Franz Kafka

A detailed Summary of Franz Kafka

Franz Kafka was different, a man bent on portraying changes everywhere. Kafka was also a man consumed by death, consumed by the fact that he might eventually die. One man who was greatly affected by his fathers negligence of him, and a social deviance about him which held him back from interaction. Such a man was so afraid about what society thought of his writing, that he never widely published his works, and even asked a friend to burn all manuscripts. Not only was Kafka Jewish, he resented this fact. Once Kafka even stated that "Sometimes I'd like to stuff all Jews (myself included) into a drawer of a laundry basket-then open it to see if they've suffocated." As anyone can see, Kafka was enormously enticed by death, and the fact that he greatly disliked his own cultural status, and even his family. Even though, this man was one accompanied by great wisdom, which was shown in the writing of Metamorphosis. Kafka was a political genius who showed all his political beliefs through his one great work, Metamorphosis. All of the experiences in Kafka's life are portrayed through Gregor, a person who wished he was dead at the end of Kafka's words.

Distant from the poor, meager, and mostly un-vivacious reality of life and it

"The father drove Gregor forward with a great uproar"(139), and eventually "closed the door with his cane"(139). Gregor had become the man of his household, though then is treated horribly just because he has changed. Such change may be a ploy to suggest that the physical matters much more than the mental in the eyes of this society. In great change always comes unexpected reactions, though this was absurd to Gregor. His family had now begun to treat him like an animal, just for one difference. While Gregor is "bleeding heavily"(139), the family "In the course of the very first day, father laid out their overall financial circumstances and prospects to both the mother and the sister"(148). The family prospers during Gregor's forced employment and then nearly perishes after Gregor's Metamorphosis. Instead of worrying about Gregor's physical status, they talk of financial status after their money machine has broken down. This kind of behavior is eventually seen as influenced by Capatalistic society.

In taking a glance at Kafka's complex society, one must also see his society as an extension of Gregor. A person must first look at the meaning of Gregor's name in German, and its derivation into English. The name Gregor is closely associated to "Gregariously", which refers to a sociable and jovial mindset. Gregor is seen as the epitome of sociable, a "traveling salesman". However, Gregor is one who is "meeting new people all the time, but never forming any lasting friendships that mellow into anything intimate"(118). Through being a traveling salesman, Gregor must be friendly, though his forward happiness seems only a ploy to keep up his gut wrenching work. Gregor's is only in this business because of a family debt to his boss. Gregor seems trapped in life and is unable to make a "clean break from it"(119). Gregor seems isolated as though only a money maker, unable to really live his life in freedom.

Through such an ordeal that Gregor and his family had gone through, he was never well appreciated. "It was not the families consideration for him which held them back", rather, maybe "the main obstacle to the families relocation was their utter despair and their sense of being struck by a misfortune like no one else among their friends and relatives (168). Gregor's family had not felt thrown aback and mournful by his

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Approximate Word count = 1581
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: People