Metamorphosis
What is reality? Every person has his or her own "reality" or truth of their existence. For some it may be nothing they expected while others can just be successful in anything. The true reality is that regardless of what direction is taken in life a person brings the same inner self, motivational levels and attitudes. As followers of literature we often escape our own "reality" and experience life through the imagination of the author's we read. By doing so, many people find themselves gaining information about themselves. In Franz Kafka's "Metamorphosis," Gregor Samsa's reality changes indifferently in spite of his drastic physical changes. Before the Metamorphosis, Gregors life consisted of working and caring for his family. He led a life of a traveling salesman, working long hours, which didn't permit to him living his own "life". He reflects his own life as "the plague of traveling: the anxieties of changing trains, the irregular, inferior meals, the ever changing faces, never to be seen again, people with whom one has no chance to be friendly" (Kafka 13). Working to pay off his family's debt, Gregor never left anytime for himself. Kafka himself counterparts this sentiment in
After the metamorphosis, Gregor's family undergoes some pretty harsh changes. For after the change, Gregor would not be able to support his family's lazy asses. He went to his boss and begged him to "please sir, spare my parent" (Kafka 24). Strangely, after what his family put him through he still looked vigorously for a way to help his parents, "his duty was to remain docile and to try to make things bearable for his family"(Kafka 42). As time passes, Gregor realizes that his family doesn't need his help and support and that he is nothing more than a burden to them. The family never realized the strain that the transformation had put Gregor through, and now they have cut off relations instead of supporting Gregor they desert him. Even his sister had gotten to the point of no longer feeding or cleaning Gregor's room, she might stop in and give him a piece of bread but not stay and talk to him. The thing that really got to Gregor is the memories of all the things he had done for his family and now here he is being shoved into some room and given nothing in return. Thinking of his family Gregor decides he must go. Gregor died that night and when his family found out they mourned for only a minute and went about their sick ways. a quote taken from his diaries; "no matter how hard you work that work still doesn't entitle you to loving concern for people. Instead you're alone, a total stranger, a mere object of curiosity" (Pawel 167). So in-depth with his work, Gregor becomes unknown to himself and to life. In Gregor's life he had no room for anyone other than his family which in the end left him without love or caring or any other kind of companionship. He worked so industriously for his family that this became his only
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Approximate Word count = 1176
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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