The Complete Stories of Franz Kafka

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, tells the story of how a young adult, Gregor Samsa, in his early 20s becomes a bug out of nowhere. Kafka doesn’t explain why this happened, but it is expressed indirectly throughout the book. Gregor Samsa just wakes up being a bug, he doesn’t know what happened, but indirectly, the perspective of his family about him makes him transform into a bug. Gregor’s father, inspired from Kafka’s father, just thinks of him as a source of money, but when Gregor becomes a…

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka and Bartleby the Scrivener by Herman Melville are two shorts stories that seem hard to compare and analyze together when read once. The plots seem to have no similarities. Although Kafka and Melville may have created two completely different stories, they have many similarities though different aspects. Similarities can be found between the main characters in the two stories, the narrative point of views, the theme, and symbols. The main character in The…

The Metamorphosis is probably the best-known novella written by German-Jewish author Franz Kafka. There is a large focus placed on the metamorphosis of Kafka’s central character, Gregory Samsa, into a monstrous vermin. However, Gregory’s reality is insignificantly changed in spite of his drastic physical change. Thus, Gregory’s new insect state is not the main transformation of the novella. Kafka utilizes Gregory’s transformation as a means for the more significant metamorphosis of the Samsa…

the short story “Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka both demonstrate alienation in the two main characters. Alan Strang in “Equus” becomes isolated from society and his family because of an extreme passion for horses, while Gregor Samsa in “Metamorphosis” is a character who has inherently isolated himself his whole life and he somehow becomes more isolated when he turns into a bug overnight. Both Alan and Gregor go through their estrangement in strikingly similar ways and as the two stories go on, it…

array of stories that captivate an interest with the human body throughout the many stages of life. Frankenstein by Mary Shelly, the story of Adam and Eve, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, Kate Chopin's Ripe Figs, The Guitarist Tunes up by Francis Cornford, and Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis are just a few works for literature that have commentary on the human body. Possibly the most famous story of the creation of life…

bed, he looks around his room, adjusting physically and mentally to his new body and wondering if he hasn’t been dreaming. But when he tries to turn over onto his right side and can’t, he realizes that it is no dream, that indeed he is an insect, complete with a hard shell for a back, wriggling legs, and feelers. At last, plagued by guilt, Gregor agrees with his sister that the only solution is for him to disappear. At three o’clock in the morning, he dies. The new cleaning woman discovers his…

Happiness is a story, a fantastic story that begins at birth and ends at death. It may be a tale of lost love, with the protagonist searching for what was once his. It may be a coming-of-age story, where the main character discovers what was inside all along. It may be a fantasy, a comedy, but most importantly, happiness is whatever the writer makes it. Like any story, happiness draws on from the author’s own ideals and values. What would The Lord of the Flies be without Golding’s view of human…

The Metamorphosis, a short story by Franz Kafka, tells the story of a traveling salesman named Gregor who goes through a dramatic transformation throughout the course of the night. The story begins shortly after Gregor wakes and notices he is no longer himself but rather an insect. Gregor is the breadwinner of the house and no one else is working so they depended on him. His family is in debt and owes a company some money. Once everyone realizes he is a bug his mother passes out and the manager…

In the novel The Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka employs the significance of change as well as the dehumanization of Gregor Samsa, in order to emphasize the theme of isolation and alienation. Here we uncover a man, who was once respected and cared for, turn into a despicable creature, an outcast of society. Upon having just changed into this “monstrous vermin”, Gregor already seems to feel alone in his predicament, and anticipates the effect that his transformation will have on everyone (p.3). In…

While in office, Hitler took complete political, social, and cultural control over German citizens. He also upheld fascist ideas, a form of right-wing totalitarianism, which emphasized the subordination of the individual to the advancement of state interests. Author Bertolt Brecht…