Frank Kafka

Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 - 3 June 1924) was one of the major German-language fiction writers of the 20th century. He was born to a middle-class Jewish family in Prague, then part of Austria-Hungary. His unique body of writing - much of which is incomplete and was published posthumously - is among the most influential in Western literature. His novella, The Metamorphosis (1915), concern troubled individuals in a nightmarishly impersonal and bureaucratic world.

The criticism that Nina Pelikan Straus put on the metamorphosis is completely about feminist issues. In her article “Transforming Frank Kafka’s Metamorphosis”, she concentrates on how Kafka’s language is ambiguous which works in favor of feminism.

Straus indicates that each literary critic has their own slant to their criticism which is a “literary Rorschach test вЂ¦Ð²Ð‚¦..” Like Leadbeater, Straus believes that the story is more about Grete’s metamorphosis than Gregor’s. She “blossom” вЂ?s into something replacing Gregor. Straus points out that there is shame in the fact that Gregor is reduced to being dependent on someone and feels that Kafka is impressed the way women keep their bodies and houses clean. Straus also states in her article that the picture in the story, Gregor identifies with as a sexual way, that he is attracted to her in a heterosexual way.

Grete taking the dominant role takes the picture down as she feels the picture is pornographic and derogatory towards women.

The story “Metamorphosis” starts out with Gregor Samsa , a traveling salesman wakes in his bug looking like a grotesque bug. He has numerous legs hanging out from his body and is unable to get out of bed. He wakes up complaining not that he has turned into a bug but that he has to go to work. Gregor would have quit his job along time ago but was unable to do so as his father owed his employer money. As the caretaker of the family, Gregor was obligated to pay the family debt. When he looks at the watch Gregor realizes that he has missed his 7 o’clock train.

ues. A quick glance at the alarm clock tells Gregor that he has slept late and missed his train. If he rushes he might still be able to catch the 7 a.m. train, but even this won't spare him a tongue-lashing from his boss. He considers calling in sick, which he has never done, but suspects that his boss would then send a health-insurance doctor to check on him.

Concerned, Gregor's parents and his sister Grete soon begin to knock on his door. In an altered voice, with brief and deliberate phrases, he tries to reassure them. He expends a quarter of an hour struggling with his air-beating limbs and unfamiliar body in an attempt to get out of bed. When Gregor, rocking back and forth, is on the verge of teetering off the bed and landing on his sturdy (he hopes) back, the doorbell rings. It is the chief clerk of the company come to see why he didn't leave by the early train. Gregor swings off the bed and onto the floor, banging his head in the process.

Gregor's parents detain the chief clerk while imploring Gregor to open the locked door to his room. Gregor is still able to manage simple stalling phrases. At last, the chief clerk becomes impatient. In front of Gregor's parents, the functionary sets into a critical and demoralizing speech, even maliciously insinuating that perhaps Gregor is hiding in his room because of some unethical activity involving cash receipts. Gregor excitedly replies with a stream of words, pleading illness, offering assurances that he will make the eight o'clock train, and asking the man to spare his parents. While he speaks he maneuvers himself up against his wardrobe and is able, with considerable difficulty, to draw himself upright. He wants to open the door and then gauge the seriousness of his situation from the reaction of those outside.

His family and the chief clerk become alarmed. They have not understood a word of his fevered reply. In fact, they do not recognize it as human speech. His mother sends Grete for the doctor; his father sends the maid for a locksmith. Gregor remains calm. He feels reassured by the efforts being made on his behalf. Leaning against the door, his jaws struggle with the key. He manages at last to open the door and peer out. Gregor's mother faints, his father begins to weep, and the chief clerk can only muster a startled "Oh!"

From his room's threshold, Gregor tries to placate the clerk and defend himself against earlier accusations. But the man is slowly making his way to the door. Thinking the chief clerk still angry with him, Gregor makes a move to intercept the man and further plead his case. His movement frightens his mother and sends the chief clerk fleeing down the stairwell, screaming at full volume. Gregor's father springs into action, grabbing a stick and a newspaper and herding Gregor back into his bedroom with prods and fierce hisses. Gregor injures himself badly trying to fit back through the doorway. The door is slammed shut behind him, and all goes quiet.

Gregor awakes from a deep sleep to find that a basin of milk has been left for him. He tries to drink it but discovers that milk, which was his favorite beverage, is no longer palatable. The family spends the evening silently in the parlor. Gregor feels a twinge of pride for having provided his family with this quiet life in a fine apartment and begins to worry whether it will all end for them now. Then Gregor, feeling unsettled beneath the high ceilings of his room, spends the night squeezed under the couch.

The next morning, Grete opens the door and, spying him beneath the sofa, immediately shuts it with a cry. She fortifies herself and tiptoes into the room to retrieve the basin of milk. Noticing that it has not been drunk, she removes it and returns with a wide selection of both fresh and fetid foods. When she leaves, Gregor gratefully gorges himself on the foods that appeal to his new state. Grete notes his preferences, and this routine of bringing and removing food while Gregor hides under the couch becomes the norm.

In these early stages, Gregor listens at the keyhole whenever his family discusses anything. In this way, he learns that their financial situation is slightly better than he thought. Still, money must soon be earned. His mother is asthmatic, and his father hasn't worked for the five years since the collapse of his company. Gregor's secret wish is for Grete to continue her violin studies at a conservatory, but this she cannot do if she becomes the breadwinner of the family. Gregor is overcome by shame.

Grete, despite the kindnesses she shows her brother, is unable to bear