Gregor S Metamorphosis example essay topic

Franz Kafka!'s! ^0 The Metamorphosis! +/-, a depressing short fiction, tells us the story of Gregor Samsa!'s metamorphosis to an insect. As Gregor attempted to cope with the helplessness of his predicament, his family started to neglect him and finally wanted to get rid of him. They ignored the fact that Gregor had been the supporter of this family. On the other hand, Gregor was imprisoned by his duty to his family. After Gregor transforms to an insect, although Gregor has insect!'s body, he still has a human consciousness, so he is neither a human nor an insect.

The title! ^0 The Metamorphosis! +/- not only directly refers to Gregor!'s physical transformation, but it also symbolizes Gregor!'s alienation and his escape to freedom. Alienation is one of the themes in this story; Gregor!'s metamorphosis symbolizes his alienation. Long before his metamorphosis into a beetle, Gregor had alienated himself.

The story begins with that Gregor Samsa transformed from a human being to a gigantic insect. Anyone, who finds oneself transformed into an insect in the morning, would be extremely shocked. As for Gregor!'s reaction, he wondered only momentarily what had happened to him. His room quickly distracted his attention. The only shock with Gregor was that he could not go to work anymore. Thus, we get the impression that Gregor had already alienated himself from his own body.

A change of body form was not a big surprise to him. He had merely switched from one foreign body to another: from one that was convenient to one that was less convenient. Gregor's strange alienation from his body is metamorphosis in a concrete form. Kafka did not tell us the exact identity of Gregor!'s transformation. From the description Kafka gives and the names such as! ^0 dung beetle!

+/- (P 403) that the old charwoman called Gregor, we know he resembled a common beetle. The traits common to all insects are far more important than the insect's exact identity. Gregor's transformation into an insect, then, could be seen as an attempt on his part to alienate himself. Gregor had a habit that! ^0 he had acquired in traveling of locking all doors during the night, even at home! +/- (377).

By locking doors, Gregor sets up physical barriers between himself and his family. It was as if he could not trust them to not come in and had to guard himself and his privacy even against those he loves. This detail shows why his alienation from his family makes sense. His consideration for his family also seemed to alienate him. He thought he found a good apartment, but his family thought this apartment was too big and hard to manage. After he transformed himself into an insect, he made no effort to communicate with his family.

Because of this, his family assumed that he could not understand them. He did nothing else aside from listening. On the other hand, the other three members of his family hoped he would keep to himself and so, they excluded him from their group. This also emphasized the growing distance between Gregor and other human beings. Gregor's alienation from his environment is something that has not changed with his metamorphosis.

Whereas earlier he had thought that his room was too small, now he thinks it is a "lofty, empty room" (388), and altogether too big for his needs. In this way, Gregor's room, which he has lived in for years, had never felt like home to him but rather as some foreign place. Gregor was also alienated from his job before the metamorphosis. He hated his job; he hated traveling; he hated! ^0 the bad and irregular meals! +/-, he hated! ^0 the casual acquaintances that are always new and never become intimate friends!

+/- (375), and most of all, he hated the treatment he got from his boss. All the above mentioned show that Gregor's entire metamorphosis may be the result of his alienation from everything: his job, the society, his family, and humanity. Moreover, his metamorphosis also symbolizes Gregor!'s escape to freedom. We are reminded that Gregor hated his job, but he had to hold his job in order to support his family. Moreover, Gregor's parents were in debt to his chief, and Gregor was working primarily to repay that debt; he had already been working at the firm for five years, and must work another five or six before the debt is repaid. The family did not work and relied entirely on Gregor; they even kept on a servant girl to clean for them.

Although Gregor hated his job, he had to keep it, and he had to keep this specific job because of the debts. Gregor continued making money but did not make any for himself. Thus, Gregor's need to escape his previous life may be something that he could never justify to himself. Gregor liked to look out the window, "obviously in some recollection of the sense of freedom that looking out of a window always used to give him". (392).

His metamorphosis had given him the ability to do so. Finally, he could leave his job and the social order he disliked, and he could lie around in his room without concern for time and debts. His metamorphosis seemed to end his conflict. And yet he could not accept his freedom because his guilt proved stronger than his desire to escape. His metamorphosis brought him to a different prison. He had been locked in his room, and psychologically, he also remained a slave because he felt guilty when he was not able to support his family anymore.

Gregor's new prison seemed even worse than his old one. Hearing his family mention money, he "threw himself down on the cool leather sofa beside it, he felt so hot with shame and grief" (392). Finally, he found himself as the biggest burden to his family. It reminded him that his family!'s happiness was more important than his life, and so he died by his own choice.

On the other hand, it was also another kind of escape to freedom. It is not surprising that Gregor transformed to an insect due to his alienation, and his alienation makes him desire to escape from the situation he had before. Pessimistically speaking, Gregor does not get the free he wants finally. Even though his metamorphosis had free ed him from his job, he was quickly imprisoned by his guilt. Moreover, his entire family rejected him. His state is even worse than before.

His metamorphosis is not a successful way for him to escape.