Its a Bug's Life

As one door closes, another one opens. Analyzing the work of Dante Alighieri has come to an end, but now we explore the world of Franz Kafka, and his novel The Metamorphosis. Although I am only on page 7 out of 27 pages so far, I have already seen a lot of modernism and allegories in Kafka wove into his work. There are a couple themes I have been recording throughout the reading, including isolation and criticism on society. The story starts off when Gregor wakes up in his bed as a bug. From the beginning, the audience can start to visualize his bedroom and how everything is set up. "... to small, lay quietly between the four well-known walls."(Kafka 1). The bed, the walls of his bedroom and his house, all keeping him captive. Gregor Samsa is trapped. The view of Gregor is from the bird's eye view, which shows him as helpless, and puts the reader in the more dominant position. Aside from his room, Gregor acts very unusually for the fact that he wakes up as a bug. He doesn't think much about his new appearance, and his thoughts are mainly focused on him catching his train to work on time.



Just from the beginning of The Metamorphosis, the reader knows many things about Gregor Samsa. One knows that he is very much so, lonely. In Gregor's bedroom there hangs a framed photo of a women. She wears rich clothing and was torn out of a magazine; Gregor doesn't know her or even think about her, and so due to this fact the audience knows Gregor is very lonely. Gregor is surrounded by his parents, sister, and servants but he still feels empty and lonesome. Another thing we can gather from the reading is that Gregor is very selfless and has a kind heart. He spends his days working his life away at a terrible job in order to pay off his parents' debt. His parents don't work nor do they try to help Gregor pay off their debt, they just sit around in their house getting waited on by their servants. His parents suck, that is the best way I can put it. So far, I am really enjoying The Metamorphosis and am very intrigued as to what will happen to Gregor Samsa as the story continues.