Author Information/Historical Context

• Franz Kafka

• Born in 1883 to a middle-class, German-speaking, Jewish family in Prague, Bohemia (now the Czech Republic).

• Helped raise three younger sisters while his parents worked at his father’s business as many as 12 hours every day.

• Kafka had a difficult relationship with his• parents, but lived with them through • adulthood. Kafka developed a strong• emotional dependence on his family, • which would last his entire life.

• Kafka is described as having been sensitive and suffering from feelings of isolation. His relationship with his father was competitive and strained.

• Kafka’s father is described as determined,• domineering, selfish, and aggressive.

• Kafka contracted tuberculosis around the age of 35 and died on June 3, 1924.

• Main Ideas:• Jewish but felt unconnected to his religion• Ethnic and linguistic minority in his country• Unsuccessful in personal relationships• Physically frail and attempts to hide it

Characters

• Gregor: Adult son, supports family financially, hard worker, keeps to self

• Father: Used to own his own business, depends on Gregor to support family

• Mother: Loves Gregor, but is afraid of him, stressed out over finances and situation

• Gretta: younger sister, was pampered, but became independent after Gregor became ill.

The Metamorphosis: Summary

• Gregor wakes up and discovers that he has be turned into a large, grotesque insect over night.

• He can’t go to work, his boss fires him, he becomes upset because he is the main finanical support for his family.

• As the story progresses, Gregor’s sister is happy to take care of him (purpose).

Cont.

• Gregor’s mother is afraid of him, his father despises him. Every time Gregor tries to come out of his room, something bad happens and he gets injured (apples thrown at him, falls, cuts himself.)

• Slowly, the family falls into poverty and Gregor’s existence becomes an annoyance.

Cont.

• Gregor eventually dies, and the family is both sad and liberated.

Literary elements

• Symbol: Picture of woman• In the beginning of the story, Gregor had cut out a

picture of a woman from a magazine and put it on the wall. In the end, when they tried to take the picture down, he freaked out.

• The picture symbolizes his life as a human, which is being erased as they are forced to realize he is never going to be transformed back into a human.

Literary Elements

• Irony

It is ironic that when Gregor was a human, he chose to be isolated, didn’t engage in family conversation and locked himself in his room. Once he is transformed into an insect, he craves human contact, wants to be around his family and eventually dies for it.

Major Theme: Independence

Before Gregor’s Metamorphosis:

The family depended on Gregor for financial support.• Lived in large apartment• Father retired• Mother frail, sensitive• Grette: attending school

Theme: After Gregor’s metamorphosis:

• The family had to let go of their maid and cook• Grette had to help clean up, make meals, take

care of Gregor• Father took a job at a bank as an errand runner• Mother took in sewing, had to work on late at

night with Grette• Grette also got a job at a department store• Took in tenants to earn money

Family’s metamorphosis

• As they became busy with their lives, trying to survive, they neglected Gregor.

• Gregor, feeling the loss, gave up on life. • They failed to feed him regularly or clean up

his room.• They finally gave up the idea that this vermin

in the room was their son.

After Gregor’s Death:

• The family had a new chance on life.• They could move into a smaller apartment

without worrying how they were going to get Gregor out of the old one.

• They could save money.• Grette was young, she could get married.

The Last Scene

• The family, after all of the stress losing Gregor, then taking care of this vermin had on the family, they took a trip to the country where they could enjoy the fresh air. It was the first day they had off from work and the family was optimistic about their future.

Independence

• Grette chose what she wanted to do, not what Gregor wanted her to do (go to typing school).

• Gregor’s dad took over as head of the household again.

• Gregor’s mom gained strength and became stronger and more supportive.