The Metamorphosis and Shifts in Family Dynamics: Literature & Language Essay

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The Metamorphosis and Shifts in Family Dynamics
In the book titled “The Metamorphosis,” Franz Kafka narrates a regular family’s story, giving a central focus on Gregor Samsa (Kafka). In this book, Kafka explores the relations between the main characters, including Gregor, her sister Grete Samsa, their father and mother. Moreover, the author includes other passive characters such as the cleaning lady, the boarders, and Gregor’s manager. Gregor is a traveling salesman who is introverted and has a discrete life. Gregory is often surrounded primarily by his family and workmates, such as the boss, who he does not seem to like. His life is full of sacrifices through his job while denying himself peace of mind at the expense of his family’s needs. The author displays the epiphany of Gregor Samsa’s life with intricate imagery when he wakes up to a transformation to a monstrous creature, which is less human. The author highlights how family dynamics change upon the occurrence of Gregor’s transition. Logically, a family is expected to show compassion and support to each other, but in “The Metamorphosis,” this notion of unconditional love does not exist. Instead, empathy is primarily demonstrated by Gregor without reciprocation from his family members. By focusing on how Gregor’s family treats him after his transformation, we can establish the malicious behaviors that followed “The Metamorphosis,” despite the impression that the Samsas were are a united family who stayed together and supported each other. The author focuses on Gregor’s relationship and each character to develop anger, animosity, and evil themes by analyzing the family dynamics shift.
The transformation of Gregor negatively altered the dynamics of his family. Gregor took the job of becoming a traveling salesman, which made him the breadwinner of the family. After his transformation, the family dynamics changed, and his father becomes the family’s moneymaker. Gregor was continually thinking of providing for his family since money was a significant concern for the Samsa family. Gregor’s job was the only source of income that enabled him to fend for his family. After his transformation, the family no longer had any source of income. Since Gregor could no longer be the family’s breadwinner, the dynamics changed from being supported by his family members to completely neglecting him. Gregor was viewed as someone who is no longer part of the Samsa family since he was no longer useful. Gregor’s family members are running out of patience to care for him after his transformation. His existence was becoming a burden to them, and they opted to get rid of him. Gregor’s family quickly forgot that he had taken all the obligations of his family before his transformation. Gregor had to deny himself the pleasure of having friends due to his commitment to his job.
“Doing business like this takes much more effort than doing your own business at home, and on top of that, there’s the curse of traveling, worries about making train connections, bad and regular food, contact with diff...