The novel Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka describes the fate that befell a young man named Gregor Samsa who experiences a complete change both externally and mentally. Before becoming a giant insect, Gregor was a devoted person and a committed worker despite the anxiety and hatred he felt. When he transformed into an insect, he finds himself surrounded by a farcical environment but, unfortunately, he tried to survive in similar humans and ended up dying in pain. He saw his father, mother and sister who he had once dedicated himself to, changing him too. Gregor remained trapped in the cocoon of working society, family, traveling salesman and was also a victim of self-imprisonment. This prison he was in made him inhuman even before the physical change. What are the problems or issues that led him to transform? Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay I believe that Gregor Samsa was the architect of the transformation he was supposed to experience. He created circumstances that gradually but ultimately led to his mysterious transformation that led to his desperate death. My essay is based on the following examples, as illustrated in the full text, Frank Kafka's Metamorphoses. The first example is when Gregor installs himself as the sole breadwinner for his family. He had pocketed enough money to buy a luxury apartment for his entire family. Inside the apartment he reserves a small room smaller than his sister's. He hired maids, a cook and lived an expensive lifestyle with his parents and sister. Over time, Samsa could no longer manage the lifestyle due to the low returns recorded in the business he worked in while his parents still owed huge sums of money to Gregor's boss. He talks to himself, "As soon as I save enough money to pay off my parents' debts - it should take another five or six years - I will definitely do it." Assuming that many years remained, he had served half a decade without a single break. It put Gregor to the test and forced him to change. He has turned into a work machine who doesn't need to rest or have time for others. The demands of the lavish lifestyle pushed him to transform. Secondly, an issue that pushed him to transform was his father. The person he called father was self-centered, domineering, getting close to him was difficult. As soon as Gregor got a job in one of the people, he had debts and was earning good money, he stopped working. He added weight and became lazier in the five years his son worked hard. She often lay in her room or on the chair while her son was out and about or at work. The only thing his father did was waste time reading different newspapers. His father was not a happy father and negatively perceived how Gregor had planned perfectly for them before his transformation and did not perceive the change that was coming for his son. He became cruel, treating Samsa roughly, always pushing him back into the room when Samsa had become an insect. She was ashamed of him. Without revealing it to his son, he had saved enough money to repay the debt he owed. I see it as irrational to do this to his child while his child is laboring. The instant Samsa transformed into an insect, he began to go to work, dressed formally, he stood still as illustrated, "now, however, he stands very erect." To show that he cares, he would help his son meet the family's needs and pay off what he owed. Inthat way Samsa wouldn't stop being a robot. If he had helped Gregor he would have felt relieved and felt the need to connect with others, build social bonds, experience the fullness of life but because the father didn't care, he forced his son to change. Another circumstance that pushed Gregor to transform is evident from the ingratitude shown by his parents and sister. They were initially amazed and jovial when Gregor brought home the money and placed it on the table; and before long they got used to the cuddles, their welcome becoming simple and expressionless when Samsa arrived with the cash. That sense of gratitude and that warm welcome would have melted Gregor's heart and could have made Samsa so alive. The expressionless welcome transformed him internally, he felt alone and withdrawn. Samsa's mother says that Samsa was not the type to go out in the evening, rather, at home, he would sit and read, study travel timetables, sometimes giving vent to his creativity. This points to how Samsa had no friends around before he transformed. The opportunity to make friends is missing from his agenda and this makes him green when it comes to socializing with people. At the time he changed, his parents and sister did not agree with the idea of having a bug as if it were their own blood. They called it "it" and are looking for a way to eliminate it. If the family had cared, if the mother, father or sister had cared, they would have appreciated him and helped him to fare well in society. They would give him a sense of family and belonging. It would have been realized and it would have eliminated the tendency to accumulate pride, to alienate. The lack of this forced him to transform. The nature of Gregor's work and the company he works for also contributed to the transformation Samsa experienced. It was exhausting. “With the constant traveling, the hassle of taking trains, the miserable meals that are eaten at strange hours, and the casual acquaintances that meet only in passing, never to see them again, never to become close friends. To hell with everything." While the job involves more travel which may have had a negative impact on him, it reveals a weakness in Samsa. He is unable to retain customers and therefore the tension in pursuing new customers that could have gripped him at the time of the change. It would have been normal to struggle for a year or two before building a fleet of repeat customers, but his weakness in not building strong customer relationships is preparing him for the transformation he has experienced. He gets up early; he closed his contacts more quickly and went to his room at the restaurant while his sales colleagues had not yet finished breakfast. He is treated rudely at work and forced to be present every single day. “The insignificant failure to appear immediately aroused the deepest suspicion!”. The way his boss assumes his position in the office high chair and asks them to speak louder is a thorn in Gregor's side. The image created by the author depicts Samsa who hates his job. He couldn't quit his job because he had bills to pay and a debt to repay. He also feared his father who seemed like a general to him. His pride wouldn't let him. This enslaved him in his own skin. He hated in his very blood to do something he didn't like doing. This holding on to a stressful work environment and the exhausting nature of the job may have culminated in the change Gregor experienced. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a custom essay Gregor Samsa has activated the unfolding scenarios that 149.10 (2009): 887-897.
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