The Complete Stories of Franz Kafka

the inspiration for these stories comes from deep within the mind of the author, who is human, and human emotions tend to bleed through fiction. This is how we can find a surreal connection to so many stories that never actually occurred. Some common threads between the short stories I have read are family, conflict, and judgment. Our lives and that of our families are filled with conflict and we all have been accused of judging unjustly, whether it is of others or possibly ourselves. The…

often do we realise that we actually face the same challenges as its protagonist? This realisation happens quite frequently, especially when we stray far afield in our reading. One famous writer once said: "Many a book is like a key to unknown chambers within the castle of one’s own self" (Kafka). His name was Franz Kafka, and he was struggling with social anxiety, which resulted in him being an unhappy man who believed in emptiness and misery of life. This belief played a significant role in…

Metamorphosis and Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Franz Kafka was born on July 3, 1883 in Prague, the largest city in the Czech Republic. He was part of a Jewish family that spoke German. The Kafka family was considered to be middle class and Kafka attended Law school and worked in insurance while writing in the evenings and late at night. People who worked with him liked him and thought well of him. He was a friendly person who worked hard and had a good sense of humor. Franz had two brothers who…

“With five feeble senses we pretend to comprehend the boundlessly complex cosmos...” (From Beyond). Howard Phillips Lovecraft first authored these words in November of 1920 in the short story From Beyond, words that would come to resound throughout the rest of his writing career centered around his “weird fiction”. Lovecraft’s influence on the genre of horror would end up being comparable only to Edgar Allan Poe. The Cthulhu Mythos, the most famous of his creations, would contain stories that…

Existentialism came into existence during World War 2. Many authors like Franz Kafka and Albert…

modern society. In the short story, The Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka, the emotional detachment between Gregor Samsa and his family result in the gradual rejection of Gregor when he turns into a bug. Furthermore, the alienation caused by Gregor’s metamorphosis can be seen by the reader as an adjunct to the estrangement he already felt as a person when working in a capitalist society. Mr. Samsa, Mrs. Samsa, and Grete, all play significant roles that contribute to Gregor’s exclusion from human…

Transformations In Franz Kafka’s fictional adventure The Metamorphosis, Gregor Samsa is shown to have the most significant change out of all the characters. Prominent change with such magnitude as a “metamorphosis” can be defined as alterations in moral values/roles as well as physical factors. As Kafka depicts a vastly sophisticated scene with various social dynamics, it is clear that as the plot progresses, Gregor undergoes fascinating changes that dig far below the story’s surface. Not only…

Reverse Metamorphosis “ When Gregor Samsa awoke from troubled dreams one morning, he found that he had been transformed in his bed into an enormous bug” (Kafka 11). The Metamorphosis is an absurdist fiction published in 1915, written by Franz Kafka. This intriguing, ironic story was told from the point of view of a character whose true identity transitioned throughout the novella. Although Gregor’s exterior appearance was of a bug, internally he continuously depicted many human qualities. This…

As displayed by Franz Kafka in his short story, “The Metamorphosis” people who are different from others will become disconnected from society oftentimes through no choice of their own. In “The Metamorphosis” tells the story of Gregor Samsa, a traveling salesman, who awakens to discover that he has become a human-sized insect. Realizing that he’s late for work, Gregor begins to ruminate on his life which included things like his exhausting work as a salesman, getting up early, and his family. As…

In The Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka, the economic changes throughout Europe are explored as well as their impacts on the social well-being of the people. Throughout the late 1800s and early 1900s, Europe was undoubtedly the most developed continent on Earth. With the introduction of the industrial revolution in many European countries, citizens migrated to labour opportunities in larger cities, which promised higher standards of living, rather than working in the country for low wages. This…