Unit 2 Lesson 4:

Kafka’s
Metamorphosis:
Existentialism &
Kafka’s Work

Louisiana Student
Standards: RL 9-
10.1-6. W. 9-10.6-
9. L. 9-10.4-6
 I. What is Metamorphosis?
• Metamorphosis is a novella written in
1912 by Franz Kafka. It uses magical
realist techniques long before the style
was popular. It is a early
Modernist/experimental work

• What is a “novella”?
– Longer, more complex than short stories
– Focuses on a limited number of characters
and events
 II. Who is Franz Kafka?
• Born in Prague in 1883
• The oldest of 9 children.
• Jewish parents
• Father was a successful merchant but
overbearing.
 III. Sad Kafka…
• Described as having been
sensitive and suffering from
feelings of isolation.
• Jewish, but felt unconnected
to his religion
• Minority in his country
• Unsuccessful in personal
relationships
• Physically weak, attempts to
hide it
 IV. Kafkaesque
• Anything having to do with alienation,
absurdity, anxiety or isolation

• (Themes that came to characterize

Kafka’s life and works)
 V. Being Jewish in Prague during
1880-1920
• Prague called “The City of Three Peoples”.
– Ethnic Czechs (spoke Czech)
– 6% German speakers
– 5% Jews, some spoke German or both

Kafka was a minority because he was a

German speaking Jew. He also didn’t readily
accept the teachings of Judaism.
 Anti-Semitism
• Surrounded Prague
• When he was 16, a Christian girl was
found murdered in Prague. Many said that
her throat was cut by Jews, then they used
the blood to make food during Passover.
• Created riots!
• As a result, Jews were harassed, shops
were destroyed
 VI. Kafka’s father!

• Was hard on Kafka.

– Kafka developed lifelong guilt, anxiety and
lacked self confidence.
– Felt he could never live up to his father’s
standards.
– Lived with his parents after graduating from
college
– Turned anger and anxiety inward by isolating
himself from family
 VII. Difficulty writing
• Kafka found it difficult to write because:

– Family tensions (Father told him he was never

good enough)
– Parent’s getting older/ill
– Self doubts (felt ugly, stupid, etc)
– Would write, then destroy work, then write
again
 VIII. Last Years
• The last years of Kafka’s life was marked
by periods of intense writing activity, family
tensions, unsuccessful love relationships,
and worsening health.

• Was a hypochondriac, but developed

Tuberculosis when he was 35.

• Died in a rest home at the age of 41.

 Kafka-the Holocaust
• Kafka was continuously tormented by the
cruelness of the world.

• He died before Hitler came into power, but

his family and friends did not escape the
Holocaust.
 Kafka-the Holocaust
• Since he was Jewish, much of his work
was burned by the Gestapo.

• Many of his friends died in concentration

camps.

• Three of his sisters died in concentration

camps.
 IX. Kafka Today
• His work is read throughout the world.

• Best known for describing obscure situations

with simple, mathematical precision. This adds
to the chilling, understated irony that
characterizes his writing.

• Never explained what he meant with ideas and

concepts, thus his work is continuously
discussed.
 Existentialism: definition
• A philosophy of thought that began in Christian
philosophy in the late 1800’s and later, in the
1960s, became popular world-wide as part of
the “cultural revolution” of the 60s.

• Emphasizes both the uniqueness of each

individual’s experience and his/her isolation in
an indifferent universe.

• Because the events in human existence can not

be explained, one has freedom of choice and
complete responsibility for his/her actions.
 Existentialism: definition
• Remember the “Hero’s Journey”? Well, take all
those ideas about the Grail, the Quest, and all
the archetypes:
– Hero, Savior,
– Guide, Guardian
– Trials, Underworld, Threshold
– Normal World vs Netherworld
– The Return

. . .and turn it INWARD. Life’s ultimate

quest is, in a sense, to find
YOURSELF. These symbols become
psychological.
Existentialism Basic Explanation
• Back in time, a person’s purpose in life
was defined by God or history.

• For example, if your grandfather was a

shoemaker, and your father was a
shoemaker, odds are, it was your purpose
to be a shoemaker. Everyone had a
purpose and God was the driving force.
Existentialism & the “Existential
Crisis”
• After the World Wars, it was a reaction to
the dehumanization of many aspects of
society (industrialization, rise of
bureaucracy).
– Ex: Students’ value is determined by
standarded tests. Your are put into groups,
such as “Gifted,” “Honors,” or “Regular.”
– Ex: We often find ourselves in trouble or
accused by large, inhuman forces we do not
understand (taxes, corporations, prisons,
electoral college, college entrance exams)
 Why are we reading The
Metamorphosis?
• This book is a kind of “existential experiment.” Does
Gregor turn into what he was all along, or does his
transformation help him die a more self-aware human
being?

• This is the time of year we do our best to be kind to

one another…most importantly, our families. As a
family satire this book teaches valuable lessons about
the dangers of capitalism’s influence on the family
(money, greed, wanting to appear successful).

• Gregor is a young man in the story…barely out of his

teen years. He is an allegory for the doubt and anxiety
that comes with youth, and the challenges of youth.
 Kafka Project: Existentialism
and the middle class
PROMPT:

“Gregor soon had the opportunity to test

the strength of his decisions, as early the
next morning, almost before the night had
ended, his sister, nearly fully dressed,
opened the door from the front room and
looked anxiously in.”
--KAFKA QUIZLET
 Kafka
USE THIS AS A
Project: Existentialism
and the middle class
GUIDE TO START
MIND MAPPING
PROMPT:
YOUR PROJECT.

“Gregor soon had the opportunity to test

“MEASURE
the strength of his decisions, as early the
TWICE,
CUT next
ONCE” --KAFKA QUIZLET
morning, almost before the night had
ended, his sister, nearly fully dressed,
opened the door from the front room and
looked anxiously in.”
 20-Minute Discussion # 1: Symbolism of
Metamorphosis: The Apple
• In Metamorphosis, when the main character Gregor Samsa
is hit by an apple, thrown by his father Mr. Samsa, the
collision brings forth this sudden realization within Gregor
and his family, as told in the Bible, 'by the apple "Your eyes
shall be opened"'4: their eyes are opened. Gregor can
painfully see that his life has changed, he no longer holds
the position as the son; he is not useful because he cannot
earn money anymore, he is just a gigantic cockroach that is
taking up space in the house. Realizing the same truth, the
Samsa family sees that they cannot depend on their son
anymore, they have to leave the warm house and go to
work. To Gregor's father's dismay, earning money is similar
to an exile. The family has depended on Gregor for a long
time, treating him like a bank account, a tree with dollar bills
as leaves, thus to leave the green house, paradise and be
exposed to the harsh reality is worse than anything. Actually,
Gregor has never been Gregor, he is "changing all along"
 20-minute DISCUSSION # 2: Symbolism in
The Metamorphosis: 3, the magic number
• ~3 family members other than Gregor
~3 lodgers
~3 parts
~3 rooms (bedroom,the living room and
his sister's room)
• insects undergo three steps of
metamorphosis (egg, nymph, adult) as
does Gregor (realization, coping,
surrender)
 20-minute DISCUSSION # 3: Who Truly
Transforms?
• The Samsa family is a middle class
family much like the one Kafka grew up
in. Rather than Gregor dying an
immediate death, the story is of a long,
slow death. Gregor’s health decreases
gradually throughout the book, but the
family only really notices that he
becomes less and less like them! If he
had just died then it would have been a
shock to his family members, and we
would have a different picture of the
family. Insteadhe started to become a
burden…or actually, not even a true
burden, but an inconvenience, so that it
was almost a relief to his family.
• So, who really changes in this book?
• Consider the lodgers: They
all seem like the same
person: The disapproving
middle class that pressures
families to reject Misfits,
artists, or true love
• Consider Grete: She is the
only other character with a
name
• She shows the most pity
• She shows the worst rejection
• Some argue she changes the
most
 20-minute DISCUSSION # 4: The Insects
From Nabokov’s Lecture:

Gregor's dead, dry body is discovered the next morning by the

charwoman and a great warm sense of relief permeates the insect
world of his despicable family. Here is a point to be observed with
care and love. Gregor is a human being in an insect's disguise; his
family are insects disguised as people. With Gregor's death their
insect souls are suddenly aware that they are free to enjoy
themselves. " 'Come in beside us, Grete, for a little while,' said
Mrs. Samsa* with a tremulous smile, and Grete, not without
looking back at the corpse, followed her parents into their
bedroom.'' The charwoman opens the window wide and the air
has a certain warmth: it is the end of March when insects come
out of hibernation.
GREGOR…is he a “Christ Figure”?

He becomes his
FATHER

He sacrifices
himself as the
SON

He must give
up his “spirit”
(his sister)
As a satire the middle class and Judeo-christian values,Gregor’s Journey is not a
Hero’s Journey but a Misfit’s journey inward, downward. He must devolve from the
SAMSA
“civilization” that was killing him. He discovers his potential—or HOUSEHOLD
not—by becoming
FLOOR
more and more alienated, in phases driving him toward adulthood (as PLAN
does Grete, who
parallels his transformation_. Does he transcend?

“He remained
FREE ASSOCIATION: 3…Bible…Trinity….3 in this state of
empty and
“Christ figure” archetype: peaceful
rumination until
he heard the
--Gregor dies for his family
clock tower
--Description of death
strike three in
parallels crucifixion the morning.
(ironically): He watched as
: APPLE it slowly began
: Attended by a woman to get light
(woman in furs) everywhere
outside the
window too.
Then, without
Influences on his willing it,
Gregor his head sank
down
completely,
and his last
HE IS HE GIVES UP HIS breath flowed
HE IS FATHER/ SON/Sacrifice SPIRIT/PNEUMA weakly from
his nostrils.”
 20-minute DISCUSSION # 5: Threshold
Imagery
• As it turns out, there are several doors to Gregor's room, not
just the one that leads out to the main living room. Gregor's
room seems to be a central room in the apartment, and the
other bedrooms also have access to this room, though no one
would dare enter the room now. Gregor is literally central to
their lives, yet closed off by doors that are perpetually closed
against him. The are many thresholds in the novel: The
doors. The door is a protection for Gregor. It shields him,
most of the time, from the ugliness, anger, and hostile
curiosity of whoever is on the other side of the door. The
tragedy, of course, is that these negative emotions emanate
from his family, the people who should be most supportive of
him. The presence of the door ensures his privacy; it also
ensures he can be neglected by those who should take care
of him.
 20-minute Discussion # 6: Gregor’s
Body
• “Further, he has strong mandibles. He
uses these organs to turn the key in a
lock while standing erect on his hind
legs, on his third pair of legs (a strong
little pair), and this gives us the length
of his body, which is about three feet
long.” -V. Nabokov, “Lecture on the
Metamorphosis”
 “Curiously
enough, Gregor
the beetle never
found out that
he had wings
under the hard
covering of his
back.”
 Further Discussion
• “Metamorphosis” definition:
– a transformation that is ongoing in stages
• What stages are present in the novella? What
symbols connect or signify these stages?
– external changes and internal changes
(biology term)
• External changes in character?
• Internal changes in character?
– Changes that are unique to a species
• How are Gregor’s changes unique to the
“human species”?
 HOW WE STUDY THIS WORK
• PART I: MAGICAL REALIST STYLE.
How does the book’s magical realist
STYLE help the author reveal the
existential truth behind Gregor
Samsa? Use “Arachne” and “A Very
Old Man…” to draw comparison that
explain magical realist style.

• PART II: Existential themes. Capitalism and

war—and the feeling that we are alone in the
universe with only ourselves as guides--led to
the rise of existentialism. Treat this as an
existential satire on capitalism’s effect on the
middle class. What is being satirized? Is
Gregor an existential success or failure.?
--KAFKA QUIZLET