No Exit Theme Essay

Improved Essays
Throughout these stories, they all seem the show some kind of moral theme to its plot. As I go through the stories/movies –No Exit, Master Harold and the Boys, Metamorphosis, and Frankenstein– I will reflect on the central point of each piece of work and how its central point relates with the others.
In the story, No Exit, we meet three characters by the names of Garcin, Inez, and Estelle who all seem to be tortured by each other. Every character has done something cruel that has gotten them in the “room”, which is symbolically hell. Garcin was put in this room as he mistreated him wife. While Garcin is trying to get out of the room, Inez tortures him because she is preventing him from showing himself as a man of principle to Estelle, which ultimately frustrates him. Inez is the room for killing her cousin and is open to the idea of being the torturer in the room. Ironically, Estelle tortures Inez because Inez wants to be with Estelle while Estelle is only interested in Garcin, not her. Estelle joined the room because she drowned her baby simply because she did not want it. Inez tortures Estelle because Inez prevents Estelle from being with Garcin. Inez does this by telling Garcin false information so
…show more content…
After his family seeing his “new” self, they all are in shock and his father seems to not like it and harasses him. Basically, throughout the story, the father is the one who really harasses him while the mother and sister is scared and shocked by his actions. One of the encounters between the father and Gregor ended with apples being thrown directly at Gregor. As you read the story, you see a trend that the presence of Gregor clearly upsets the family and when he died, the family takes the day off with a trolley through the country. Just like No Exit and Master Harold and the Boys, this story is centralized around the way the characters interact with each

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Society shows betrayal by stereotyping Gregor as a foul “vermin”. He thinks of what doctors and other people would say if they saw the condition he was in. Gregor’s family betrays him when he needs them the most. He transforms into a bug and needs his family to support and care for him while he figures out how to live this new lifestyle. Gregor betrays himself because he thinks he is a burden to the family and that best way of helping the family progress forward is to die.…

    • 678 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    In the novella “The Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka, Gregor, a middle aged man living at home with his two parents and his younger sister, is the sole provider for his family. One morning, Gregor wakes up to find that he has been transformed into a bug, and his family’s greatest fears are met. Normally, people would analyze Kafka’s work and find that Kafka illustrates the unfortunate and difficult decisions between caring for a family member that is in trouble, or leaving them to their own devices. But what if someone thought that Gregor was never human at all, but just a slave blindly working to support his family without any recognition at all. Gregor’s family’s greatest fears are made apparent once it is clear that Gregor is no longer able…

    • 2178 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    His father felt as if Gregor wasn’t still “in” there and he found him to be a burden on the family. Here is a quote from the book when Gregor’s father tried to kill Gregor using nothing more than fruit “He had filled his pockets with fruit from the bowl on the sideboard and now, without even taking the time for careful aim, threw one apple after another. These little, red apples rolled about on the floor, knocking into each other as if they had…

    • 582 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    His father attacked Gregor because “it was clear his father had misinterpreted Grete’s all too brief pronouncement to assume him guilty of some act of violence” (80). He shows fear because his father attacked him with apples and severely damaged him. His fear was justified because of “the grievous wound Gregor had received, which plagued him for over a month – the apple remained lodged in his flesh, a visible memento, since no one dared to remove it” (85). The attack left him damaged to the point of that the “wound cost Gregor some of his mobility, probably for good, and for the time being he required many, many minutes to hobble across hi room like an old invalid” (86). Gregor showed symptoms of fear through two different…

    • 1709 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    His physical transformation is not only a threat for his household, but also disgusts his employer, as is evidenced by the reaction of his manager: “The manager burst out with loud “oh!” – it sounded like a rush of wind- and now he could see him standing closest to the door, his hand pressed over his open mouth slowly backing away, as if repulsed by an indivisible and unrelenting force.” (Kafka 788) This toxic situation for Gregor alludes to the ruthlessness of the society and selfishness of his own family. Gregor’s metamorphosis into a “lowly insect” brings to light the stark reality that society and family is unwilling to accept individuals with a sense of self into their…

    • 827 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “His little legs on one side were trembling in mid-air while those on the other found themselves painfully pressed against the ground - when from behind his father now gave him a truly liberating kick, and he was thrown, bleeding profusely, far into his room” (Kafka 106). Toward the end of the story, Gregor faces severe rejection and humiliation from his father when his father chases him around the room and throws fruit at him. “A feebly tossed apple brushed against Gregor’s back, only to bounce off it harmlessly. One thrown a moment later, however, seemed to pierce it” (Kafka…

    • 1009 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The initial conclusion one can draw from the critique of modern culture by both Kafka and Eliot in their portrayals of modern man is that it is them placed in these settings and their literature is simply an outlet for said critique. The modernist sentiments expressed in their works were, in part, universally held opinions amongst literary contemporaries of theirs and as such were not only a veritable representation of them coming to grips with the reality of the world around them, but also of course how they particularly dealt with issues on an individual basis. Issues of spirituality, crises of identity and the ability to overcome the very trappings of the harsh times they existed in were at the forefront of their works. Kafka employed a…

    • 1007 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, demonstrates many topics that can transform into a theme. Isolation, abandonment, and revenge are expressed within the story the Creature had told Victor. The main topic that stood out the most was keeping too many secrets, which in return lead Victor to his own destruction. He lost himself and his attachment to society after he kept the Creature a secret which lead the creature killing his family and friend due to spite Victor for abandoning him. The novel Frankenstein demonstrates the theme keeping many secrets leads to destruction when Victor’s inability to share his secret about the creature brings destruction of those he loves, the loss of his family and friends causes Victor to lose his attachment to…

    • 1284 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Gregor feels very much unappreciated by his family members. His father is very strict with him. Therefore,…

    • 1113 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Symbolism In The Metamorphosis Kafka

    • 1048 Words
    • 5 Pages
    • 1 Works Cited

    In the beginning of the story Gregor is described as “squirming” (3) and “shocked to hear his own voice,” (5) which resembles his struggle of finding out who he is because he has turned into what family/society wants him to be. The fact that he is “shocked to hear his own voice” justifies that Gregor is not only confused on he has become, but it exposes the reality that Gregor never voices his concerns on being someone he isn’t. It startles him to realize that he is a prisoner within his own body and can’t figure out who he has become, which Kafka makes the reader feel sympathy for him because of his confusion in his mind. Towards the middle of the story Gregor “inconsistently darted madly” (18) around the room when his father was chasing him, which symbolizes Gregor’s chaotic state of trying to live up to his father’s approval because he “didn’t want to let his family down” (11) and how he feels “useless in his present state” (27). Kafka describes Gregor as “simply happy” when Gregor finds solitude in his own body, which shows that Gregor can accept who he is only in his bug form and doesn’t dwell too heavily on the expectations that has been set before him, which makes him authentic because he doesn’t feel he needs to meet his family’s expectations anymore (32).…

    • 1048 Words
    • 5 Pages
    • 1 Works Cited
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Isolation from the world and other people, can sometimes be good for people. For those that choose to step back and take a break from the world, isolation can be a time of growth and self discovery. However, if a person is forced into isolation, like Gregor Samsa and the angel were, it has a completely different effect. For the angel in “The Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” and Gregor Samsa in “The Metamorphosis” their isolation was physical as well as mental.…

    • 1350 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Prior to his transformation Gregor held the belief that his family relied on him completely for survival. Tragically for Gregor, this belief is shattered as he begins to realize he is not as important to his family as he thought. After the failure of his father 's business, it is explained that "Gregor 's sole desire was to do his utmost to help the family to forget as soon as possible the catastrophe that had overwelmed the business and thrown them all into a state of complete despair." (110) and that "later on Gregor had earned so much money that he was able to meet the expenses of the whole household, and did so." (110).…

    • 1776 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    There are many autobiographical elements in Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, as striking similarities and parallels can be drawn between Gregor Samsa and Franz Kafka, whose names are very similar in letter count and sound. This use of name parallel is common for autobiographical fiction, as seen in Bioshock’s parallel to Atlas Shrugged, employing the use of Andrew Ryan in stead of Ayn Rand. The family and situation depicted in The Metamorphosis mirrors that of Kafka’s real life. Like Gregor, Kafka disliked his authoritarian father, and felt compelled to work a job he disliked in order to financially support his family.…

    • 836 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Whether it's big or small, positive or negative, change is inevitable. Every living and nonliving thing that has ever existed has endured some form of change. Change exists in everything we experience everyday. In literature, if there was no change, there would be no story, and no purpose in reading. Change is a common theme demonstrated in three different compositions by three different authors who hold similar views.…

    • 715 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The love that was thought to be there began to show. This was a immature love, which had no meaning. His sister made a cruel decision that the rest of the family, excluding Gregor, acted upon. They decided to exterminate Gregor. Apples were thrown at Gregor by his father.…

    • 529 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays