Fantasy in Kafka Kafka's "Metamorphosis" is a story of despair and futility in the life of Gregor Samsa. ... Having never lived for himself and always for others suggests that Kafka rejects the Christian tradition and ideal that insists upon being dead to self and having contempt for worldly things. Kafka's disassociated tone in this story (as well as his others) increases the horror and the isolated feeling. Perhaps it is this tone that places Kafka's works among the fantastic, along with the reversal of motivation and resolution so prevalent in his tales. Kafk...

• Word Count: 277
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Though it is difficult to see a meaning that does not revolve around the aspects of old age, "Transforming Franz Kafka's "Metamorphosis" by Nina Pelikan Straus, shows the reader that there might be another meaning besides John B. Shea's "Kafka Saw The Future," talking about a specific topic relating to old age. ... It seems as though the mutual characteristic and theme of both subjects, and also the meaning of Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis, revolves around transformation and the transformation of one who is close to death, seeming as though life has no meaning a...

• Word Count: 1065
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Kafka's The Metamorphosis exemplifies great use of imagery throughout the work and at the same time uses it to contribute to some larger meaning in the story. There are multiple occurences where Kafka refers to events such as his struggle to keep his furniture in his room, to keep the picture of the lady, or to merely get out of bed to go to work, that represent his struggle and wanting to return to human form. Kafka uses these events to show the desire and the struggle Gregor experienced in his effort to retreat from his metamorphosis. ... Some of these events include his struggl...

• Word Count: 802
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

German writer Franz Kafka's and American J.D. Salinger's respective masterpieces, The Metamorphosis (1915) and The Catcher in the Rye (1951), examine the universal themes of personal relationships within the context of painful change. ... When Gregor's manager visits, the morning of Gregor's metamorphosis, Gregor says, "Sir! ... Kafka adds humor and irony with the modifier "if possible," which only serves to exacerbate Gregor's pain at being totally abandoned. ... Though Metamorphosis and Catcher are distinctively different in style and in content, the...

• Word Count: 1076
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

"Metamorphosis," by Franz Kafka and "Pastoralia," by George Saunders are two pieces of literature that seem to vary in many aspects. ... Gregor, suffers from physical transformation as one day he wakes up from his sleep to realize that he's a vermin (Kafka 1). ... When he wakes up one fine day only to see himself being transformed into a vermin, rather than worrying about his physical state the only thing he is worried about is how he could get to work, or what his employers would think of him (Kafka 1). ... I will simply say: we have to try to get rid of it" (Kafka 68). ...

• Word Count: 949
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate