Gregor Samsa In The Metamorphosis By Franz Kafka
In the critically acclaimed novella “The Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka, the main character, travelling salesman Gregor Samsa, suddenly wakes up in the form of a disgusting and monstrous bug. Gregor quickly realizes he has no control over his body. Consequently, Gregor begins to worry about the possibility of him not showing up to the job he hates and is only keeping to pay off his parents’ debt to his boss. Gregor’s parents and sister, Grete, become worried about Gregor not leaving for work and they try to get him out of his room. They fail to do so until Gregor’s chief clerk arrives and says he will lose his job. Ultimately, Gregor comes out of his room, and upon seeing his new form, everyone is immediately filled with disgust and horror.
In the time following, the family mostly avoids Gregor, except for his sister, who feeds him and cleans his room. Meanwhile, Gregor begins to feel more comfortable in his new body, he even crawls on the walls. One day, Gregor’s father (after believing Gregor was hurting his wife) starts throwing apples at poor Gregor, which gives him serious injuries. Time passes by and even Grete starts getting tired of Gregor and reveals she wants him gone. Filled with depression and not being able to recover from his injuries, Gregor dies. The family is immediately relieved and they all seem to be happy about the future.
Throughout “The Metamorphosis” one of Kafka’s focal points is alienation from society and how it impacts Gregor’s inner-self. It is clear the Gregor Samsa leads a miserable life and that he feels isolated from society. In chapter one, Gregor describes how his lifestyle prevents him from developing strong relationships, “[…] contact with different people all the time so that you can never get to know anyone or become friendly with them. It can all go to Hell” (Kafka 1). Rejection and the lack of human connections lead Gregor into the belief that he is not worth as much as the people surrounding him. Kafka uses this moment to immediately make it known that Gregor doesn’t feel like he belongs to society.
Gregor’s feeling of alienation can be compared to Franz Kafka’s own experience. First of all, just like Gregor, Kafka had almost no human relationships because of the job he also worked as a travelling salesman. In addition, he suffered from several illnesses, which means Kafka spent most of his time in a sanitarium, accompanied by no one. The manner in which Kafka portrays Gregor’s loneliness is most likely a reflection of his own life: locked up in a room with no human contact. As a result, Kafka felt just as miserable, disgusting and unwanted as Gregor did throughout the novella. In this manner readers can link the emotions of both Gregor Samsa and Franz Kafka.
In the time following, the family mostly avoids Gregor, except for his sister, who feeds him and cleans his room. Meanwhile, Gregor begins to feel more comfortable in his new body, he even crawls on the walls. One day, Gregor’s father (after believing Gregor was hurting his wife) starts throwing apples at poor Gregor, which gives him serious injuries. Time passes by and even Grete starts getting tired of Gregor and reveals she wants him gone. Filled with depression and not being able to recover from his injuries, Gregor dies. The family is immediately relieved and they all seem to be happy about the future.
Throughout “The Metamorphosis” one of Kafka’s focal points is alienation from society and how it impacts Gregor’s inner-self. It is clear the Gregor Samsa leads a miserable life and that he feels isolated from society. In chapter one, Gregor describes how his lifestyle prevents him from developing strong relationships, “[…] contact with different people all the time so that you can never get to know anyone or become friendly with them. It can all go to Hell” (Kafka 1). Rejection and the lack of human connections lead Gregor into the belief that he is not worth as much as the people surrounding him. Kafka uses this moment to immediately make it known that Gregor doesn’t feel like he belongs to society.
Gregor’s feeling of alienation can be compared to Franz Kafka’s own experience. First of all, just like Gregor, Kafka had almost no human relationships because of the job he also worked as a travelling salesman. In addition, he suffered from several illnesses, which means Kafka spent most of his time in a sanitarium, accompanied by no one. The manner in which Kafka portrays Gregor’s loneliness is most likely a reflection of his own life: locked up in a room with no human contact. As a result, Kafka felt just as miserable, disgusting and unwanted as Gregor did throughout the novella. In this manner readers can link the emotions of both Gregor Samsa and Franz Kafka.