Chan Woo
Ms. Aubrey
World Lit A
15/Sept/2014
Metamorphosis and Existentialism
Literature nowadays express the negativity of the human condition and behavior. It is all about one doing evil and paying a price for it. The purpose of these stories are to mainly either to simple tell a story, or convey a life lesson. Throughout this essay, I will explain the main topic and concept of the Metamorphosis and the Overcoat, compare and contrast their similarities/differences, and point out the themes of existentialism. First of all, no offence, people are becoming more and more corrupted. Their desires and sins increase extremely, while their morals and ethics diminish. These desires are not always negative, but the roots and results are. They make people blind to emotion and self-awareness. In the stories, the main characters are mostly amoral or become amoral. They are often mislead into the dark paths, sinful paths. They want more than anything; as a result, causing death or pain. In the story of Metamorphosis, Kafka wrote about a man being turned into an insect, or rather a monstrous vermin. This transformation represents a man transforming into an …show more content…
From a hard-working lad into a hopeless insect, he loses his individualism and real-self. This explains the concept of existentialism as a transformation of a human into an object. In the Overcoat, Akaky loses his individuality when he loses his coat. His obsession of his new coat and the obsession of finding it is the key point here. He does not care about anything other than searching for it. These two points from both stories are similar in that they lose their sense of humanity. However, the difference is that Gregor represents existentialism in a way that he does not follow his own beliefs and path and works for his family, while Akaky loses his true self because of the society and his obsession with the
Ms. Aubrey
World Lit A
15/Sept/2014
Metamorphosis and Existentialism
Literature nowadays express the negativity of the human condition and behavior. It is all about one doing evil and paying a price for it. The purpose of these stories are to mainly either to simple tell a story, or convey a life lesson. Throughout this essay, I will explain the main topic and concept of the Metamorphosis and the Overcoat, compare and contrast their similarities/differences, and point out the themes of existentialism. First of all, no offence, people are becoming more and more corrupted. Their desires and sins increase extremely, while their morals and ethics diminish. These desires are not always negative, but the roots and results are. They make people blind to emotion and self-awareness. In the stories, the main characters are mostly amoral or become amoral. They are often mislead into the dark paths, sinful paths. They want more than anything; as a result, causing death or pain. In the story of Metamorphosis, Kafka wrote about a man being turned into an insect, or rather a monstrous vermin. This transformation represents a man transforming into an …show more content…
From a hard-working lad into a hopeless insect, he loses his individualism and real-self. This explains the concept of existentialism as a transformation of a human into an object. In the Overcoat, Akaky loses his individuality when he loses his coat. His obsession of his new coat and the obsession of finding it is the key point here. He does not care about anything other than searching for it. These two points from both stories are similar in that they lose their sense of humanity. However, the difference is that Gregor represents existentialism in a way that he does not follow his own beliefs and path and works for his family, while Akaky loses his true self because of the society and his obsession with the