The Metamorphosis

Novel | Franz Kafka

Is Kafka in his “Metamorphosis” cynical? Give reasons for your answer.

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Is Kafka in his Metamorphosis cynical Give reasons for your answer NU Cynicism means a bitter view of life It is the belief that people are selfish and think only of money power and comfort Franz Kafka s The Metamorphosis is full of such cynicism In the Samsa house Gregor works hard but gets no love His boss mistrusts him His family rejects him This makes Kafka s tone deeply cynical Cynicism about Job and Boss Gregor wakes up in his room as a vermin Still he thinks first about his job and the train He says Oh God what a strenuous career it is that I ve chosen This shows his suffering as a salesman The Chief Clerk arrives at the Samsa house only to suspect him He tells the family that Gregor is careless and lazy Kafka is cynical here He shows that modern jobs treat workers like

machines They value money more than human health Readers feel the bitter truth that work has no real care for human life Cynicism about Family Love Gregor always thinks of his family s debts He wants to support his mother father and Sister Grete But when he changes their love quickly ends His father grows angry He throws apples when Gregor comes out of his room one evening One apple gets stuck in Gregor s back and wounds him badly His mother faints in fear Grete cries but later tells the family to get rid of him She says We have to try and get rid of it Kafka is cynical because he shows that family love depends on money and service When Gregor cannot earn he becomes unwanted Cynicism about Communication Gregor tries to speak when his mother calls Kafka says Gregor was shocked when he heard his own voice His words are no longer clear His family cannot understand him This shows how people ignore the voice of the weak Kafka is cynical about human communication He shows that even inside a home people fail to hear each other truly This bitter reality makes the readers sad and helpless Cynicism about Human Society When Gregor finally opens the door the Chief Clerk runs away in fear His mother faints His father drives him back with the Clerk s stick At first she brings milk with bread but Gregor cannot drink it So she brings old half-rotten vegetables for him on an old newspaper Kafka says She brought him a whole selection of things all spread out on an old newspaper But this kindness slowly ends Kafka is cynical about society He shows that people respect you only when you are useful When you are weak they fear and abandon you Society is presented as selfish and cruel Cynicism in Death and End Gregor hides under the couch in his room He eats silently He still dreams of Grete s music But his family grows tired of him Finally he dies alone The cleaner shouts It s dead just lying there stone dead His family feels relieved after his death They even plan a better future without him This is the deepest cynicism of Kafka Life has no value without money Death brings not grief but freedom for others Readers feel shock at this bitter truth of existence Kafka s The Metamorphosis is full of cynicism He shows it through Gregor Samsa s life his room his job his mother his father his sister Grete and the Chief Clerk The cruel boss the selfish family the broken voice the rejection of society and the lonely death all prove Kafka s cynical view His story teaches that life is often cruel selfish and bitter

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