The metamorphosis summary. The Metamorphosis" (Die Verwandlung)" 2022-12-21
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The Metamorphosis is a novella written by Franz Kafka and first published in 1915. It tells the story of Gregor Samsa, a young man who wakes up one morning to find that he has been transformed into a giant insect.
At the beginning of the story, Gregor is a dutiful son and an office worker who supports his family financially. However, he is unhappy with his job and feels trapped in his mundane life. One day, he wakes up to find that he has been transformed into an insect and can no longer communicate with his family or go to work.
His transformation causes a great deal of turmoil in the family. His mother and father are shocked and disgusted by his appearance, and his sister Grete, who had previously been close to him, becomes distant and resentful. The family is also struggling financially, as Gregor is unable to work and provide for them. They are forced to take in lodgers to make ends meet, which further isolates Gregor and causes him to feel even more helpless and useless.
As the story progresses, Gregor becomes more and more isolated from his family and the outside world. He spends most of his time hiding in his room, unable to participate in family life or interact with anyone. His physical transformation into an insect symbolizes the emotional and psychological transformation he has undergone as a result of his lack of agency and freedom in his life.
Eventually, Gregor's family becomes fed up with his presence and decides to get rid of him. They remove all of the furniture from his room, leaving him with nothing but a few old rags and a few pieces of food. Grete, who had previously shown some compassion towards Gregor, now treats him with contempt and neglect.
As Gregor's health deteriorates, he becomes more and more resigned to his fate. He realizes that he is a burden to his family and that he will never be able to return to his former life. In the end, he dies alone in his room, having lost everything that was once important to him.
The Metamorphosis is a powerful and thought-provoking story that explores themes of isolation, identity, and the human condition. It forces us to consider what it means to be human and how our relationships and circumstances shape who we are. It is a haunting and poignant tale that will stay with readers long after they have finished reading it.
The Metamorphosis
At first, she volunteers to feed him and clean his room, but she grows increasingly impatient with the burden and begins to leave his room in disarray out of spite. She plays the violin and dreams of going to the conservatory to study, a dream Gregor had intended to make happen; he had planned on making the announcement on Christmas Day. This is why Gregor's sense of time begins to vanish in the second part, when he wakes up "out of a deep sleep, more like a swoon than a sleep. The lodgers' quick departure shows how strong emotions overpower the rules of society and to have regained a sense of dignity in refusing to serve the lodgers any longer. In the morning, Grete checks on Gregor, and is still shocked by his state.
About a month passes, with Grete taking care of Gregor less and less attentively. His insect appearance must not be real because it does not suit Gregor the businessman. She simply cannot comprehend the idea that her son has turned into a monster. The cook, for instance, quits her job because she can't stand to be in the house around Gregor. Gregor tries to catch up with the fleeing office manager, but Gregor wakes and sees that someone has put milk and bread in his room. Meanwhile, Gregor tries desperately to maneuver his awkward new body out of bed.
While eating, Gregor speculates on the nature of his changing tastes. And Shakespeare has a lot to offer. Gregor â after his metamorphosis â can be depicted only to the extent he can see and grasp himself â hence not at all or merely by implication. Gregor creeps into the living room, though he is filthy and can't be bothered to clean himself: "He hardly felt any surprise at his growing lack of consideration for the others; there had been a time when he prided himself on being considerate. When they no longer have to think about the burden of caring for him, their sympathy returns.
What did Kafka mean by such a story? The family watches them go. She leaves, locking the door. In the meantime Gregor has been amusing himself walking on the ceiling, and Grete has moved the furniture around so he has easier access. Gregor suffers from his injuries for the rest of his life and takes very little food. The final moments link to the larger concerns of conformity, beauty, and the way the body determines the kind of life a person can lead, while the suggestion of finding Grete a husband is a hint of a total replacement of Gregorâthe husband offers the prospect of a new man in the prime of his life for them all to depend on. Gregor delivers a long speech asking the office manager to put in a good word for him at work, since traveling salesmen often become the subjects of negative gossip, but the office manager continues to back out of the apartment.
Once Gregor has died, Grete, along with her mother and father, are remorseful. Munich: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag. By examining the themes of alienation, guilt, and despair in The Metamorphosis, readers can gain insight into the struggles we all face when trying to find our place in the world. Because they have maintained a higher degree of sensitivity, the women in Gregor's family respond differently at first, Gregor's mother even resorting to a fainting spell to escape having to identify the insect with her son. The next morning, his sister Gregor grows more comfortable with his changed body. Now his family's ignoring him pushes him further into roach-like self-centeredness.
It is through all his failures to act, then, rather than from specific irresponsible actions he commits, that Gregor is guilty. When Gregor responds, he finds his voice has changed. When he finds himself in a situation where he himself is in need of attention and assistance and in danger of becoming a parasite, he doesn't want to admit this new role to himself and be disappointed by the treatment he receives from his family, which is becoming more and more careless and even hostile over time. She performs her duties briskly, without much attention to her brother. He struggles briefly with his physiology but struggles for many more pages with his humanity and holding onto the shreds that remain of it. She is the character the title is directed at. Though his human side never entirely disappeared.
Gregor is depicted as isolated from society and often both misunderstands the true intentions of others and is misunderstood. At the end of the story, Grete's parents realize that she has become beautiful and full-figured and decide to consider finding her a husband. His appetite, or lack thereof, recurs often in the text, showing a connection between his body and his emotional life. Gregor tries to explain that he was not feeling well. Gregor longingly notices the care with which his mother and Grete feed the lodgers, and the attention that his father lavishes upon them.
As Gregor attempts to turn to go back to his room, Grete sees him moving and panics. It tells the story of Gregor Samsa, a traveling salesman who wakes up one morning to find himself transformed into an insect. As well as the changes to his voice, Gregor also realises that his vision has got worse since his transformation. She suffers from asthma, which is a constant source of concern for Gregor. His mother loses consciousness at the sight of him clinging to the image to protect it. Gregor's mother and father realize that it is time to find a husband for Grete.
He wonders, "Was he an animal, that music had such an effect on him? He, his wife, and their daughter are all happy with the jobs they have taken, and Mr and Mrs Samsa realise that their daughter is now of an age to marry. But he deals with this very human thought process in a decidedly cockroach-like wayâcrawling around and going under the bedâshowing his inability to change himself to fit a more human mold. Transforming Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis Signs, 14:3, Spring, 1989 , The University of Chicago Press, pp. Gregor finds that Grete has brought him some fresh food, which doesn't appeal to him. In 1999, Gerhard Rieck pointed out that Gregor and his sister, Grete, form a pair, which is typical of many of Kafka's texts: it is made up of one passive, rather austere, person and another active, more libidinal, person.
She and her mother begin taking furniture away, but Gregor finds their actions deeply distressing. This passage shows Gregor's descent into indignation about what he perceives as his family ignoring him. The comical effect of this reversal of the normal and the irrational is then further heightened by the servant girl's opening the door as usual. Gregor tries telling his supervisor what a dedicated worker he isâbut his boss leaves the house in terror. It is his best-known shorter work, published in German in 1915, with the first English translation appearing in 1933. Even Grete seems to resent Gregor now, feeding him and cleaning up with a minimum of effort. The theme of alienation becomes quite evident here.
