Metamorphosis by Kafka

877 Words4 Pages
The Metamorphosis is a masterfully written short story by Franz Kafka about Gregor Samsa, a man who gives everything in his life to his family and work, for less than nothing in return. Only when he is transformed into a giant beetle does his awareness change as well and an understanding of the relationships around him develops. The underlying theme of The Metamorphosis is an existential view that says any given choice will change the path of the person’s life later on, and that the person has ultimate will over making choices. In this case, Gregor’s missing identity has caused him to ignore everything around him. One morning, Gregor awakens to find himself with the body of a beetle. Although it never elaborates on how Gregor morphed into a beetle, or shows that Gregor thinks about having his form, Kafka gives the strong impression that Gregor is extremely (maybe solely) devoted to his work and is the only support for his family, none of whom work themselves. Gregor threw himself to a life of work and sacrifice, following every order and expectation to a meticulous degree. His life is that of a drone in an ant colony, and thus gives explanation to Kafka’s logic when he transformed Gregor into an insect. Gregor’s sister Grete tried to take care of him, even though his condition. But it might not have been as pure a motive as it first seems. Grete is dependent on Gregor for her prissy, Victorian lifestyle with many luxuries, such as maids. As she works with Gregor, her attitude towards him slowly changes. She starts out a rather weak person, and her attempts to take care of Gregor as an insect. As she slowly begins to understand that it is a lost cause and there is nothing she can do to nurse Gregor back into health, she becomes more and more withdrawn from him. Her comfortable survival is obviously more important to her than his at this point. She realizes
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