The MetamorphosisEssay Preview: The MetamorphosisReport this essayThe MetamorphosisThe haunting story of a man transformed into an insect has attracted numerous commentators, who while agreeing on the high quality and importance of the story, disagree strongly about what it means. Freudian, Marxist, existentialist, and religious interpretations have all been proposed, and there has been debate over whether Gregor Samsa, the man-turned-insect, symbolizes the human condition.
It is generally agreed, however, that the story portrays a world that is hostile and perhaps absurd and that major themes in the story include father-son antagonism (perhaps reflecting Kafkas difficult relationship with his own father), alienation at work, isolation, and self-sacrifice.
The story is sometimes praised for its symmetrical, three-part structure and its use of black humor, and its symbols (such as the lady in furs and the music played by Gregors sister) are sometimes puzzled over, but what makes the story memorable is the central situation of the transformation of a man into an insect and the image of the man-insect lying on his back helplessly waving his little insect legs in the air.
Like death or abandonment, alienation is one of the deepest-rooted fears experienced by human beings. As social creatures, humans have the need to identify themselves as one of a group, whether that group is a family, a culture, or a religion. The experience of alienation is one of violation of a persons need for acceptance. Both Leo Tolstoy in The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Franz Kafka in Metamorphosis use alienation as a central theme to comment on the human need to experience love and acceptance. Both Ivan Ilyich and Gregor Samsa experience in their respective tragedies a great deal of alienation, which separates them from the groups to which they have been comfortably attached for most of their lives. Both authors trace the theme of alienation by exposing the displacement experienced emotionally, psychologically, and physically by their central characters.
The physical changes that plagued both Ivan Ilyich and Gregor Samsa were the forces that perpetuated further alienation. These physical changes are important to note because not only did they change the appearances of the characters, but they also affected the way those around them viewed them, and deeply influenced the way both men viewed themselves and others. Though the physical changes may seem to be the least tragic part of both stories, by physically distinguishing the men as different from those around them, the authors are better able to comment on the mental isolation which becomes the worst part of both mens misfortunes. The physical alienation felt by both characters is therefore an impetus for the other forms of alienation that later affect Gregor and Ivan.
Both men undergo disturbing physical transformations that change their lives. Gregors physical change is obvious immediately in the first sentence of Kafkas Metamorphosis. As soon as he awakens, Gregor finds “himself transformed in his bed into a monstrous insect [. . .] lying on his hard shell-like back and [. . .] he could see his curved brown belly, divided by stiff arching ribs” (Kafka 76). This physical transformation begins a series of events in which Gregor is alienated from his family and acquaintances. Gregors transformation is all encompassing; not only does he look completely different, but his voice, his tastes, and his abilities have undergone serious alterations also. This complete physical change is only partially his physical alienation. Gregor is also physically distanced from those around him. He is physically isolated from his family as they lock him in a room and are unable to even look at his monstrous form. Gregors adjustment from being a daily traveler with his job to being a literal prisoner in his home is one way in which the reader can identify with the drastic alienation Gregor experiences as a result of his physical transformation. The door to his bedroom becomes a barrier rather than an opening to the world, and the reader witnesses the great difficulty that Gregor has: “he clenched his jaws desperately on the key” (Kafka 86).
Ivan physical alienation is less dramatic than Gregors, but also begins a series of alienations. Instead of a dramatic alteration of appearance, Ivan physical transformation is a slow deterioration of the body, which for most of the story is unnoticeable. Though the sickness causes pain for Ivan, the physical changes do not become apparent until almost two-thirds of the way through the story when his brother-in-law visits. Even Ivan is unaware of his physical transformation, as is shown when his brother-in-law “opened his mouth to gasp but checked himself,” and Ivan asks, “What is it‹have I changed?” (Tolstoy 85). Ivan, like Gregor, is also physically isolated from his former life. He, too, was confined to his room after his sickness began to hinder his formerly sociable lifestyle, and is subjected to watching his loved ones go about “in a whirl of social activity” (Tolstoy 80). Tolstoy exposes the alienation his character feels through the long and solitary hours in which Ivan constantly questions his misfortunes and rages against death while his family goes about their daily lives.
The alienation experienced by both characters is also exposed through psychological methods. Ivan and Gregor both experience changes in how they are able to view themselves and their relationships with others. Though both constantly reach out to lessen the effects of the alienation they are experiencing, neither is able to maintain the psychology they had before misfortune struck. Ivans realization of his mortality is an extreme change in his psychology and allows him to deepen his formerly shallow existence. For example, during a game of cards, which he used to enjoy greatly, Ivan watched and “he saw how upset Mikhail Mikhailovich was while he himself did not care. And it was dreadful to think why he did not care” (Tolstoy 82). This change in Ivan further alienates him from his acquaintances because they have not reached the same level of enlightenment as Ivan. This psychological alienation is yet another reminder of Ivans separation from others. He has matured
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His relationship is still the same, although he’s been raised very young
. He does not have this level of support in his family that his father did. In fact, both of the siblings in Ivan’s life are completely disconnected from him.
However the connection he developed with his childhood friend, Kosh, is more important and he goes into some sort of crisis during high school and college. The school was quite good for most of the school year for Ivan, although Kosh left in early April of 1992 or so to participate in the Olympic team after a break from basketball. A very different thing happened for Ivan over the next few months. During this period, he began feeling very lonely. Although he wasn’t a big fan to anyone, he did love the children of his own family. Ivan’s desire to be outside of his time he had taken advantage of. He visited his mother about 3-1-02 and his father went away. His mother thought he was overworked or a bad boy, so she left him alone. He was very depressed and didn’t see any friends or family. At home he was sleeping better and doing his best, until his stepfather found that he was getting tired from his training. He had no recollection that his mother went out of her way to get him home. Later on in the day, his mother noticed that, his father had been out of town. Although he had been out of town, she realized that the reason Ivan has remained in the same neighborhood was because of the constant loneliness and isolation of the time. She also said that, he doesn’t really want to be in the same building as his grandmother. She tried her best to get some sort of explanation. She kept asking him to tell her the whole story about his mother but his mother didn’t let up. They went to visit her again while she was away and he finally got some information about what happened.
Ivan later saw that his father was lying in bed talking to his other brother. He remembered that his father’s brother had told him that he wasn’t happy but that Ivan told him something about himself too. This was not the case for Kosh. He came home from the day that Ivan was born, having given a picture of what he was thinking he was going to make to his cousin. There are many stories but it was Ivan’s story that brought him his real heart breaking moment. It was when he was 16 years old.
My father has always said that, being completely isolated and not knowing what to make of himself, he wants the world to know how he thinks. It really was hard for him to understand what he thinks was real to begin with. He couldn’t give himself a lot of motivation to work in anything but sports, nor did he believe it was good to be in a job where he was expected to work full time. Even when he went to college, he still didn’t have any desire to go to school. It was also hard to leave school without doing things like taking a day off on weekends to stay late at work. I believe this explains his constant dissatisfaction.
This problem was not just of the working class, it was also of Ivan. He felt that his parents never told him about their daughter and were simply jealous of him.
His mother taught him to look up to her brother, and it gave him the feeling that her family was in control. Because of it, his mother did not teach him any of his real family values. He wasn’t very kind to her in school though, she only taught him and sometimes didn’t see him at all.<
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