Beginning with the unnatural occurrence of how the protagonist “found himself changed in his bed into a monstrous vermin,” (pg. 1), Kafka is able to capture how such a character can undergo change without really changing in his novel The Metamorphosis. Gregor Samsa, the protagonist character in this novel, transforms on the surface into an insect upon waking from an uneasy dream one morning. Gregor however fails to question this transformation and quickly accepts that he has become an insect, and becomes immediately accustomed to his new body. His mind is left unchanged however from the transformation, leaving him in constant conflict with his physical needs and desires. In contrast to Gregor’s mind, a theme of change evolves in the rest of
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Kafka had a difficult relationship with his father Hermann who had a forceful personality that often times overwhelmed Kafka. His tormented relationship with his father led to Kafka dealing with external conflict, and having anxieties about women, sexuality, and his family. However, most of Kafka’s best work came from the way his tyrannical father shaped his outlook on life. In 1919, Kafka wrote a forty-seven-page letter to his father expressing his thoughts. “You do charge me with coldness, estrangement, and ingratitude,” (Kafka). These details of the way Kafka feels about his father in the letter are reflected into the relationship between Gregor and his father. Throughout the Metamorphosis, you can see how the father expresses hostility mainly through Gregor’s view just like Kafka’s in his letter to his father. “Gregor’s serious would, from which he suffered for over a month – the apple remained imbedded in his flesh as a visible souvenir since no one dared to move it,” (pg. 29). When Gregor’s father returns home from his new job, and finds Grete and the mother startled, he launches apples at Gregor in anger. This vicious behavior from the father toward Gregor is shown in Kafka’s style of writing over victims of forces beyond their control like Kafka was against his
Kafka had a difficult relationship with his father Hermann who had a forceful personality that often times overwhelmed Kafka. His tormented relationship with his father led to Kafka dealing with external conflict, and having anxieties about women, sexuality, and his family. However, most of Kafka’s best work came from the way his tyrannical father shaped his outlook on life. In 1919, Kafka wrote a forty-seven-page letter to his father expressing his thoughts. “You do charge me with coldness, estrangement, and ingratitude,” (Kafka). These details of the way Kafka feels about his father in the letter are reflected into the relationship between Gregor and his father. Throughout the Metamorphosis, you can see how the father expresses hostility mainly through Gregor’s view just like Kafka’s in his letter to his father. “Gregor’s serious would, from which he suffered for over a month – the apple remained imbedded in his flesh as a visible souvenir since no one dared to move it,” (pg. 29). When Gregor’s father returns home from his new job, and finds Grete and the mother startled, he launches apples at Gregor in anger. This vicious behavior from the father toward Gregor is shown in Kafka’s style of writing over victims of forces beyond their control like Kafka was against his