The Metamorphosis: Kafka’s Existential Irony. Existentialism is the fulcrum of twentieth century philosophy; the never ending collation of angst, authenticity, and the absurd which rotates around the existential crisis’ axle; the quintessential literary phenomenon that influenced generations to come; the godfather of Kafka’s The Metamorphosis. Known purely through reputation and influence, Franz Kafka, the Jewish Czech author, was born in 1883. Although formally educated in the constituents of law, Kafka dabbled in the art of prose. Kafka’s genius set the tone for the fanatical and the ludicrous which peppers the many novels of today’s time. His writing proved to be a colossal, so much so that Kafkaesque was coined to draw parallels between
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Escapism comes in the form of the actual transformation into a cockroach. The day after Gregor’s family discovers that he is an insect, he waits for the house to empty in order to explore, and feels a sense of ease and affluence (Kafka 214). Gregor, post-transformation, acquires perspective and knowledge in his altered form; additionally, it is as if the lessened pressure and responsibility provide a sense of euphoria. The great escape of one’s existence can also be looked at as a desire for death. A mundane existence, slowly rotting away, like the apple which becomes lodged on Gregor’s back: “The grave wound to Gregor, from whose effects he suffered for over a month -as no one dared to remove the apple, it remained embedded in his flesh” (Kafka 231). Death, being the ultimate escape from a banal and valueless life, inevitably comes to Gregor. Symbolically, the apple serves as a metaphor for castigation and desire: Gavriel Ben-Ephraim states, ”In a parody of Genesis, the throwing of ‘apple after apple’ negates the traditional meanings of Original Sin: Gregor is punished for existence itself, for the trace of desire in a last remnant of the will-to-live” (450). To accentuate the dull and humdrum perception of Gregor’s regard for his own life, Kafka changes the milieu of the house to prepare for Gregor’s demise. Michel G. Levine illustrates this well by saying, “ When Gregor …show more content…
Through the use of irony, Kafka regards Gregor Samsa as living for all the wrong reasons; yet, Gregor is pushed to his limits and dreams of freedom and the sweet, crystalline image of
Escapism comes in the form of the actual transformation into a cockroach. The day after Gregor’s family discovers that he is an insect, he waits for the house to empty in order to explore, and feels a sense of ease and affluence (Kafka 214). Gregor, post-transformation, acquires perspective and knowledge in his altered form; additionally, it is as if the lessened pressure and responsibility provide a sense of euphoria. The great escape of one’s existence can also be looked at as a desire for death. A mundane existence, slowly rotting away, like the apple which becomes lodged on Gregor’s back: “The grave wound to Gregor, from whose effects he suffered for over a month -as no one dared to remove the apple, it remained embedded in his flesh” (Kafka 231). Death, being the ultimate escape from a banal and valueless life, inevitably comes to Gregor. Symbolically, the apple serves as a metaphor for castigation and desire: Gavriel Ben-Ephraim states, ”In a parody of Genesis, the throwing of ‘apple after apple’ negates the traditional meanings of Original Sin: Gregor is punished for existence itself, for the trace of desire in a last remnant of the will-to-live” (450). To accentuate the dull and humdrum perception of Gregor’s regard for his own life, Kafka changes the milieu of the house to prepare for Gregor’s demise. Michel G. Levine illustrates this well by saying, “ When Gregor …show more content…
Through the use of irony, Kafka regards Gregor Samsa as living for all the wrong reasons; yet, Gregor is pushed to his limits and dreams of freedom and the sweet, crystalline image of