What about a villain's actions show that they are villainous? Is it the fear he strikes in his family, in the reader too, as he scuttles across the floor, and the aggressive hiss he emits at every turn? In Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, a loving, if not distant, relationship between Gregor Samsa and his family takes a horrifying turn when he wakes up one morning transformed into a bug. The book leads us to sympathize with Gregor, as it’s told from his point of view; However, Gregor’s condition doesn’t excuse his behavior or his villainy. I believe that Gregor Samsa’s acts of terror and the entrapment of his family in an unhealthy situation mark him as the obvious villain of the novella.
Gregor terrorizes the Samsa family almost constantly …show more content…
Not only do the Samsa’s have to deal with Gregor’s instability, but they also have to navigate finding food he can eat and an environment he is content in. Gregor entraps his family in a house they can no longer easily afford, and prevents them from a pursuit of their happiness, “Relocating Gregor was inconceivable...but it was much more the complete hopelessness and the thought that they had experienced a stroke of bad luck unlike any known” (Kafka 53). Hopelessness, depression, depletion- words that paint a picture of the Samsa family while living with Gregor. His complete dependency on their relationship drains the Samsas completely, as Gregor becomes bitter and selfish, “He was hardly in the mood to care for his family, filled as he was with blind rage” (Kafka 54). That quote especially shows Gregor’s willful ignorance of the strain and burden he is putting on his family. He demands their time, their care, their money. Grete, Mrs. and Mr. Samsa are now working several jobs to accommodate Gregor, and still he is ungrateful. It is not until Gregor’s death that the Samsa family are shown a light at the end of his tyranny. His death communicates one thing to them: they are
Gregor terrorizes the Samsa family almost constantly …show more content…
Not only do the Samsa’s have to deal with Gregor’s instability, but they also have to navigate finding food he can eat and an environment he is content in. Gregor entraps his family in a house they can no longer easily afford, and prevents them from a pursuit of their happiness, “Relocating Gregor was inconceivable...but it was much more the complete hopelessness and the thought that they had experienced a stroke of bad luck unlike any known” (Kafka 53). Hopelessness, depression, depletion- words that paint a picture of the Samsa family while living with Gregor. His complete dependency on their relationship drains the Samsas completely, as Gregor becomes bitter and selfish, “He was hardly in the mood to care for his family, filled as he was with blind rage” (Kafka 54). That quote especially shows Gregor’s willful ignorance of the strain and burden he is putting on his family. He demands their time, their care, their money. Grete, Mrs. and Mr. Samsa are now working several jobs to accommodate Gregor, and still he is ungrateful. It is not until Gregor’s death that the Samsa family are shown a light at the end of his tyranny. His death communicates one thing to them: they are