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Metamorphosis( noun)

a change of the form or nature

of a thing or person into a
completely different one.
Insight
This story is a harrowing account of alienation and
isolation. It illustrates how one can become isolated from
society, and even from family, through forces outside one’s
control. After many misfortunes, Gregor unexpectedly
starves himself to death, and only this allows his family to
move on with their lives.
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Franz Kafka (1883–1924)

was one of the greatest German-speaking writers of

the twentieth century, but he received no support from

his family. His mother did not understand his passion for

literature. His father, a man obsessed with materialism,

would not accept “author” as a legitimate profession.

Kafka was also torn between multiple social worlds. His

German identity clashed constantly with his Jewish heritage.

Themes of domestic pressure and social anxiety recur often in

Kafka’s fiction.
Gregor seems confused and inconvenienced by his transformation, but not distressed. In
paragraph 2, he wonders, “What’s happened to me,” but in paragraph 3, he decides to go
back to sleep and “forget all of this foolishness.” He tries to position himself so that he
can sleep, but he keeps rolling onto his back. While he attempts to reposition himself, he
closes his eyes so that he does not have to see his “wriggling legs.” In paragraph 4, he
thinks about the difficulties of his job, as if these are his greatest worries. Then, he has
an itch. He touches the spot with his leg but quickly pulls his leg away because “the
contact felt like a cold shower all over him.” He does not understand his new body, but
he does not seem worried about how he has changed.
 One theme in “The Metamorphosis” is that people are often alienated and isolated in the modern world.
 The development of this theme begins with the earliest descriptions of Gregor.
 He is a traveling salesman who hates his job and makes no meaningful connections to people through his work.
 The picture of a woman in his room is not his fiancée or wife. Gregor clipped it from a magazine.
 The theme continues to be developed after Gregor is transformed into a bug and is, as a result, unable to get to

work on time.
 Gregor’s manager calls at the family home—not out of concern for Gregor, but because he suspects that Gregor

is neglecting his duties.

 At first, Gregor’s family seems to care for him and his difficulty, but family members begin to distance

themselves from him and eventually come to view his very existence as a burden on the family.
 His isolation and alienation from those who once loved him eventually end in his death, which frees his family

of the burden of his condition.

The significance of the order of events:
The most surprising part of story, Gregor’s transformation, happens first. This allows
subsequent events to show Gregor’s growing alienation.
 Gregor’s transformation into a bug and his family’s response to his plight;
 the financial hardships the family faces as a result of Gregor’s condition;
 the family’s withdrawal from Gregor;
 the emotional effect on Gregor, including his growing isolation;
 Gregor’s death;
 and his family’s reaction to his death.
 At the beginning of the story, Gregor is the family’s provider, a role he takes pride in.
 The family depends on him for their income. But, after his transformation, he becomes
totally reliant on his family to take care of him.
 At first, he is ashamed and hides when family members come into the room, but later he
becomes resentful of his isolation and their decreasing concern for his well-being.

Analyze how complex characters develop over the course of a text.

 Before the transformation, Grete and Gregor had been close, and Gregor had planned to one day send her to
music school.
 After the transformation, Grete tries to show Gregor kindness and consideration, such as in paragraph 49, when
she brings him different foods to sample and leaves quickly because she knows that Gregor does not want to eat
in front of her.
 But she grows distant as time passes. For example, in paragraph 89, the narrator explains that “the sister now
kicked some food or other very quickly into his room in the morning and at noon.” Eventually she becomes
resentful of Gregor.
 In paragraph 108, she says, “If it were Gregor, he would have long ago realized that a common life among
human beings is not possible with such an animal and would have gone away voluntarily.” Gregor is wounded
by this and returns to his isolation.
 After Gregor dies, Grete notices how thin his corpse is and seems to experience some sadness. But she soon
recovers and is described at the end of the story as “animated” and as a “beautiful” young woman who has
a) In paragraph 108, Grete says, “But this animal plagues us.” What is the connotation of the word plague in this
paragraph? What does the word help communicate about the family’s experience?

(a) Plague has a negative connotation that suggests that Gregor has been the cause of continual trouble or pain. This
word indicates that Gregor’s condition torments his family and negatively affects many aspects of their lives.

b) Reread paragraph 113 page 176, in which Gregor’s death is described. What do the words and phrases that the
author chose to describe Gregor’s death reveal about Gregor’s feelings in the last moments of his life?
(b) Words and phrases in this paragraph, such as “relatively content,” “pains…would go away completely,” “deep
feeling and love,” “empty and peaceful reflection,” dawning, sank, and “flowed out” suggest that Gregor has
accepted his fate and is at peace with it.
Kafka’s choices related to structure and the order of events in “The Metamorphosis” help create the ambiguity,
dream-like quality, and sense of alienation that are characteristic of Modernist writing( modernism).

 The ambiguous elements of the story: Gregor is transformed into a bug, but how this happens is never
explained. Gregor’s death is also not fully explained—its exact cause is left open-ended.
 The dream-like qualities of the text: Gregor seems trapped in a kind of nightmare, and he remains logical
and practical in his reactions to circumstances that are illogical and fantastic.
 The theme of alienation that revolves around Gregor. Even before his transformation, he is isolated from
most people because of his job. The transformation isolates him more each day, with his room becoming a
prison. His family becomes distant from him, and eventually, even Grete abandons him, leaving him
completely alone.
 These events help represent how alienated and isolated people can feel.
Modernism “The Metamorphosis” is one of the landmark works of Modernism, an artistic movement that

developed during the twentieth century and represented a radical break with the traditions of the past.
Modernists such as Kafka responded to dramatic changes in the world, including the rapid rise of industry, the
shift from rural to urban society, and the brutal horrors of World War I. Often unsettling and even disturbing,
Modernist works present the world as a fractured place in which goodness is not rewarded, and evil is not
punished. Kafka’s story is an example of Absurdist literature, a form of Modernist writing that includes these
elements:
 Elements of Absurdist literature

• Ambiguity: The story is open-ended, and key elements are never

explained.

• Fantastic or Dreamlike Elements: Events blur the boundary

between what is real and what is unreal.

• Themes of Alienation: Modernist works often feature isolated

characters who experience increasing alienation or disconnection.
 Analyze Symbolism

Symbols are objects, people, animals, places, or images that represent something else.
A symbol has its own meaning, but it also stands for something larger than itself, usually an abstract
idea.

The Picture of the Woman in Furs

The advertisement of the woman in furs in Gregor's room "showed a lady fitted out with a fur hat and fur
boa who sat upright, raising a heavy fur muff that covered the whole of her lower arm towards the viewer.
The picture, which Gregor has lovingly framed, shows readers one glimpse into Gregor as a fully human, a
normal person who can enjoy a provocative image of a woman. It is this photo that comes to symbolize
Kafka's last hope of remaining human.
 Vermin

 The vermin or the nasty creepy-crawly thing Gregor becomes.

 On one level Gregor's vermin form seems to represent the dehumanizing and
degrading aspects of his life and work in modern society.
 As a traveling salesman Gregor rarely has time to sleep and eat properly or develop
close relationships with colleagues or customers.
 Work consumes him; the vermin he becomes is a manifestation of the pure misery he
feels working day in and out for others, with no motivation or ability to carve out his
own path.
 spring

 When Gregor dies and his family comes to view his body, they open a window,
and warm, fresh air enters Gregor's bedroom.
 The narrator reveals that it is the end of March—or early spring—and the
family leaves for the country to take in the warm air and sunshine.
 These references to spring symbolize hope and renewal for the members of the
Samsa family, who have undergone a hard experience but look forward to
better times ahead.
 Apple
 “‫َو ُقْلَنا َيا آَد ُم اْس ُك ْن َأنَت َو َز ْو ُج َك اْلَج َّنَة َو ُكاَل ِم ْنَها َر َغ ًد ا َح ْيُث ِش ْئُتَم ا َو اَل َتْقَرَبا َٰه ِذِه الَّش َج َر َة َفَتُك وَنا ِم َن الَّظاِلِم يَن ”قال تعالى‬
 Apples are, by tradition, the forbidden fruit of the Tree .
 By eating this fruit, Adam and Eve gain knowledge, but in doing so, they also commit a sin
and are expelled from the Garden of Eden. Of course, that was for a reason.
 In The Metamorphosis, similarly, apples are a symbol of a new understanding that leads to
misery.
 After Gregor's appearance causes his mother to faint, his father fills his pockets with apples
and pelts Gregor with them.
 One lodges in Gregor's back and begins to rot, causing the area to become inflamed.
 Along with Gregor's loss of interest in food and his sister's final rejection of him, the
injury contributes to Gregor's death.
 What is the allegory?

As a literary device, an allegory is a narrative in which a character, place,

or event is used to deliver a broader message about real-world issues and
occurrences. Authors have used allegory throughout history in all forms of
art to illustrate or convey complex ideas and concepts in ways that are
comprehensible or striking to its viewers, readers, or listeners.
The main allegory of The Metamorphosis is the idea that modern society
isolates humans from one another.
In the story, Gregor Samsa wakes up one day as a giant venomous bug. The
rest of the story follows his thoughts and actions as he is locked in his room
and cut off from his family and his former life.
One aspect of the allegory when you look at Gregor's job before his
transformation. He was a travelling salesman, and he tells us about his
''Travelling day in and day out…contact with different people all the time so
that you can never get to know anyone or become friendly with them...''
Gregor's job was extremely isolating. He had no close friends at all. In fact, the
main decoration in his room is a picture of a woman that he found in a
magazine. This shows that Gregor was so isolated, and he had no one real to
frame a picture of.
The next level of the isolation allegory is Gregor's transformation. His family
is the only lasting human connection he has, and the transformation takes that
away from him. No one in his family will even look at him once he is a bug.
This isolation is a more literal representation of the figurative isolation that he
experienced as a human travelling salesman. Gregor, his job, and his
transformation are an allegory for humanity in the modern age and how cut
off they are from one another.
Complete Alienation
After his transformation, Gregor is completely alienated from his family. Alienation is
when you are cut off from something you should be or used to be part of.
Gregor's alienation from his family is an allegory for the alienation Kafka might have
seen in his modern society, where humans living close together were alienated from
one another.
Metaphor
In Franz Kafka's ''The Metamorphosis'', Gregor Samsa's change into an insect serves
as an extended metaphor.
 Personification
The wind howled mournfully.' Being mournful is a human trait, but
wind is not human.
Personification often appears as a one- or two-line piece of imagery.
In 'The Metamorphosis' by Franz Kafka the personification spans
the entire story.
Almost Human
 Gregor is not human, starting from the time he wakes up in the first line of the
story. Yet the story is from his point of view, and we see him thinking human
thoughts and having human emotions. As a result, the entire story is an
extended example of personification.
 Using personification allows Kafka to juxtapose (set side by side) human
emotions with insect-like action, which gives the story more weight than it
would have if the personification was not present.
What is the meaning
of grotesque?
 The grotesque is generally characterized by distortions, alterations, or striking
oddness.
 A grotesque character is one who has become bizarre or twisted, and grotesque traits
may be shown in a character’s physical appearance, actions, and emotions.
 The way in which Gregor’s movements are described is horrifying and grotesque,
considering that he was formerly a fully functioning man. He has now devolved into
a bug that scurries about the room.
 Compare and Contrast
Describe how Gregor’s
insect‑like body changes from
the opening of the story to the
ending. Read paragraph 116 to
figure out the difference
 At the beginning of the story, Gregor’s body is
“monstrous” and “wide.” (paragraphs 1 and 10)
After he dies, “his body was completely flat and
dry.” The corpse is “thin” because “he had eaten
nothing for such a long time.” (paragraph 116).
How do these physical
changes reflect
Gregor’s evolving
emotional state?
At the beginning of the story, Gregor is full-bodied
and strong, willing to face the challenges brought
about by his new body. By the end of the story, he
has lost the will and energy to live.
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Read the sentences and guess the meaning of the following
words.
 distress /aversion/listlessly / amelioration / asphyxiation /
travail
Treatment for her allergies led to the amelioration
of her symptoms. She doesn’t have to take the
medicine everyday.

the process of making a bad or unpleasant situation

better
She claimed that the way she had been treated
at work had caused her extreme emotional
and psychological distress.

a feeling of extreme worry, sadness, or pain

Dana has a deep aversion to getting up in the
morning. She always fights with her sisters
when she wakes her up.

a feeling of strong dislike or unwillingness to do

something
The cause of death was asphyxiation from
smoke inhalation.

the condition of being unable to breathe,

usually resulting in death
"Where are we?" she asked listlessly, not really
caring.

in a way that shows you have no energy and

enthusiasm and are unwilling to do anything
needing effort
How does the concept vocabulary help describe Gregor’s alienation?

The concept vocabulary describes the degrees of discomfort Gregor feels

with his new situation.
Words of discomfort and uneasiness are used throughout the story to
emphasize his degree of alienation from society.
 1. Use each concept word to complete the paragraph.

The salesperson was horrified by his reassignment to the lunch

_____ to fried foods. His distress
counter because he had a(n) aversion _____ only
increased when he learned that he was to spend the entire day deep-
frying batter-dipped cupcakes. Before the store opened, he stirred
listlessly He sighed as though he were facing a day’s
the batter _____.
travail in a coal mine. Though he hoped for a poor turnout, there
_____
amelioration
would be no _____ of his misery since the new product turned out to
be wildly popular. As the greasy steam rose from the hot fat into his
asphyxiation
face, he was sure _____ would be his fate.
 Denotation and Connotation

• A word’s denotation is its literal definition, the one you

would find in a dictionary. The associations or feelings
that a word suggests are its connotations.
• Words with close meanings can express different degrees
of an idea. For example, distress
• refers to pain.
Discomfort and inconvenience describe the same idea with
less intensity.

Anguish and agony suggest greater intensity.

Name synonyms for three of the concept vocabulary words

and tell whether or not their connotations differ in degree
of intensity.
• Listlessly and limply are of equal degree.
• Amelioration is more intense than lessening.
• Aversion is less intense than loathing.
• Travail is more intense than hardship.
Asphyxiation and choking are of roughly equal
degree.