Essays on Grete

Franz Kafka wrote the short story, The Metamorphosis. The novella has been studied in different universities and colleges in the Western world. The story is about Gregor Samsa’s transformation from a human being to a monstrous creature. The Metamorphosis starts with the main character Gregor waking up only to find that he has been transformed into a huge insect-like outrageous and verminous being. As a result, he has to adjust to his new look because he does not know the reason why he was transformed and this traps his life. Gregor became a burden to his family who ...

Introduction

The appreciation for the literary craftsmanship of Franz Kafka cannot be understated. In fact, according to one journal article’s assessment by Berthoff, “Lovers of literature are forever indebted” to the writer’s friend Max Brod, “who ignored Kafka’s ‘last request’ to destroy all his manuscripts and proceeded to edit and publish” some of his novels (499). Also at the outset it is important to recognize that the original language Kafka wrote in was German, although he spoke in Czech. According to the same source Kafka’s office writings had been informed by – or at least and influencing ...

1- Humor?

- Is the “The Metamorphosis” ever funny?  If so, where?  How?   Why?  How does the story resemble (and differ from) the family situation comedies we’re all familiar with? When “The Metamorphosis” is funny, the humor is dark and wry, the sort of joke that you grimace at instead of grinning, let alone laughing out loud. The interaction between Gregor and his family is as pained as the interaction between Chris and his family on the show “Family Guy” when Chris has acne that keeps growing and growing – and one of the zits takes out a gun and threatens ...