Unanswered [6] | Urgent [0]
  

Home / Book Reports   % width   Posts: 7


Critical Analysis about Family Dynamics in "the Metamorphosis"



KYOAAA 6 / 20  
Feb 17, 2013   #1
Please Help Mr Check the Grammar of this Essay. I just need Grammar help. It will be great if you can also provide me some content or organization feedback!

In the story "the Meatmorphosis", Franz Kafka abruptly narrates that the protagonist Gregor Samsa transforms into a giant insect in bed and the subsequent events in the family. In this story, the main characters are Gregor, Gregor's sister Grete, and Gregor's father Mr. Samsa. The family dynamics among these three characters is interesting and intricate. Gregor, though transforming into an insect, still always worries about his family and wants to return to his work. Grete changes a lot throughout the story. She transforms from a childish, dependent, and submissive girl to a mature, responsible, and assertive women. Meanwhile, her attitude towards Gregor also changes from pity to resentment. Gregor's father Mr. Samsa is a harsh and ruthless old man. Form the beginning to the end of the story, he shows no love but violence to Gregor. He considers Gregor as a burden and often attacks him. Therefore, I totally agree with Nabokov's opinion that "Gregor is a human being in an insect's disguise; his family are insects disguised as people" (280).

Gregor Samsa, the protagonist of the story, is a responsible and hardworking young man. His appearance of a large dung beetle does not diminish his internal human conscience. Although he has transformed into an insect, he still retains humanity. He can think and talk. To readers' surprise, when he realizes that he has transformed in to an insect, he feels calm and does not look for ways to fix this problem. He never complains about his misfortune and still wants to go back to his traveling salesman position, pays his father's debt, and plays the role as a bread-winner in his family. He attempts to persuade the manager to retain his job, but fails. As time goes by, Gregor gradually adapts himself to his new body and forgets his original human habits. He enjoys hiding under the couch, hanging from the ceiling, and eating putrid food. However, his insect behavior does not affect his humanity. When his sister and mother move the furniture out of his room, he wants to stop them. Although he can move more freely without the furniture, he has a nostalgic feeling for it and want it to stay in his room. His desire to keep "the picture of the lady all dressed in furs" (336) drives him to crawl up on it regardless of the aftermath that his appearance has frightened his mother to faint. At this point, it is evident that Gregor still has an emotion of human being. He tries his best to protect the picture, which is psychologically important to him. In the last segment, Gregor shows his humanity again. When his sister Grete performs violin in front of the boarders, he gets out of his room and approaches Grete. He appreciates her music and speculates his original plan to send her to the Conservatory. Before he dies, he still recalls his happy moments in his family and is ashamed of giving a lot of trouble to his family. Throughout the story, Gregor worries about his family members and wishes to contribute himself to his family finance though it is not possible. Hence, Gregor is a human being in an insect's disguise.

Grete Samsa, Gregor's younger sister, undergoes a metamorphosis from a girl to a woman. At first, Grete behaves like a callow girl. Accroding to the story:" in the room on the right his sister began to sob" (323), Grete is worried that Gregor will lose his job and that nobody will be able to support the family, which obviously reflects her unsophistication to face challenges. However, as Grete knows that Gregor has become an insect, she takes the responsibility to take care of him. She begins to play a more important role in her family. Initially, she show great sympathy to Gregor's misfortune and provides him with special care. However, as she continues doing this work, her love to Gregor gradually fades. She is tired of taking care of Gregor and considers it a daily routine. Especailly when she sees Gregor crawling on the picture and making her mother faint, she "raises her fist and glares at him,"(336) fully demonstrating her unhappiness with Gregor. Finally, in the last segment, her attitude toward Gregor completely changes. When Gregor ruins her performance for the boarders, she shows great resentment to Gregor and wants to get rid of him. She regards Gregor as an animal instead of her brother and says,"this animal presecutes us, drives away our boarders, obviously it wants to take over the whole apartment and make us sleep in the gutter" (345). In the meantime, aside from taking care of Gregor, Grete also works a salesgril in a store to support the family. She has become mature and assertive. She is no longer a little gril and carries more and more responsibilities for the family. Thus, at the end of the story, her parents believe that:"it would be time to find her a good husband" (348). At this point, we can see Grete's metamorphosis from a girl to a woman, and her attitude to Grefor changes from human to insect.

Mr. Samsa, Gregor's father, is a harsh old man in debt. He fails in his business and has Gregor pay his debt. Mr. Samsa only focus on the family's finance and does not have a good relationship with Gregor. Realizing that Gregor has become an insect and can no longer earn money for the family, he considers Gregor as a burden and starts to badly treat him. He attacks Gregor twice and makes Gregor wounded. At the first time, he "gave him a hard blow that was truly a deliverance" (328). At the second time, he throws apples at Gregor and one apple "imbedded istself in Gregor's back"(338). He winds Gregor seriously. From these scenes, we can see the ruthlessness of Mr. Samsa. Therefore, though in human's disguise, Mr. Samsa acts and behaves like an insect.

Gregor's metamorphosis completely changes his family's structure because he cannot work, and their attitudes to him.because he cannot express himself. Grete is the only character who has a first name except Gregor. Among all family members, she has the most contact with Gregor and is the only person who Gregor wants to talk with. It is pity that she is unable to understand Gregor's love to her and finally abandons him. She plays a more important role in her family after Gregor' metamorphosis. Gregor's mother does care about Gregor. Nevertheless, her constant fear of Gregor overshadows her love to him. Mr. Samsa is indifferent to Gregor and always cares about the finance of the family. Though he is old, he still has to work long hour to support the family. When Gregor dies, his family do not show any sadness or arrange a funeral for him; instead, they become relieved and seem to drop the burdens. They believe that their future is bright and that their life will be easier. It appears that money is more important to them than love. Moarlly, they lose human conscience. Hence, I totally agree that "Gregor is a human being in an insect's disguise; his family are insects disguised as people" (280).

Work Cited

Kafka, Franz. "The Metamorphosis." Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Ed. X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 12th ed. New York: Pearson, 2013. 319-48. Print.

Didgeridoo - / 289  
Feb 18, 2013   #2
Gregor Samsa, the protagonist of the story, is a responsible and hard-working young man. His appearance as a large dung beetle does not diminish his internal human conscience;. Although he has transformed into an insect, he still retains humanity.he can still think and talk. To readers' surprise, when he realizes that he has transformed in to an insect, he feels calm and does not look for ways to fix this problem. He never complains about his misfortune and still wants to go back to his job as a traveling salesman position, pays his father's debt, and his role as the bread-winner for his family.

From here on, you go into this long summary of the whole story. If this is a critical analysis, you should only focus on the parts of the story that show Gregor's relationship with his family, then explain how they support the statement that Gregor is a human in an insect's disguise. Remember, even though you want to show that Gregor is generally still a human, your entire essay is about family dynamics. So you want to make the claim that Gregor is a human because he is capable of love and is selflessly thinking of his family.
OP KYOAAA 6 / 20  
Feb 18, 2013   #3
Thanks a lot!
OP KYOAAA 6 / 20  
Feb 18, 2013   #4
But the prompt in my assignment sheet is "Whether or not you completely agree with Nabokov, write an essay in which you make a case for his proposition: How, in your own experience of Franz Kafka's 'The Metamorphosis," does Gregor Samsa--metamorphosed into a large dung beetle--act and behave like a human being? How do his family members--even though, unlike him, they remain full human beings--act and behave like insects?
Didgeridoo - / 289  
Feb 18, 2013   #5
Then since your time is limited (Sorry that this is so late, by the way), I would just adjust the first two paragraphs and make sure you state somewhere in your essay what your definitions of "human" and "insect" are. Are you saying that the family is acting like insects because they are using him and feeding off of him like insects do? Or are you saying that they are like insects because they don't care about him? I think once you do that, your other paragraphs will be OK.
OP KYOAAA 6 / 20  
Feb 19, 2013   #6
I think once you do that, your other paragraphs will be OK.

Actually, I just need to submit it tomorrow. So I still have time to edit it. Would you please help me check the punctuation and the grammar. Thank you!

Also I add this after the statement "Therefore, I agree with Nabokov's opinion that "Gregor is a human being in an insect's disguise; his family are insects disguised as people" (280)": In fact, Gregor acts like a human because he is capable of love and selflessly think of his family. On the contrary, his family members behaves like insects because they do not understand him, blame him for his uselessness, and treat him as an animal rather than a human.
OP KYOAAA 6 / 20  
Feb 19, 2013   #7
Thank you very much! I really really appreciate with your help. Your are even better than my school tutors. My name is Zhaozhong Shi, in CCSF. Nice to meet you Didgeridoo!!


Home / Book Reports / Critical Analysis about Family Dynamics in "the Metamorphosis"
Need Writing or Editing Help?
Fill out one of these forms:

Graduate Writing / Editing:
GraduateWriter form ◳

Best Essay Service:
CustomPapers form ◳

Excellence in Editing:
Rose Editing ◳

AI-Paper Rewriting:
Robot Rewrite ◳

Academic AI Writer:
Custom AI Writer ◳