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Throughout Franz Kafka's short story "The Metamorphosis" the main character Gregor undergoes many mental and physical changes. He is just a normal man in a normal family who wakes in what he thinks is a dream at first, but then has to come to terms with that he really is now a giant living insect. Gregor is a traveling salesman who comes home only every once and a while, but after he wakes one morning and realizes that he is a insect his life goes on a down word spiral that not even he can end up controlling. Gregor's family life was nothing out of the ordinary but also was not the best of times. His Father did not work cause he got himself into financial problems. "Gregor works as a traveling salesman- a situation he dislikes. He wants to quit his job, but the pressure to support his family and pay off his bankrupt father's business debts keeps him trapped in his career" (instructors manual).
He is the only one in his family who works, because his Mother has bad asthma, and his sister is to young, which leaves his income as the only in the house. Gregor had a close relationship with his sister Grete, but with his parents it was different. He was on the road most of the time so he only stopped by to stay the night, while he was in the neighborhood. Gregor's self esteem was not on the high side. He regretted the fact that he had to work this horrible job just because of his father; he was not married and did not even have a girlfriend. His life kind of seemed like it was standing still until this morning when it happened to take a turn, which was unexpected by Gregor and also to everyone else.
As Gregor goes through his metamorphosis his takes a toll on his mental and physically feelings about himself, his family, and also his work. His family finds him in his new body and they get almost scared by it. He is confined to his room, he does not get to walk around the house, or see anything outside unless he looks out the one window that is in his room. His Mother and Father both do not come in his room to see him anymore the only one who dares to end is his sister, who brings him food, but still gets frightened and leaves once she sees the sight of his body. Himself as a person changes greatly, "In the new identity his senses are different: the hospital across the street is now beyond Gregor's range of vision. His abilities change.
Shifts in spatial arrangements circumscribe Gregor's movements. His voice transforms" (Corngold). Everyone who saw Gregor thought it was a horrible sight, and eventually he realized the same thing, "This made him realize how repulsive the sight of him still was" (Literature p. 312). Gregor's Father changed greatly towards him. He did not show him any respect and frankly does not appreciate him being around, sees him as a burden instead of a son.
One night Gregor slips out of the room and when seen by his father, he throw fruit at him until he hits him solid in the back where the apple becomes lodged for a month and eventually becomes infected. This makes him feel like a nobody and means nothing to anyone including his family. With anything in life you always have to learn how to adapt to things even the most unfortunate or affective. Gregor experiences something that only Kafka could ever imagine but he still, against all odds learns to deal with it and makes the best out of things. When Gregor first metamorphosis's he can't really believe or comprehend with what has happened to him.
As time passes he starts to get accustomed to living in his small room, the times when his sister brings in his food, and the rest of the strange things he has to do that he didn't do before. Gregor started to miss things on the outside he had one picture which he brought everywhere, "since he did not really know what to rescue first, then on the wall opposite, which was already otherwise cleared, he was struck by the picture of the lady muffled in so much fur and quickly crawled up to it and pressed himself to the glass" (Literature p 315). The family is trying to empty out the room but no matter what Gregor is going to keep his picture cause it reminds him of his real life. His health also worsens; he stops eating, and also stopped sleeping. He would spend his days just lying on the floor in the room while his life started to come to an end. In the final days of Gregor's life he come to terms with many things that are very hard for him.
He has been neglected by his family and left in this room for many months now. He realizes that he is not part of the family anymore, just a burden on their shoulders. "The sudden noise in his rear startled him so much that his little legs gave beneath him. It was his sister who had shown such haste. She had been standing ready and waiting and had made a light spring forward. Gregor had not even heard her coming, and she cried "At Last!" to her parents as she turned the key to the lock" (Literature p 326). To have your own family neglect you because of something you can't control have to be one of the hardest things for him to cope with.
Even though he deals with the neglect from them he continues to have the same amount of love as he always had. The metamorphosis is very different for a short story; the way Kafka uses his mind and develops the character of Gregor and the changes he goes through is creative. Gregor was a character that had a lot of depth, which made his metamorphosis all the more interesting. The changes he underwent physically and mentally was brought about by himself, his family and the surrounding he was confined to. Work Cited Kennedy, X. J.
and Dana Gioia. Literature. Seventh Edition. Longman, 1999. Kennedy, X.
J. , Dorothy M. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. Literature, Instructors Manual, Seventh Edition, Longman 1999. Corngold, Stanley, "The Metamorphosis" Bantam, New York, 1972
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Research essay sample on Traveling Salesman Short Story
