FREE ESSAY ON FRANZ KAFKA

FRANZ KAFKA

LIT 2020
Research Paper
"The way he lived is what he wrote"
"The tremendous world I have inside my head. But how free myself and free it without
being torn to pieces. And a thousand times rather be torn to pieces than retain it in me
or bury it. That, indeed, is why I am here, that is quite clear to me.
FRANZ KAFKA
Reading such an imaginative author can make you think about the different reasons this
author expresses himself in the way he does in his writings. In the above quote we can
see clearly Kafka was troubled by the way he grew up and the way he was treated by his
parents. He says he has a tremendous world inside his head, meaning all the thoughts of
his childhood. He also tells us it is better to be "torn to pieces" and get it out of his
head, than to die with that thought in his head. This is how "Metamorphosis" came alive.
Franz Kafka?s "Metamorphosis" can be given such a deep thought, reasoning and
understanding because of the way this man lived his childhood and young age. It is more
than a literary work. It is a representation of the inner fears the author has in a not
so tragical as to be called tormented, but traumatic childhood. Kafka disguises himself
in the character Gregor Samsa, and makes the reader aware that even though he has no
fault in what has happenned, his family, specifically his father, who is the one who
represents and makes him live a traumatic childhood, makes his life a living hell. The
reader can find out about this, once it is known that Mr. Samsa wants to "knock Gregor
back into his room" . Mr. Samsa, just as Hermann Kafka, represents the bad giant, the man
whose violence overpowers any kind of sympathy he might have for his unfortunate son.
Even though Hermann Kafka never physically abused his son, he severly punished him at
times and this is why young Kafka was so afraid of his "huge father", as he called him
(http://www.levity.com/corduroy/kafka.htm).
There is an obvious bad attitude the reader can find in Gregor?s father towards Gregor.
There is also a comparison to Kafka?s childhood and relation with his father and mother
as to find it a way of escaping his fears. But, the reader can find another person in
"Metamorphosis" who played an important role in Kafka?s life. This person is his sister,
and she played a positive role. In Kafka?s childhood, his mother did not play an
important role in raising him (as we will see later). This is why when his three sisters
were born, he felt no rivalry towards them, but felt he had companions to talk to
(http://www.levity.com/corduroy/kafka.htm). This is represented in "Metamorphosis" in
Gregor?s younger sister, Grete. This young lady is the one who takes care of Gregor, even
though he is a bug. This action of caring about his brother, as we saw in the story,
fades in time when she gets tired of taking care of that repulsive thing and tells her
parents it is time to get "rid of it". Even though the reader can see Grete takes care of
her brother, it is also clear in Kafka?s life there is some resentment towards him from
his sisters. That is why, as the story progresses, it is informed to the reader that when
Gregor (the bug) gets close to his sister to listen to her playing the violin, she gets
scared and rejects him. This is a poor attitude towards his brother since as we saw in
the story he was the one who payed for all her violin classes. 
As said before, Kafka?s mother did not play an important role in his life. It is clearly
shown to the reader, that as in Kafka?s life, Gregor?s mother does not play an important
part in his "Metamorphosis". This is due to the fact that Julie Kafka is a woman devoted
to the care of her husband. This is to the extent that she does everything he wants, and
always takes his side, leaving young Kafka with no mother aid. In "Metamorphosis" this is
clearly portrayed to us when Gregor shows himself to his family as a bug, and when his
father wants to make him go back in to his room, his mother makes no intent in helping
him. Instead, she is in favor of doing such a thing. 
Although Gregor?s mother is portrayed as a character with no importance, the reader can
see Kafka portrays finally a good aspect of his mother. Maybe this is because he never
had her intense care and was raised by servants, and he wanted to write something good
that never really happened. In other way, Kafka lets his imagination fly, and idealizes
himself as having a good, caring mother to talk about. The good aspect portrayed to the
reader is the way Gregor?s mother "begs for her son's life" in some part of the story and
also refuses to take Gregor?s furniture away from the room because she is confident that
her son will some day, become human again. 
Throughout the course of the story, many aspects can make the reader think of all the
social aspects also involved in the writing of "Metamorphosis". These social aspects are
seen as the normal standard of those days and can be understood now, but not accepted in
our days. 
The most important one of those aspects is the incredible submission Gregor mother has
toward her husband. Not only in the story, but also in actual life, Julie Kafka was
always into what her husband wanted, and never really had a chance to say what she wanted
or do what she wanted to do. This is something in our days has changed, since women now
have the opportunity to better there education, go out for jobs, as well as take care of
there houses and family. That is a very important way of evolution in our days, since it
is very important for men to have division of work and equality in all ways. 
Bibliography
Bibliography
Honig, Edwin. Dark Conceit: The Making of Allegory
New York: Galaxy Books, 1966.
Kafka, Franz. Letter to his father brief an den vater Bilingual Edition
New York: Schoken Books, 1966.
Kafka, Franz. The Diaries of Franz Kafka Ed. Max Brod 
New York: Schoken Books, 1949.
Spann, Memo. Franz Kafka Gen. Ed. Sylvia E. Bowman, Indiana University 
Ed. Ulrich Weisslein, Indiana University
Boston, Mass, USA: Twayne Publishers.
John E. Novak (1992) Franz Kafka
Available HTTP: http://www.litstudies.com/novakj/kafka.html