In Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, the protagonist Gregor experiences a metamorphosis at the beginning of the novella. Kafka uses the character of Gregor to evoke mixed feelings within the reader, especially sympathy and pity for his situation, but also sometimes disgust.
Kafka uses narration in order to affect the reader's perception of Gregor. The novella shows mainly first person narrative through Gregor's point of view, and occasionally third person, most notably after Gregor has died. Kafka uses this to create a protagonist that we are likely to sympathize with at the beginning of the novel. The best example of Kafka's use of narrative occurs when Gregor is attempting to get out bed and thinking about how much he wants to go to work. Kafka designs the internal dialogue in order to create sympathy for Gregor's helplessness and it also reveals his will to go to work and support his family.
As the metamorphosis of Gregor becomes more complete, we see Kafka characterizing Gregor as increasingly disgusting, especially when he states that his shell has become dusty and dirty and hadn't bothered to wipe himself off on the floor. This scene evokes a feeling of repulsion in the reader. Furthermore, Kafka occasionally portrays Gregor as an upset character, most notably when his sister Grete stops cleaning his room and when his family starts moving his furniture. Because he seems to exhibit an sense of anger towards his family and this leaves the reader partially distanced from Gregor.
Gregor's final appearance is undoubtedly designed to evoke sympathy for him. Gregor has been wounded by his father, alienated from his family and sequestered in his room since his transformation. After he makes the mistake of crawling out of his room, he realizes that his entire family simply wants him to disappear and that he is a burden. Gregor realizes that he has become worthless and simply dies of weakness from not eating and the injury in his back. Since Gregor wants to do good for his family, and by no means is it his fault he is trapped, the reader sympathizes with Gregor's sense of helplessness.
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6 comments:
You made a good point about how the change in Gregor's character (his anger, self-pity, etc.) further helps evoke sympathy from the readers as oppose to just disgust.
I agree in how Kafka uses narration in order to affect the reader's perception of Gregor.
Nice blog entry! I think you are right on about Kafka's representation of Gregor's character. The reader kind of identifies with Gregor at the same level that Grete and his mother care for him. In the beginning, we are somewhat disgusted by him, then we find ways to sympathize and feel pity for him, and in the end we are heading back towards disgust because we begin to question the symbolism of Gregor's character, rather than his physical metamorphosis.
I completely agree. The narration specifically helps to evoke sympathy in the reader. We see his point as being just Gregor, frustrated by his status and inability to provide for his family or be a part of his family again. We do feel disgust, because he is a bug. But also, because we imagine how a giant bug would be in our own home. But we fall back into sympathy because he does not choose to be this way. And again, realize that his metamorphoses symbolizes the neediness of the family and how they fed off of him before, and because of his changed will also change into better people. It is unfortunate that Gregor's well-being has to accomplish this, however.
You made a great Point about how Gregor characteristic effect in the novel and I agree with you!
Sympathy is the golden key that unlocks the hearts of others. See the link below for more info.
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www.ufgop.org
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