Metamorphosis begins with a fantastic premise set forth in the story's opening line: "When Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from troubled dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a monstrous insect" (Kafka 317). Artist Natalia Moroz (who created the above print based on the novella) writes that in Franz Kafka's "most widely known story, one can hear Kafka's deeply hidden despair and fear of [. . . .] blind fate"
(http://www.nataliamoroz.com/kafka.html).
A "theme of a story is whatever general idea or insight the entire story reveals" to the reader (Gioia and Kennedy 189). Accepting the unrealistic premise of Metamorphosis as the reality of Kafka's story, how is this premise symbolic of a larger theme in the story? If fate can sometimes be random and unexpected, besides being turned into an insect, what else causes Gregor to suffer? In conclusion, what can we learn from this story?
In-class Essay Preparation Notes
Develop the above questions and ideas into a thesis. Develop support for your thesis by preparing notes on the items below:
- What is the setting of the story's action? Consider setting as the city, time period, the family dynamic, and the specific location where the main action takes place.
- Create a character sketch on Gregor--his appearance, role in the family, work, his attitude toward himself, work, each family member?
- Look up the word "metamorphosis."
- How is Gregor's change symbolic of who he was before his change? What about after his change?
- How does Gregor react to his situation?
- How does each member of his family react?
- How do the characters (situation, characteristics, motivations) contribute to Gregor's ultimate fate and the story's conclusion?
- Identify symbols in the story. Besides the literal meaning, what does each symbol represent?
No comments:
Post a Comment