Metamorphosis Case

Andreanna Warren

098/099

Professor Cooke

11/3/12

Metamorphosis

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka is a short story about a man named Gregor that woke up a bug to metaphorically explain his life of alienation and lack of attention from his family. He was a workaholic who loved and supported his family.

In the story the author purposely describe this story in a metaphoric way to explain Gregor's feeling of alienation. In reality a human can't become a bug. He feels alienated because he all he does is work and his family doesn't notice him. He didn't have any success with relationship unless it was work related and he didn't have a real relationship with his family. When he became a bug his family really alienated him. His father made everyone else in the family not visit or talk to him. In reality his father dominated the family which is why Gregor was the one who had to work to pay the bills.

Another way to look at the story is how it has many similarities to the author's life. Kafka's father made him go to law school when all he wanted to do was write. Just as Kafka's relationships were unsuccessful so were the character Gregor. Some would say that the Kafka wrote "The Metamorphosis" as a symbolic biography of his life. Gregor was neglected as a bug which leads him to bad health. Both the character and the author had dominating fathers for which they both wanted to show their love and support to their families.

The alienation from Gregor's family made him deteriorate. The family didn't care for him or wanted him there anymore. Once he became a bug they no longer looked at him as being Gregor they looked at him as being a bug. He looked at the alienation as freedom in some sort, he didn't have to take care of his family any more, but he eventually started feeling bad about that because they had to work themselves. His family didn't want him around anymore. It was this treatment that caused his death. He no longer felt worthy his family didn't notice he stopped eating. One night he just gave up on life.

There are many ways to analyze the contents of the story. Sometimes in life you feel alienated by others and you feel like a bug or feel like nothing. To feel alienated by your family is hurtful and disappointing because