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Kafka metamorphosis4/11/2023 ![]() The Metamorphosis comprises a simple analogy between a man, possibly Kafka, trying with all his might to be what his family and society expect him to be but unable to because of his inescapable mental isolation, and a well-meaning, misunderstood cockroach. Again, Kafka does not bare his soul to an unfeeling world, but does manage to hide his real opinions in the structure of the story. Kafka achieves a very proper, yet sardonic tone by employing a variety of literary devices. Franz Kafka, in his novella The Metamorphosis, explores the concept of total mental isolation. Instead, he wrote a story of a man who, trapped in circumstances beyond his control, tries his best to conform to people’s expectations, particularly those of his father, but in the end finds this conformity impossible. He possessed a wonderful mind but rarely, if ever, directly expressed himself. This switching to a less offending option in order to offend no one characterizes Kafka very well. ![]() He remembered his high school education as being meaningless and dull, but, out of obedience to his father, he completed it, and passed with flying colors. Most of Kafka’s stories contain or center around an over-domineering, almost frightening father figure. His father had made himself into a successful businessman, and expected Kafka to do the same. Therefore Kafka masked himself twice, at the bidding of his father. He was a Jew, and lived in Czechoslovakia, but he went to German schools. Kafka lacked parental guidance, as he and his sisters were brought up mostly by governess. Although they were eventually replaced by three new sisters, Kafka began his life with tragedies which most people do not experience until they are much older. This man suffered severe tragedies as a child: as the first child of Hermann and Julie Kafka, he lived to see two brothers born and die before he was six years old. Franz Kafka suffered from severe mental disorientation. ![]() Although interpretations of the story differ, my opinion is that Kafka wrote this story as a protestation, whether consciously or unconsciously, of his own inner needs not being met. In it, the protagonist, Gregor Samsa, awakens one morning to find himself spontaneously "transformed in his bed into a monstrous vermin." The story continues from there in a most realistic fashion: his family rejects him, and he stays cooped up in his room until he dies. The metamorphosis very possibly was written by Kafka as an outlet for his feelings of isolation and helplessness.
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