| 
  • If you are citizen of an European Union member nation, you may not use this service unless you are at least 16 years old.

  • You already know Dokkio is an AI-powered assistant to organize & manage your digital files & messages. Very soon, Dokkio will support Outlook as well as One Drive. Check it out today!

View
 

Metamorphosis Themes

Page history last edited by PBworks 17 years, 3 months ago

Themes

 

A key theme of the novella The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka is man’s isolation. After Gregor transforms into an insect, his whole family refuses to accept him as a member of the household. When Gregor’s father discovers Gregor is transformed, he locks him in his room and later wounds him by throwing an apple at him. When Gregor’s mother first catches sight of him, she faints. Even Grete, his beloved sister, eventually gets tired of taking care of him and begins to wish he would just disappear. Everyone in Gregor’s family focuses on how they are affected by Gregor’s transformation because he was the main source of income for the household, and they fail to consider Gregor’s personal feelings about the tragedy that befell him. Another layer that is added onto Gregor’s isolation is his new physical form. Due to the changes that took place in his body, Gregor is forced to watch the family fall appart in silence. He can’t speak, complain or help.

 

Another key theme in The Metamorphosis is personal identity. When he wakes up to find himself changed, Gregor is so out of touch with his body that he barely notices his physical transformation. After Gregor is locked in his room all alone, he tries to re-build the identity he sacrificed by living only for others and ignoring his own wants and needs. Even after his transformation, Gregor finds that he is still serving his family by going out of his way not to inconvenience them. Gregor blinds himself to the resentment he holds towards him family. It is in the last chapter that Gregor is finally able to separate himself from his family when he finally convinces himself of the truth. His family is neglecting him. His search for idenity seems to be a hapless journey, mostly because he never had an identity of his own in the first place. In the end of the story, he finds his humanity when he hears his sister playing violin and is reminded about his love for his family. It is this love, combined with his newfound freedom, that allows Gregor to gain an identity of his own.

 

The theme of family duty is also an important theme in The Metamorphosis. Gregor’s main concern consists of the need to support his parents and send his sister to the Conservatory. Gregor follows the call of duty towards his family even though he hates his job. However, his dedication to his family is not reciprocated. After his metamorphosis, the family takes care of Gregor only so far as duty seems to necessitate. They keep him locked in his room and bring him food. Near the end of the story, Gregor’s room is a mess and his sister hardly pays attention to what she is giving him to eat. She only does what she feels obgliated to do. In the end, she decides that she has had enough and claims that her duty to him as well as the rest of the family’s duty to him has been fufilled.

 

The theme of guilt in The Metamorphosis ties in with the theme of family duty. Guilt is depicted as being Gregor’s most powerful emotion. Despite the fact that Gregor is unable to work due to his transformation which occurred under circumstances that were out of his control, he feels guilty every time he hears a member of the family mention money. He feels guilty because he was the main provider for the family and now he can’t support them anymore. He thinks that he has inflicted pain on his family by not being able to work anymore. In The Metamorphosis, guilt is deadly. Gregor realizes at the end that his life is the only thing keeping his family from having a better life. He dies out of guilt for his family, just like he lived and worked out of guilt for his family.

 

Go back to Main Page.

Comments (0)

You don't have permission to comment on this page.