Metamorphosis Final In Depth Outline I will be using a mixture of historicism and social commentary to analyze this essay.
Gregor Samsa is portrayed as a parasite in The Metamorphosis due to his attraction to his hosts, that are repulsed by him and the cyclical draining of life force. This has roots in Kafka's own life with his fear of doing the same to his family.
Kafka's The Metamorphosis is loosely based on his life, with the artist feeding off of the rest of his life and his tuberculosis forcing him to feed off of his father. Parasites tend to kill their hosts by feeding off of them, this then tends to kill the parasite itself as its source of food is gone. The prefix "para" can mean "incorrectly resembling something else as well as wrongfully or harmfully existing beside" (Barry, 46). This follows Gregor's life almost perfectly. The locked door holds large amounts of symbolism. Showing that he does not get along with his parents, is a separate entity, and finally that he is a monster that needs to be locked away. Gregor doesn't take his family's food away, but instead drains them psychically. Gregor has an erotic fantasy with his mother and sister. This will not be used in the essay. Gregor was the caretaker for his family, but became a draining parasite. Gregor's father battling with him represents Kafka's fear of a similar fate meeting him. This article will be used in the argument of his psychically draining his family and the idea of Kafka's fear of facing a similar fate to the doomed Gregor.
The Kafka project provides a biography of Franz Kafka. I will be using the section on his tuberculosis and fears. "Kafka's Life (1883-1924)." . The Kafka Project, 8 Jan. 2011. Web. 2 May 2014.
"Gregor's father seized the chief clerk's stick in his right hand (the chief clerk had left it behind on a chair, along with his hat and overcoat), picked up a large newspaper from the table with his left, and used them to drive Gregor back into his room, stamping his foot at him as he went. Gregor's appeals to his father were of no help, his appeals were simply not understood, however much he humbly turned his head his father merely stamped his foot all the harder. " This quote shows that Gregor still cares about his father while his father rejects him. It states that Gregor was acting "humbly" which can mean acting inferior or modest. This illustrates that Gregor sees his father as above him and want to respect him. He also asks his father to help. This shows that he cares as it is hard to ask for help and even harder to ask for help from someone you find repulsive. However, Gregor's father rejects all of this and continues driving Gregor into the room through violent techniques. This shows that Gregor's father thinks Gregor is repulsive as he is treating him as if he was behaving badly or this is somehow in his control, which it is not.
"We've only harmed ourselves by believing it for so long." Gregor's sister says this to her father about Gregor being Gregor. She says that he is not Gregor and that it's been harming the family. This illustrates the strain put on the family by Gregor's transformation.
I will be using a mixture of historicism and social commentary to analyze this essay.
Gregor Samsa is portrayed as a parasite in The Metamorphosis due to his attraction to his hosts, that are repulsed by him and the cyclical draining of life force. This has roots in Kafka's own life with his fear of doing the same to his family.
Kafka's The Metamorphosis is loosely based on his life, with the artist feeding off of the rest of his life and his tuberculosis forcing him to feed off of his father. Parasites tend to kill their hosts by feeding off of them, this then tends to kill the parasite itself as its source of food is gone. The prefix "para" can mean "incorrectly resembling something else as well as wrongfully or harmfully existing beside" (Barry, 46). This follows Gregor's life almost perfectly. The locked door holds large amounts of symbolism. Showing that he does not get along with his parents, is a separate entity, and finally that he is a monster that needs to be locked away. Gregor doesn't take his family's food away, but instead drains them psychically. Gregor has an erotic fantasy with his mother and sister. This will not be used in the essay. Gregor was the caretaker for his family, but became a draining parasite. Gregor's father battling with him represents Kafka's fear of a similar fate meeting him.
This article will be used in the argument of his psychically draining his family and the idea of Kafka's fear of facing a similar fate to the doomed Gregor.
The Kafka project provides a biography of Franz Kafka. I will be using the section on his tuberculosis and fears.
"Kafka's Life (1883-1924)." . The Kafka Project, 8 Jan. 2011. Web. 2 May 2014.
"Gregor's father seized the chief clerk's stick in his right hand (the chief clerk had left it behind on a chair, along with his hat and overcoat), picked up a large newspaper from the table with his left, and used them to drive Gregor back into his room, stamping his foot at him as he went. Gregor's appeals to his father were of no help, his appeals were simply not understood, however much he humbly turned his head his father merely stamped his foot all the harder. "
This quote shows that Gregor still cares about his father while his father rejects him. It states that Gregor was acting "humbly" which can mean acting inferior or modest. This illustrates that Gregor sees his father as above him and want to respect him. He also asks his father to help. This shows that he cares as it is hard to ask for help and even harder to ask for help from someone you find repulsive. However, Gregor's father rejects all of this and continues driving Gregor into the room through violent techniques. This shows that Gregor's father thinks Gregor is repulsive as he is treating him as if he was behaving badly or this is somehow in his control, which it is not.
"We've only harmed ourselves by believing it for so long."
Gregor's sister says this to her father about Gregor being Gregor. She says that he is not Gregor and that it's been harming the family. This illustrates the strain put on the family by Gregor's transformation.