Blog #3

To understand The Metamorphosis one must first understand Franz Kafka. A majority of Kafkas works are influenced by his childhood and relations with his father. As a child Kafka spent a lot of time alone while his parents and sister worked. After reading The Metamorphosis one could clearly see understand themes of alienation and loneliness. Gregor Samsa lived in an apartment with his mother, father and sister, and after his transformation he became locked in his room, left only with his past memories and impossible hopes of his acceptance. Gregor is separated entirely from his family, he sits in his room all day unable to communicate whatsoever to his selfish family. Even before his transformation there is no description of any of Gregors past friends or relationships. Initially Gregor is honored to be able to support his family, but as they become less and less appreciative of his provisions, he begins to feel emotionally detached from them. The alienation Gregor experiences as an insect can be seen as a continuation of his previous life of loneliness. As well as suffering an isolated childhood Kafka also had a poor relationship with his harsh and sometimes abusive father. In The Metamorphosis Gregors father is most opposed to his existence. Mr. Samsa regards Gregors appearance as disgusting and is abusive towards him. This is easily relatable to Kafkas relationship to his father, and one could deduce that Kafkas father viewed him as a vermin. This story had a particular effect on me. I truly felt bad for Gregor and i even felt sad after reading the story.