Grete

 

"And they took it as a confirmation of their new dreams and good intentions." ~The narrator


 

Significant Quotes

 


 

Author's Purpose


 

  • To show readers the effects of daily routines and constant stressors

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