Gregor's Transformation In The Metamorphosis

The deterioration of Gregor's life was in part due to the ostracism associated with his being turned into a bug. Once his family found out what happened, they banished him to his room, and his parents could not even bear to look at him. Prior to his metamorphosis, Gregor was an integral part of the family. He provided the money by which the family survived. Yet as soon as he changed, he was labeled an outcast, who was useless to the family, and therefore not paid any attention. He felt this ostracism, and it made him not want to continue on in life, he gave up because he felt unloved.

The Metamorphosis changes Gregor’s personality, as well as the family’s attitude towards Gregor, and alters the family duty each member has before and after the transformation. The theme isolation gives the twists and turns the novella needs to portray the genre of magical realism and helps contribute to the flow and outcome of the

Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis (1915) is a novella about protagonist Gregor, a hard-working traveling salesman transforms into some a vermin overnight and struggles to adjust to his startling change. Kafka characterizes Gregor as a selfless individual whose profound love for his family misleads him about their genuine disposition. As he adjusts to his new change, he undergoes great difficulty to determine his identity and humanity. Gregor has deceived himself into believing that his family will love him despite his repulsive appearance. In The Metamorphosis, Kafka uses characterization and third-person narrative to demonstrate Gregor’s self-deception and self-awareness regarding his family and circumstances to establish the theme of identity.

Before The Metamorphosis, Gregor is the only one working in his famiy member which he support his family financially. Unfortunately, after his transformation the parents don't feel sincere instead they want him to simply disappear " His father looked hostile, and clenched his fists as if wanting to knock Gregor back into his room " because they are disgusted by his appearance and dissappointed. ( Kafka pg. 105) As a result, Gregor has no ideal relationship with his family before or after changing into abug.

In the beginning of the novella, Gregor undergoes a transformation. Many readers view his transformation as he turns into a bug because of the way Kafka describes Gregor. Kafka may have been undergoing a transformation of his own. Kafka dealt with many issues growing up such as self doubt, issues with his father, and eventually, health issues. Like Kafka, Gregor deals with issues with his father and within himself and begins to feel less and less like himself as the novella continues. He awakes from his sleep to ask himself, “What’s happened to me (Kafka, 3)?” With the conflicts Gregor has with his family, especially his father, he begins to feel unwanted and unappreciated. Gregor also feels that he is becoming less sensitive when that used to be one of his main traits as a human (Kafka, 24). Seeing that Gregor is losing his sensitivity, that shows that he is truly losing himself since he is losing one of his main traits. Feeling less like himself, Gregor becomes more distant with his close

A metamorphosis “a change of the form or nature of a thing or person into a completely different one, by natural or supernatural means” (Dictionary). The protagonist, Gregor, goes through the most significant change throughout his whole family; Gregor somehow transforms over night into a giant cockroach. Gregor was the supplier of money to his family, he paid all the bills and was working truly to only pay off his parents debts; after finding a good job as a traveling salesman, he was able to help his family with a steady income and support. "They had simply got used to it, both the family and Gregor; the money was gratefully accepted and gladly given, but there was no special uprush of warm feeling" (95). Gregor was making great money

Thankfully, his sister, on the other hand, tried her best to care for him in this state. She would bring him food and make sure he was okay in his room. This made Gregor's home life a little more bearable; however, his parent's views and actions towards him persisted and affected Gregor negatively. The three boarders and maid also had an impact on him. The old maid was overwhelmingly curious about Gregor and would often sneak up on him, which once led to him attacking her.

“He felt very proud that he had been able to provide such a life in so nice an apartment for his parents …the contentment were to come to a horrible end?” (2.3) After his transformation, the family members lose both the financial and emotional security with his earnings. Gregor lives in a life of forsaken. He works as a salesman so to pay his family’s debt. While with overload responsibility and a lack of appreciation to what he does for his family, he is never truly loved bu his parents. He is simply used as a tool for income to maintain the well-to-do status. I believe that if Gregor were given the chance to relive his life, he would utilize this precious chance to also consider his needs, spending more time with his family and seeking

Gregor was the bread winner for the family, practically the man of the house, yet his father is still alive and well. When money was tight and stress was on the rise, he took on the role of becoming the main source of income for the family. Even though it meant talking on a job he is not overly thrilled about, he did so out of the kindness of his heart. Generosity is in his character and he loved helping out where he could. This made him feel like he was a valuable member of the family; one who could never be replaced or forgotten. Eventually earning the income became a burden he felt he had to do; he needed to be able to support his family (Charter p.479). However, Gregor remains calm and accepting despite all his hardships. Not once does he complain or question the transformation.

After Gregor's metamorphosis, he stays in his room all the time. Gregor also doesn’t get to really talk to anyone or come out of his room his sister cleans his room but she doesn’t every really stay in there that long and they don’t talk to each other. The mother can’t even look at Gregor after his metamorphosis into a bug.

Throughout the novella, Gregor’s deeply rooted sense of guilt transitions from having the power to drive his actions to merely plaguing his thoughts. Immediately after his transformation, Gregor reveals that he has to “deal with the problems of traveling, the worries about train connections, irregular bad food, temporary and constantly changing human relationships…” (Kafka 4), in his daily work. Although he appears to hate his job, Gregor does not quit, as he has both intrinsic motivation to provide and extrinsic pressure from his family to keep them afloat. Rather than reflecting on his feelings and emotional baggage attached to his job, Gregor focuses on grievances set in reality, and allows this to occupy his conscious mind. After Gregor’s transformation, his

Franz Kafka, in his novel The Metamorphosis, explores two conflicting ideas through his protagonist Gregor: unity and isolation. Gregor’s transformation created a whole life of distress for him, but on the other hand also formed a deeper and better relationship for the rest of the family.

When Gregor transformed into a bug many of his physical appearances changed. Gregor could really only lay on his back and it was difficult to do anything because he had short stubby arms and legs. “Instead of these, however, he had only small limbs which were incessantly moving with very different motions and which, in addition, he was unable to control” (Kafka 140). When his mother wanted to talk to him he refused because he didn't want her to see what he has transformed too. Another reason why is because Gregor was unable to get up to open the door and when he finally could get up he didn't have hands to unlock it so he had to use his mouth. Gregor then had a hard time getting through the door because of his large and the weird shape of his body. He wasn't a human anymore so he had to figure out a way to get through the door. “But to continue was difficult, particularly because he was so unusually wide” (Kafka 140). Before all this happened Gregor was a traveling salesman, this was a good job and he was able to pay for lots of the family's bills and he

Gregor’s metamorphosis brings many positive and negative changes in himself as well as his family. His family used to rely on him for his income as he was the only source of money in the family, but now they all worked and earned money themselves that is a very big positive change in the family. The negative change was bad for the Gregor himself as he couldn’t face the world with his new appearance,

Marx would say this was because the bourgeoisie no longer benefited from Gregor so he no longer needed him around. Supporting that statement, as soon as the manager saw that Gregor in his transformed state, he fled the house and never returned or sent any word to the family. After Gregor becomes unable to support his family financially, they all eventually abandon him as well. Marx and Engels state that "The bourgeoisie has torn away from the family its sentimental veil, and has reduced the family relation into a mere money relation" (771). The Metamorphosis shows an example of this when Gregor is no longer capable of working which leads him to be unfit to provide for his family with money, his relationships suffer. The second person in the story, first person in Gregor's family to abandon him is his own father. Gregor has worked his whole life trying to pay off his father's debts. Gregor and his father were never very close and was the harshest towards Gregor. His father never once tries to help his son once he has transformed into this inset instead he shames him and even attempts to kill him. For example, upon first seeing his transformed son, he "clenched his fists, as if to drive Gregor back into his room" (15). Then, one day when his son is trapped outside of his room, he attacks him by throwing fruit. The apple that he threw left Gregor with a "serious wound, from which he