Point of View and Poetic Techniques in The Metamorphosis Narrative Point of ViewĪs a modernist novel, there are several techniques that will likely be familiar with in The Metamorphosis. The family feels relief now that Gregor is gone, they move on with their lives.Gregor decides his family will be better off without him and he dies.Lodgers move into the house and Gregor watches his family from his room.Samsa attacks Gregor believing he hurt Mrs. Gregor tries to save the image of the woman in furs.Gregor leans to climb the walls and they take the furniture out of the room.
Grete feeds Gregor and he discovers he loves rotten food.The family is confronted by Gregor’s new form.Gregor’s family and boss come to check on him.Gregor wakes up and discovers that he’s been transformed into a giant insect.His generosity was not repaid.Īnalysis of Key Moments in The Metamorphosis He cares about the responsibility he has to his family, to pay off his father’s debts and support his sister and mother.Ī reader should also consider what responsibility his family has for him after his transformation and how they didn’t fulfill it. The first pages of the novel are devoted to Gregor’s struggle to force his new body to do what his old one could easily. He worries immediately that he’s not going to be able to get to work on time and is going to lose his job. When Gregor first discovers that he’s no longer in his human body, his first thought is for his family. It is from there, separate from the family, that he listens to their lives carry on without him. Gregor is also physically alienated in his prison cell-like room. Gregor is alienated from his former humanity, generally, as well as his former personality and role, specifically. The main one being the separation from his family, job, and previous role as the main breadwinner.
#METAMORPHOSIS FRANZ KAFKA STUDY GUIDE SERIES#
Gregor’s transformation brings with it a series of emotional transitions and obstacles that he has to overcome. It becomes easier for the family to ignore the fact that Gregor exists than to continue caring for him. But as time goes on, Grete grows older and her priorities change.
At first, she cares for Gregor’s needs, feeding and visiting him. It is seen most prominently in Grete, his sister. He finds sanctuary in dark places, joy in crawling on the ceilings and the walls, and is only able to stomach rotten food.Īdditionally, there is the transformation that his family members undergo. As the novel progresses, Gregor struggles to hang onto his humanity, it slips from him as he turns to the things that bring him pleasure in his new form. There is the primary transformation in the novel, that of Gregor, a human man, into a large insect, but there are several others as well. The first and most important theme in The Metamorphosis is transformation. Devastated, Gregor returns to his room and dies of starvation.Such themes in Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis touch on what it means to be human and what happens when those around you stop regarding you as such. Grete now refers to her former brother as “that monster” (43) and maintains that they should get rid of him, as she believes that he can’t understand what they’re saying. The lodgers threaten to leave and lock themselves in their rooms. When he is seen, Gregor is covered in dust, debris, and food scraps, adding to his unsightliness. Grete plays the violin for them, and Gregor is lured from his “filthy corner” (37). When his door is left ajar, Gregor notices that three lodgers have taken up residence in the apartment. Neglected by his family, Gregor rarely eats. The burly new cleaning woman is indifferent to Gregor and refers to him as an “old dung beetle” (38). She hurls the food scraps into his room, which has now become unkempt and offensive, much like Gregor’s appearance. Now that Grete is busy working, she no longer cleans his living quarters or shows consideration toward Gregor. His family has let the live-in maid go, in lieu of a brash, part-time cleaning woman, and all the members of his family are now gainfully employed. When Gregor recovers a month later, he discovers that the state of the Samsa apartment has changed.
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