A person’s humanity is the only trait that identifies them as a human being. When humanity is taken away from a person, they are no longer considered human by others because they lack individuality and human attributes. Humanity gives a person the reason to be accepted into society, and people who lack humanity become outcasts. In The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, the protagonist, Gregor Samsa, wakes up to an unfamiliar body as he has turned into a large bug. As Gregor begins to accept his transformation, his family, as well as his own consciousness, begin to think that he is no longer a human. In Gregor’s transformed state, he still possesses the thought of a human, but lacks the physical features and speech to convey his human thoughts.
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Gregor is reluctant to this change and tries everything in his power to stop them from removing the picture because it is the strongest physical connection to his humanity. The picture symbolises an object in which Gregor feels sentimental about because the photo was a connection to an important part of his human life; his job. Samsa kept the picture beside his “unpacked line of fabric samples” (1084) as he was a salesman. Since the woman in the picture was wearing a fur boa, it reminds Gregor of his previous job, and how he supported his family. Gregor desperately wants to keep the photo because as he continues to lose his humanity in his insect body, he needs a physical connection to a human memory so that he can confirm that his mental state was still human. Another key point is that Gregor complains that he has no time for a human relationship due to his time consuming job. He grumbles about how he was always “worrying about changing trains,...no relationships that last or get intimate” (1085). For this reason, Gregor wants to save the picture because it gives him comfort in a similar way a girlfriend would. This picture is Gregor’s link to a potential wife as she is “done up in a fur hat and fur boa” (1084), indicating that she would be very wealthy. Gregor is able to snatch the picture before the women removed it, which means that Gregor feels that as his …show more content…
The picture links Gregor to memories from when he was a human, his job and his lack of established relationships. Gregor’s food associates the gradual loss of humanity with how a person is treated. The violin and Grete’s music join Gregor’s inability to communicate with his family and the unintentional threat he poses to other people. All in all, no matter how financially successful Gregor was as a human, the objects that surrounded Gregor as an insect indefinitely altered his humanity, the change being clear to himself and his family. His humanity made him human and without it, he was just an pest waiting for his death to
Gregor is reluctant to this change and tries everything in his power to stop them from removing the picture because it is the strongest physical connection to his humanity. The picture symbolises an object in which Gregor feels sentimental about because the photo was a connection to an important part of his human life; his job. Samsa kept the picture beside his “unpacked line of fabric samples” (1084) as he was a salesman. Since the woman in the picture was wearing a fur boa, it reminds Gregor of his previous job, and how he supported his family. Gregor desperately wants to keep the photo because as he continues to lose his humanity in his insect body, he needs a physical connection to a human memory so that he can confirm that his mental state was still human. Another key point is that Gregor complains that he has no time for a human relationship due to his time consuming job. He grumbles about how he was always “worrying about changing trains,...no relationships that last or get intimate” (1085). For this reason, Gregor wants to save the picture because it gives him comfort in a similar way a girlfriend would. This picture is Gregor’s link to a potential wife as she is “done up in a fur hat and fur boa” (1084), indicating that she would be very wealthy. Gregor is able to snatch the picture before the women removed it, which means that Gregor feels that as his …show more content…
The picture links Gregor to memories from when he was a human, his job and his lack of established relationships. Gregor’s food associates the gradual loss of humanity with how a person is treated. The violin and Grete’s music join Gregor’s inability to communicate with his family and the unintentional threat he poses to other people. All in all, no matter how financially successful Gregor was as a human, the objects that surrounded Gregor as an insect indefinitely altered his humanity, the change being clear to himself and his family. His humanity made him human and without it, he was just an pest waiting for his death to