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Essay / The causes of Gregor's transformation in Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
The novel Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka describes the fate that befell a young man named Gregor Samsa who experienced a complete change both external and mental . Gregor, before becoming a gigantic insect, was a dedicated person and a committed worker despite the anxiety and hatred he felt. When he transforms into an insect, he finds himself in a prank surrounding him but, unfortunately, he tries to survive like human beings and ends up dying in sorrow. He witnessed his father, mother, and sister that he once devoted himself to, changing as well. Gregor has been trapped in the cocoon in which society, family, the traveling salesman work and has also been a victim of self-imprisonment. This prison he was in had made him inhuman even before the physical change. What problems or situations led him to transform? Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay I believe that Gregor Samsa was the architect of the transformation he would experience. He created circumstances that gradually but ultimately led to his mysterious transformation leading to his death in despair. My essay is based on the following examples, illustrated in the set text, Metamorphosis by Frank Kafka. The first example is when Gregor set himself up as the sole breadwinner for his family. He had pocketed enough money to buy a high-end apartment for his entire family. Inside the apartment, he reserves a small room smaller than his sister's. He employed maids, a cook and led an expensive life with his parents and sister. Over time, Samsa was no longer able to manage his lifestyle due to low returns from the company he worked in while his parents still owed huge sums of money to Gregor's boss. He talks to himself, saying: “As soon as I have saved enough money to pay off my parents' debts – it should take another five or six years – I will, for sure. Speculating on how many years he had left, he had served half a decade without a single break. This put a strain on Gregor and forced him to change. He has transformed himself into a work machine who does not need to rest or spend time with others. The demands of the lavish lifestyle pushed him to transform. Secondly, one problem that caused him to transform was the father. The person he called father was egocentric, tyrannical, approaching him was difficult. Once Gregor found work with one of the people he owed money and was making a lot of money, he stopped working. He gained weight and became lazier during the five years his son worked hard. Often he would lie in his room or on an armchair while his son was there or at his workplace. The only thing his father did was spend time going through different daily newspapers. His father was not a happy father and viewed negatively how Gregor had planned their transformation perfectly before his transformation and he did not sense the change that was going to happen to his son. He became cruel, treating Samsa roughly, always pushing him back into the room even though Samsa had become an insect. He was ashamed of himself. Without revealing it to his son, he had saved enough money to pay off the debt he owed. I see him as irrational in doing this to his son while his son is working. From the moment Samsa turned into an insect, he began to go to work, dressed formally, stoodfirmly as pictured, "now, however, he stands very straight." To demonstrate that he cares, he would help his son provide for his family and pay what he owed. This way, Samsa wouldn't have ended up being a robot. If he had helped Gregor, he would have been relieved and would have felt the need to be in contact with others, to form social bonds, to live the fullness of his life, but since the father didn't care, he forced his son to change. Another circumstance that pushed Gregor to transformation is evident by the ingratitude displayed by his parents and sister. At first they were surprised and jovial when Gregor brought home the money and put it on the table; and in a short time they grew accustomed to being pampered, their reception becoming simple and expressionless when Samsa arrived with money. This feeling of gratitude and this warm welcome would have melted Gregor's heart and could have made Samsa even more alive. The expressionless welcome transformed him internally, he felt alone and withdrawn. Samsa's mother states that Samsa was not the type to go out at night, but rather stayed at home, he read, studied travel schedules, sometimes doing his own creativity. This indicates how Samsa lacked friends before his transformation. The opportunity to make friends is missing in his schedule and this makes him green when it comes to socializing with people. At the time he changed, his parents and sister disagreed with the idea of having a virus in their own blood. It was called “it” and they are looking for a way to eliminate it. If the family cared, if the mother or father or sister cared, they would have appreciated him and helped him make a good transition into society. They would have given him a feeling of family and belonging. He would have been fulfilled and eliminated his tendency to hoard pride and alienate himself. Which forced him to transform. The nature of Gregor's work and the company he works for also contributed to the transformation Samsa experienced. It was exhausting. “With the constant travel, the nuisance of train connections, the miserable meals eaten at odd hours, and the casual acquaintances we meet only in passing, never to see each other again, never to become friends intimate. To hell with all that.” Even though the job involves more travel which could have had a negative impact on him, it reveals a weakness in Samsa. He fails to retain customers, hence the pressure on finding new customers which could have overwhelmed him at the time of the change. It would have been normal to wait a year or two before building up a fleet of regular customers, but his weakness in not building strong customer relationships prepared him for the transformation he experienced. He gets up early; He closed the tracks faster and went to his room at the restaurant while his fellow salesmen had not yet finished their breakfast. He is treated unkindly at his workplace and forced to be there every day. “The insignificant absence of appearance immediately aroused the deepest suspicion! ". The way his boss assumed his position on the high office chair and asked him to speak louder is a thorn in Gregor's side. The image the author creates is of Samsa hating his job. He couldn't quit his job because he had bills to pay and debt to pay off. He also feared his father who appeared to him like a general. His pride wouldn't let him. This made him a slave in his own skin. He hated in his own blood doing something he didn't enjoy doing. This attachment to a work environment 149.10 (2009): 887-897.