Overworked and Underappreciated
It is human nature to look at a situation only from a personal perspective. Furthermore, it is also natural to feel like the victim in a situation where the victim is someone else. In The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, Gregor Samsa transformed from a hardworking, underappreciated man to a disgusting vermin, which his family saw as a burden. Throughout this story, Gregor’s family played the victim when, in fact, the victim was Gregor.
First of all, Gregor never missed a day of work in five years, yet when he missed that one morning, his parents ask if he is going to work rather than being curious about his health. Upon seeing Gregor had not left for work, Mrs. Samsa's original concern was not about her son’s …show more content…
“Gregor? Is something the matter with you? Do you want anything?” (Kafka 6). In this quote, it is obvious that Grete sincerely cared for Gregor. She was the only one in the family that took care of Gregor after his transformation. In the beginning, Grete went out of her way to feed and clean Gregor and his room, which ended up being a difficult task. As the days went on, this nurturing side slowly faded away. She started to find Gregor as an inconvenience and felt the family and her were being punished. "The cleaning up of Gregor's room, which she now always did in the evening, could not be done more hastily. Streaks of dirt ran along the walls, fluffs of dust and filth lay here and there on the floor” (Kafka 43). Gregor was obviously being neglected, and somehow his family still thought they were the ones being treated unfairly. In Gregor's final days, the support from Grete had entirely disappeared. The one person Gregor trusted the most had ultimately betrayed him, pushing Gregor to starve himself. “’It has to go,’ cried his sister. ‘That’s the only answer, Father’” (Kafka …show more content…
“They decided to spend the day resting and going for a walk; they not only deserved a break in their work, they absolutely needed one” (Kafka 57). Throughout this novella, there were many times that it was apparent Gregor's family felt it was unfair or not right that they had to care for Gregor. This quote from the novella perfectly sums up their feelings towards him. Taking care of Gregor was looked at as a horrible job rather than their innate duty as parents. Further, they "celebrated" their son’s death by going on a vacation. “They discussed their prospects for the time to come, and it seemed on closer examination that these weren’t bad at all, for all three positions- about which they had never really asked one another in detail- were exceedingly advantageous and especially promising for the future” (Kafka 58). Gregor's family looked at his death as a positive step in the future, rather than grieving for the loss of their
It is human nature to look at a situation only from a personal perspective. Furthermore, it is also natural to feel like the victim in a situation where the victim is someone else. In The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, Gregor Samsa transformed from a hardworking, underappreciated man to a disgusting vermin, which his family saw as a burden. Throughout this story, Gregor’s family played the victim when, in fact, the victim was Gregor.
First of all, Gregor never missed a day of work in five years, yet when he missed that one morning, his parents ask if he is going to work rather than being curious about his health. Upon seeing Gregor had not left for work, Mrs. Samsa's original concern was not about her son’s …show more content…
“Gregor? Is something the matter with you? Do you want anything?” (Kafka 6). In this quote, it is obvious that Grete sincerely cared for Gregor. She was the only one in the family that took care of Gregor after his transformation. In the beginning, Grete went out of her way to feed and clean Gregor and his room, which ended up being a difficult task. As the days went on, this nurturing side slowly faded away. She started to find Gregor as an inconvenience and felt the family and her were being punished. "The cleaning up of Gregor's room, which she now always did in the evening, could not be done more hastily. Streaks of dirt ran along the walls, fluffs of dust and filth lay here and there on the floor” (Kafka 43). Gregor was obviously being neglected, and somehow his family still thought they were the ones being treated unfairly. In Gregor's final days, the support from Grete had entirely disappeared. The one person Gregor trusted the most had ultimately betrayed him, pushing Gregor to starve himself. “’It has to go,’ cried his sister. ‘That’s the only answer, Father’” (Kafka …show more content…
“They decided to spend the day resting and going for a walk; they not only deserved a break in their work, they absolutely needed one” (Kafka 57). Throughout this novella, there were many times that it was apparent Gregor's family felt it was unfair or not right that they had to care for Gregor. This quote from the novella perfectly sums up their feelings towards him. Taking care of Gregor was looked at as a horrible job rather than their innate duty as parents. Further, they "celebrated" their son’s death by going on a vacation. “They discussed their prospects for the time to come, and it seemed on closer examination that these weren’t bad at all, for all three positions- about which they had never really asked one another in detail- were exceedingly advantageous and especially promising for the future” (Kafka 58). Gregor's family looked at his death as a positive step in the future, rather than grieving for the loss of their