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  • Essay / The role of the three boarders in The Metamorphosis

    When times are hard, families often have to take desperate measures to ensure the financial stability of their household, and the Samsas of Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis are not different. After Gregor, the family's main breadwinner, wakes up one morning like a bug, the Samsas must take in three gentlemen as boarders in order to bring in money. However, what they end up bringing turns out to be much worse than just three men. The three residents are more than characters who make the Samsas their servants. Rather, they represent a more sinister enemy. The three boarders are a representation of the harsh world outside Gregor's apartment, where uselessness is not tolerated and those in power must suppress the weak in order to establish authority. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay From the moment the three boarders are introduced, it's clear that "unnecessary clutter was something they couldn't tolerate, especially if it was dirty." » (35). For this reason, the Samsas move all the trash and objects that don't belong in the house to Gregor's room. Trash and unnecessary items serve no purpose but take up space. Much like Gregor as a bug, these items are useless. The trash piled up in Gregor's room symbolizes the people that society casts aside because they serve no purpose in the world, and the fact that it is stored in Gregor's room serves to emphasize that Gregor is also useless than waste. The residents therefore cannot bear being near the trash cans. To integrate into society, an individual must have a useful role, because if he does not have one, society will throw him out. Additionally, unnecessary people should stay out of sight of useful people so as not to prevent useful people from doing their jobs. This is why seeing Gregor pushes away the three residents. The residents “immediately asked Gregor’s father for explanations” about what was happening “and only returned very slowly to their rooms” (38). They call the Samsas' apartment "disgusting conditions" because the mere idea of ​​sharing an establishment with a useless individual is an insult to their status as powerful and useful members of society (39). The reactions of the residents also highlight another reality of society: the refusal to accept those who are different. Gregor as an insect is not only useless, but he is also different from everyone else. Even though his thoughts are still human, his appearance is not, which is why society considers him to be something inhuman. The residents must therefore stay away, because if they are seen living with someone who is not accepted by society, they too will be considered different. Then the boarders will become outcasts and they will begin to lose their authority and power, two characteristics that the boarders have worked very hard to acquire. In order to establish themselves as authority figures, those in power believe they must suppress the weak. . One way to do this is to impose your beliefs and ideas on others. When the boarders moved into the Samsas' apartment, they "took most of their own furniture and equipment with them" (35). A person's furniture represents their humanity, beliefs and passions. Therefore, when Gregor's family removed the furniture from his room, Gregor felt like his family had abandoned him and were taking away his humanity. When the residents decided.