Metamorphosis Internal Conflict

649 Words3 Pages
Through the use of internal conflict, intricate imagery, and deep symbolism in Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis”, the significance of the title is developed based on the narrator’s point of view. The title “The Metamorphosis” serves the purpose of representing Gregor’s gradual downfall in life as he slowly but surely experiences all of the stages of being isolated from his family while physically and mentally transforming. All of this change occurs in a drastic manner as Gregor awakes as a bug one morning. By including internal conflict in “The Metamorphosis”, Kafka is able to emphasize how metamorphosis represents Gregor’s slow change. After awakening as a bug and missing the deadline for his train to work, Gregor realizes that his voice is no longer human and struggles to communicate with his family. Afterwards, as he slowly becomes socially separated from his family, even Grete, his loving sister, begins to lose any existing emotional bond with him, as evident when she says “You must try to get rid of the idea that this is Gregor” in an attempt to persuade her father to find a way to get rid of Gregor. Grete and her parents are so disassociated with Gregory that by the time he dies, they are relieved, rather than remorseful…show more content…
While described in a literal sense, Gregor’s metamorphosis into a bug is actually a representation of the slow deterioration of his life. When the father throws apples at Gregor’s back and injures him, an emotional injury is represented. While the narrator describes one of the thrown apples as having been driven “into Gregor’s back really hard”, the pain that follows for Gregor is truly mental. When the narrator describes Gregor as he felt “nailed in place” and “stretched out completely confused in all his senses”, he is describing the aftermath of Gregor’s further growth of the already distant relationship that he and his father

More about Metamorphosis Internal Conflict

Open Document