Writing Assignment 1 Analysis of The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

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Analysis of The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
Gregor woke up one morning and found out that he turned into a monstrous vermin (Kafka, 3). Franz Kafka's literary piece, "The Metamorphosis," presented the story of the protagonist Gregor Samsa, a traveling salesman, that turned into a giant insect one morning and remained as a giant insect until his demise towards the end of the story. Kafka created a rather mind-boggling story since the opening started with a giant man-insect hybrid that is more concerned about work, train schedules, financial matters, and his boss. As Gregor is reflecting about his work as a traveling salesman, he pointed out everything he hates about his job including the traveling from place to place, eating miserable food, seeing new faces, and getting no intimate relationships (Kafka, 4). Even though he is always meeting people, he views himself as an isolated person from society and a slave of his boss due to the nature of his work. Additionally, Gregor felt that he is also isolated from himself since he can only focus about the orders of his boss and can no longer do stuff that can make him happy like having an adequate amount of sleep (4).
In this story, Franz Kafka tried to express the changes of a person due to estrangement and isolation using an allegorical metaphor of an insect that should be interpreted as the relationship between an individual and society. At a deeper understanding of the literary piece, Kafka managed to use an unrealistic element, the giant insect, into a realistic environment that reflects the changes or metamorphosis of an individual depending on an individual’s own views and the views of others about himself (Holland, 143).
If the story is to be viewed literally, Gregor is the victim of a tragic fate where his body was cursed by an unknown entity while being seen as a burden by his own family that he supported for five years with the money he made from his hated job. However, figuratively, Gregor is partly to blame for his incurred fate since the transformation of Gregor to an insect represents the relationship as an individual with the expectations of society (Hollingsworth, 2). The problem with Gregor Samsa is that he suppressed all these issues within himself and never vented out his frustrations to anyone, thus, increasing his sense of isolation towards himself and to other people. In the story, he is described as a, "tool of the boss, without any brains or backbone (Kafka, 5)," like a mindless insect.
Gregor found himself as a traveling salesman that he dislikes due to the bankruptcy of his father’s business five years before he turned into a monstrous insect (20). From there onwards, Gregor forced himself to act as the bread winner of the family and sustain the financial needs of household while consistently paying all the debt of his father (21). This part of the story reveals the strong sense of responsibility that Gregor has for his family regardless of the hardship that he needs to endure. His father, during that time, shows the stagnation of his responsibilities as he is dependent on the earnings of Gregor to survive. However, when Gregor turned into an insect, the relationship between Gre...