Aaron Moss
Mrs. Stockton
AP Lit
20 October 2017
Kafka's Use of Disquietude and Pleasure Repulsing imagery, such as a large, monstrous bug, is hardly considered a pleasant introduction to a story. More often than not, such imagery forces the reader away from the story thus preventing an author's work from being read. Despite this, Franz Kafka managed to do the complete opposite in his novella, The Metamorphosis. Kafka begins the novella with a repulsing image of a large beetle, but, instead of only creation a mood of disgust, Kafka manages to also make the introduction enticing and pleasing through the use of eloquent diction. This combination of disgust and pleasure, though hard to execute properly, can create a piece of writing that excels beyond others. This is exactly what a critic was
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This contrast of diction is scattered throughout the novella, but it is very clear that the diction is one of the most powerful ways that Kafka incorporated a mixture of emotions in this story. For example, after Gregor has revealed himself to his family, his father forces him into his room. Kafka describes this scene with words such as "forced", "tremblingly", and "painfully" which all represent an imagery that is chaotic, disorderly, and disquieting. These bold words, however, are quickly calmed by the use of "quite". Kafka uses similar diction throughout the novella. Another example is after Gregor is struck by an apple, Kafka uses words like "imbedded" and "repulsive" only to sooth the situation with words like "darkness" and "invisible", both of which represent peace (1179-1180). By building up a mood of chaos and then de-escalating that chaos through diction, Kafka is able to maintain a sustainable suspense within the reader and constantly maintain a balanced flow between disquietude and
With this in mind, Gregor, being an allegory for Kafka, portrays his feelings towards his family and his involvement with them. He portrays most of his feelings through his sister, and father, who are mainly static characters
In the metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, there are significant actions and transformations which make the story sad, and strange with a happy ending. Explanations that are dramatic events that intensify the excitement of all these actions. Reality and reflection play an important role in this story because the events that happened could be applied and assimilated with modern society.
“The Metamorphosis” is a surreal story by Franz Kafka surrounding the transformation and betrayal of Gregor Samsa, who wakes up one day, reborn into a large insect. Along with the bizarre and nightmarish appearance of his new hard back, brown segmented belly, and many legs, Gregor only desire is to live a normal life, unfortunately, this is impossible because he struggles to even get out of bed. Gregor transformation into an insect is a vivid metaphor for the alienation of humans from around the world. After losing human form, Gregor is automatically deprived of the right to be a part of society. Franz Kafka could relate to Gregor because he too was mistreated/neglected by his father and worked a job that he was unhappy doing. Franz and Gregor both were providers for their families. Alienation, isolation, and loneliness were not hard to recognize during the Modernity and Modernism time period.
It is unusual to say the least to open a book and the first line is about the main character waking up as a large insect. Most authors’ use symbolism to relate the theme of their work, not Franz Kafka. He uses a writing method that voids all aspects and elements of the story that defy interpretation. In doing this, he leaves a simple story that stands only for an objective view for his own thoughts and dreams. Kafka focuses the readers’ attention on a single character that symbolizes himself and his life, not Everyman as some authors do. This method is displayed in most of his literary works. To understand how this method is recognized, readers must study the
In The Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka conveys the series of emotional and psychological repercussions of a physical transformation that befalls the protagonist, a young salesman called Gregor Samsa. As the story progresses, Gregor finds himself unfairly stigmatized, cruelly rejected because of his clear inability to financially support his family, and consequently increasingly isolated. Through extensive use of symbolism, Kafka is able to relate the surreal and absurd, seemingly arbitrary events of this short story to a general critique of society-particularly on the alienating effects that conformity generates. On a broader level, the combined themes-which include the themes of conformity, freedom, and alienation--found throughout The
The Metamorphosis (Die Verwandlung 1912), Franz Kafka’s best known short story, is a master work of incredible psychological, sociological and existential malaise. Although his points are simple and straightforward, this richly layered and textured story is open to many interpreta-tions, making it complex, yet critical to decipher. There is an incredible amount of theories based off of what this story could possibly symbolize or represent, but it is of the autobiographical in-terpretation that is undeniably the most enlightening. This interpretation allows the reader to gen-uinely understand the tale on an intense level that would not be able to be reached, otherwise. In order to gain true insight on the autobiographical approach to The Metamorphosis, a brief examination of his life is required; his thoughts, his beliefs, the acknowledgment of the cruel circumstances of his life, especially his home life, must be made clear that the anguish of his own world is the model for the themes in his stories.
The narrator speaks in the third person, focusing on Samsa’s thoughts and actions and creating the impression that first hand accounts are being given, despite the narrator being limited to Samsa. The narrator speaks as underwhelming as Samsa acts: “When Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from disturbing dreams, he found himself transformed…” (992). The narrator is very straightforward, and this is evidently seen in the opening line, which abruptly throws the reader into the story and has no preceding context. The suddenness of the opening is bold, but is contrasted by the narrator's casual tone. The narrator demonstrates a lack of concern for Samsa’s predicament, but so does Samsa for his own problem as reflected in the following pages. Kafka’s choice of a nonchalant narrator, in addition to Samsa’s underwhelming actions, conveys a sense of humor because of the passiveness used in response to the situation that would be interpreted as more serious and provoking of
Kafka uses symbolism in his short story, Metamorphosis. He uses this technique to make the reader try and figure out what was going on in his head. He brought out in this story many things about his life, including his father/family, love life, and his future. He used metaphors to show his love for people in his life. This story is autobiographical about the forces that control Franz Kafka's life. In this paper I will explain how Kafka relates his life to the readers through the story in Metamorphosis.
Engelberg exclaims, “the common alienation of two urban men, both suffering all the deleterious consequences of subsequent isolation, dehumanization, death” (Engelberg). Gregor’s isolation after turning into a cockroach continually provides evidence that he is no longer a part of the family; thus, he also loses his own instincts as a man. Kafka uses this isolation to exhibit what he experienced throughout his life, especially for being a Jew during World War I. Goldfarb explains, “For one thing, Gregor's repulsive appearance means he has to remain in his room, a prisoner, completely isolated. His existence was always a fairly lonely one, but this is worse: as far as friendship and intimacy are concerned, Gregor's transformation is not an escape from his past loneliness but an intensification of it” (“Goldfarb”). Gregor is isolated from his family because he looks different and he is rejected with any hope of reconnecting with them. Kafka utilises Gregor to show how being different from others leads to being isolated and eventual suffering. The dehumanization of people is caused by the isolation from others; thus, they often lose their will to live.
Characterization of Gregor: Kafka depicts Gregor’s thoughts as depressed and hopeless in order to show that he does not believe his situation will get better. This is done in order to show that Gregor no longer has any humanity left because he repeats the same tasks every day which has numbed him.
Kafka’s Metamorphosis suggests to his readers to take a glimpse inside a dysfunctional atmosphere triggered from a painful childhood, to see how influential each member of the family contributes to the dynamics, but also to learn how to make light of the situation with acceptance. Kafka is reflecting on his own relationship with his family in Metamorphosis. He sees himself in Gregor, or is he him.
Kafka is known for his highly symbolic and oblique style of writing. It is no surprise that several of his pieces contain the same major themes, just in different settings. The fact that he repeats his styles only makes the message that he is trying to convey much stronger. In both “The Metamorphosis” and “A Hunger Artist”, the main
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka is a novella that begins with an absurd concept. A man wakes up one morning to find himself transformed into a giant insect. While this concept for a story is certainly absurd, Kafka contrasts this plot with a rather dull, plain narrative. It may initially seem novel to explain a ridiculous situation in a simple manner, but this causes the novella to be quite boring.
Kafka uses defamiliarization in his fantastic story even though it is a characteristic of magical realism. "Magic Realists use defamiliarization to radically emphasize common elements of reality" (Simpkins 150). Kafka uses defamiliarization through telling the story of Gregor. Gregor, a workaholic, who always tries to do what is best for his family makes himself miserable in a job that he hates. He always puts others first. This approach eventually leads to his loneliness when his family finds out what he has become due to his job. Everyone in this story goes through his or her own metamorphosis. Through defamiliarization, Kafka examines life,
One case in which the meaning of the work is distorted is when Gregor describes his physical appearance to the reader. When Gregor woke up “He was lying on his back as hard as armor plate, and when he lifted his head a little, he saw his vaulted brown belly sectioned by arch-shaped ribs, to whose dome the cover, about to slide off completely, could barely cling to” (Kafka 3). The descriptive techniques used by Kafka gives the impression that Gregor has indeed transformed into a bug. However when Gregor’s manager arrives at his home to see what is wrong and finds out the hideous truth, he tries to leave but “Gregor was off to a running start, to be sure as possible of catching up with him” (Kafka 18). While Kafka gives details depicting Gregor as a bug; he also provides instances where