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Metamorphosis and Pastoralia

            "Metamorphosis," by Franz Kafka and "Pastoralia," by George Saunders are two pieces of literature that seem to vary in many aspects. One comments on the transformation of a young man in an average middle-class family into a vermin and the other on the dynamic of two colleagues impersonating cavemen in an amusement park. Even though these two stories differ in subject matter, they both discuss 'change' that takes place within the main characters and the social implications that such a change has. .
             Gregor, suffers from physical transformation as one day he wakes up from his sleep to realize that he's a vermin (Kafka 1). He realizes that he has lost all of his human like features and attributes including his voice. On the other hand the narrator in "Pastoralia" is an average hardworking salary earning guy who does not suffer such an abrupt transformation but rather gradually changes as the story progresses. The situation he finds himself in and the attitude of the owners of the amusement park towards him influence him to such a great extent that he lodges a complaint about his colleague who he for the majority of story, deeply sympathizes with. Both pieces of literature are centered around the sorrow that follows coping with the harsh realities of life. .
             Gregor is the sole breadwinner of the family and he hardly has time to spend on his own or do anything he likes, and it is hard for him to make ends meet. 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). This can be seen as an extreme case of helplessness as Gregor cannot even think of his family surviving without the money he brings in. In a way can even be looked as being transformed into a bug because of the treatment he receives from those within his social circle.


Essays Related to Metamorphosis and Pastoralia

1. The Metamorphosis Through a Jewish Lens

Kafka's classic, The Metamorphosis, offers insight into the lives of assimilated Jews living in Prague during the late 19th and early 20th Century. ... The Metamorphosis reflects the apprehension that pervaded the mind of assimilated Jews in Prague. ... In Metamorphosis, parallels between Gregor and the Jewish people in Prague at this time can be drawn. ... Throughout Metamorphosis, Gregor's family is portrayed as the Germans and Czechs during Kafka's time period. ...

  • Word Count: 704
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

2. Metamorphosis

Gregor Samsa has gone through a metamorphosis. ... The anxieties, inner terrors, and cynicism, which fill Gregor's life, are expressed by Kafka throughout the novel, metamorphosis. ... The superficiality of the Samsa's has put Gregor in a difficult position, which is a component causing Gregor's metamorphosis. ... After Gregor's metamorphosis, when he could no longer attend work, his family begins to treat him as the vermin he has become. ... Were the anxieties, inner terrors, and cynicism of human life all factors expressing the metamorphosis of Gregor Samsa? ...

  • Word Count: 639
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

3. Metamorphosis

THE METAMORPHOSIS I believe that the overall theme to the story of the Metamorphosis by Kafka concerns society's injusticies and moralities and how they have reduced to a despicable level. ... I think Kafka cries change in the Metamorphosis. ... Therefore, both before and after the metamorphosis, they continued to misunderstand Gregor. ... Thus, both before and after the metamorphosis Gregor's loyalty was either misunderstood or unappreciated and ignored. ... Her outward revulsion was the most severe betrayal Gregor was to endure during his metamorphosis. ...

  • Word Count: 1112
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

4. The Metamorphosis

The Metamorphosis I believe that the overall theme to the story of the Metamorphosis by Kafka concerns society's injustices and moralities and how they have reduced to a despicable level. ... I think Kafka cries change in the Metamorphosis. ... Therefore, both before and after the metamorphosis, they continued to misunderstand Gregor. ... Thus, both before and after the metamorphosis Gregor's loyalty was either misunderstood or unappreciated and ignored. ... Her outward revulsion was the most severe betrayal Gregor was to endure during his metamorphosis. ...

  • Word Count: 1108
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

5. The Metamorphosis

In Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis there is an issue regarding the victimization of Gregor Samsa. ... In these essays, their respective authors state that Gregor is the victim of the novella, in an effort to make their analyses of Kafka's Metamorphosis. ... The other author that discusses the issue of victimization in Kafka's Metamorphosis is Walter H. ... Eric Santner also discusses the issue of Gregor being a victim in his analysis on The Metamorphosis. ... It can be seen from the analyses of these three writers that the victim in The Metamorphosis is Gregor Samsa. ...

  • Word Count: 1025
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

6. Metamorphosis

"Metamorphosis" Published in the early 1900's, Franz Kafka wrote the story "Metamorphosis"; this tale is based on a young man named Gregor Samsa. ... The fact that they didn't communicate well before Gregor's metamorphosis made it even harder to find him behind the mask of a giant insect in which they had created. ... Early in his metamorphosis, Gregor would stretch his legs and try to get comfortable, the same stretch is duplicated by his sister when she, too, sprang to her feet and stretched her body. ... After his metamorphosis, nobody indicated they were grateful for...

  • Word Count: 1200
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Grade Level: High School

7. Gregor in The Metamorphosis

Kafka's ˜The Metamorphosis' is, as the name suggests to a large extent, a story about transformation. ... In my opinion, it is not changing that describes Metamorphosis, but a lack of change: inaction. There was no Metamorphosis in the story since Gregor was a bug lone before he transformed.  ... Gregor approaches life after the metamorphosis in the same manner as life before it. ... Fascinatingly, Gregor's overall lack of freedom, before and after the metamorphosis, is entirely the same.  ...

  • Word Count: 1050
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

8. metamorphosis

Chris Soares Soares 1 20 April 2002 English 12 Wheeler Metaphorical Metamorphosis What is human condition? ... The author, Franz Kafka's purpose of "The Metamorphosis" is to make people understand more about human condition. ... The Metamorphosis World Literature, Revised Edition 1998. ... "The Metamorphosis." ... The Metamorphosis. 21 Feb 1998. 22 February 2002...

  • Word Count: 1336
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Grade Level: High School

9. The Metamorphosis

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. ... 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 struggle to get up on the morning of his metamorphosis and attempt to go to work, his unwillingness to let Grete and his mother remove the furniture from his home, and his obsession with the picture of the lady with the furcoat. These events all display Grego...

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

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