Franz Kafka Metamorphosis on social class. Exploring the ways in which an understanding of the culture that produced it informs a clearer interpretation of a particular theme.
Exploring the ways in which an understanding of the culture that produced it informs a clearer interpretation of a particular theme. Some examples of such themes might include attitudes toward nature, death, social class, gender, or the inevitability of religious conflict. Research paper must integrate at least 4 different, credible, scholarly sources
Representation of the Social Group in The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
This paper looks at the philosophy of power, alienation and minor literature through an analysis Franz Kafka’s short story, The Metamorphosis. I will give examples of irony through Gregor’s metamorphosis and how this irony brings together the conclusion of the story. The stresses of trade are much greater than the work going on at head office, and, in addition to that, I have to deal with the problems of traveling, the worries about train connections, irregular bad food, temporary and constantly changing human relationships which never come from the heart.”
Representation of the Social Group in The Metamorphosis of Franz Kafka Metamorphosis is a story written by Franz in 1912 about a man named Gregory Samsa who one day wakes up and transforms himself into a giant insect. This story is considered the “most Kafkaesque” literary work.
Gregory works as a door-to-door seller and as the only financial pillar of the family carries a lot of responsibility. Due to a debt, he is forced to work for his employer until he has paid it off in full. As the only financial support for a family of four, he, his sister and their parents don’t have much money to spend or live in a luxurious place. Gregory’s lackluster job and family dependency make her middle class living in an average apartment, which says is a big improvement for the family.
Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, begins when Gregor has awakened from his disturbed dream as a dung beetle. Gregor, the main character and Kafka himself, experienced insecure behavior, alienation and depression in their relationships.
They also had a maid who did daily chores while Gregory worked, but no details are given of her salary, if any. Although we have a feeling that he is working there with little or no salary. because she owes them and is forced to work there because she begs Gregory’s father to let her go, after Gregory’s transformation, since she is afraid of the sight of her and cannot work because she knows what she lives under the same roof . With this, Kafka made it very clear that the Samsa belonged to the middle class. Gregory Samsa adapts so much to his daily work and responsibilities that he has no life of his own.
Her mother and sister find it very strange that she doesn’t come out of her room one morning. It’s so unlikely of him that his superior comes to check on him. This morning, Gregory is definitely worried about his transformation. And he can’t grasp the whole situation at once, but the strange thing is that he cares more about getting to work on time and getting up. Group very monotonous, uneventful and repetitive. Many have noted that a hallmark of something Kafkaesque is how the “worldly and absurd aspects relate to modern bureaucracy”.
Critics use a historical-biographical approach, attributing his writing style to his one-year tenure as an insurance clerk in Prague in 1907. We see a common social group in his writing. Many of the protagonists of his stories belong to the middle class. Workers who have fixed hours and a fixed salary, such as clerks or salespeople in this case. They have to work extensively for an average salary and spend most of their lives with one goal, to work. We take his work on an underwater god ‘Poseidon’.
The god is a manager who is so overwhelmed with paperwork that he doesn’t even get a chance to explore the frontiers of his own realm. Another central theme is the comparison with the mentally or physically handicapped, who after the sympathy phase only become an obligation due to their inability to participate and are ultimately left behind by “alienation”. Gregory’s sister eventually gives him up and admits she’s mad at him. The father can be likened to a selfish, intolerant, short-tempered family member who gives up easily. He often throws tantrums and repeatedly tries to physically hurt Gregory to get out of his frustration.
Gregor’s father never showed him respect even when he did support the family, now when Gregor cannot provide for the family, his father sees him as worthless.
The nurse, although initially beginning to understand for a while, eventually gave up because Gregory did not seem to heal or return to normal. Gregory’s father is angry at him as he gets angry at him multiple times from his transformation to his death, as Gregory is now nothing more than a horrible “beast” who repeatedly causes trouble. He makes his mother pass out twice, takes up an entire room without contributing to the family, and has the Boarders leave Apartment, and gives them an excuse to not pay their rent. Kafka also portrays Gregory’s group as typical bread holders and how interchangeable they are.
It also shows how selfish the people who depend on this group can be. Gregory’s father had some savings that nobody knew about until it was absolutely necessary to use them. The father also got a job which shows that he is fully capable. To be another source of income and to relieve your son a bit. His father’s savings and job might partially fulfill Gregory’s wish that we learn to quit his job and be free from family responsibilities at the beginning, maybe not forever, but at least for a while. The inhuman aspect of Gregor’s job is emphasized here. You could say it’s worse than being a vermin: Gregor is reduced to a mere, inanimate “tool.”
After Gregory’s death, the family takes a day off and takes a trip to the country as if nothing had happened, in fact the beautiful sunny weather seems like a pathetic fallacy, reflecting that bad times are ending and good times are here out and about while Mr. and Mrs. Samsa discuss their daughter’s future. This gives a very negative image and portrays this social group as something you don’t want to belong to.
Everything is perfectly fine and running smoothly until the sellers wake up every morning to go to work and bring the food home, but once the revenue stream stops, the seller initially gets sympathy and then alienated because of it nothing more than is a responsibility. It is always surprising to see how relevant Kafka’s work remains to this day and it only proves his view that man is trapped in a repetitive system.
The way that the theme social class was used in “The Metamorphosis” was by the way the author Franz Kafka described Gregor as a low-middle class citizen that is only good for making money for a family that don’t even care about him. Another way he used this theme is when the family had to get jobs to pay for the rent of the apartment after Gregor’s transformation.
To conclude the essay, Kafka’s works have a dark tone and an ending. Again using the historical-biographical approach, he may be referring to his past through troubled relationships with his father and his loneliness due to the busy family business. The Metamorphosis, he tells the story of one young man’s transformation from a human to a monstrous vermin. Although Kafka wrote Metamorphosis over a century ago, he still depicts society and how Gregory composes it in a way that is highly relevant to today’s working class.