Gregor Samza - the hero of the short story "The Metamorphosis"

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Gregor Samza - the hero of the short story "The Metamorphosis"
Gregor Samza - the hero of the short story "The Metamorphosis"

Video: Gregor Samza - the hero of the short story "The Metamorphosis"

Video: Gregor Samza - the hero of the short story
Video: Kostroma (2007) 2024, June
Anonim

Gregor Samza is the main character in Franz Kafka's story "The Metamorphosis". His tragic fate makes you think about life. The metamorphoses that happened to him are in fact a reflection of the state in which he was all the time. Nothing has changed, only at the beginning of the story the reader considers Gregor a man, and later begins to understand that he was and remains an insect.

The meaning of the story "Transformation"

From the very beginning, this short phantasmagoric story plunges the reader into a state of deep aesthetic shock.

Gregor Samza
Gregor Samza

In the very first sentence, where Gregor Samsa wakes up in the morning and finds that he has suddenly become an insect, a situation is described that is contrary to common sense. But it is precisely this detail, described by Kafka in a narrative manner with undisguised demonstrative "unaestheticism", that makes one shudder and seem to wake up. The disgust aroused in the reader by a detailed description of a human-sized beetle with its chitinous body and many thin legs moving on its abdomen is later replaced by a feeling of plausibility and even some commonness. You begin to realize all the bitter prosaic nature of genre originalitystory. A poignant plot that takes place more inside the insect-man than outside, makes the reader completely immerse himself in his inner world and experiences.

Who is the main character

Gregor in the story reflects the image of a person living a life that many live without realizing it. He is an ordinary traveling salesman - a cloth merchant. Financial difficulties forced him to put up with a hated job, and the dream gave him strength for this that he would be able to provide his family with everything necessary and give his beloved sister the opportunity to study. “If only the family would not have to endure hardships,” Gregor Samza woke up with these thoughts every morning. From the very beginning, his characterization pushes the thought of the unenviable fate of the hero. A ruined father, a sick mother and a seventeen-year-old sister were completely dependent on him. However, he himself took full responsibility for their well-being. He was tormented by torments and constant worries about others.

gregor samsa transformation quote
gregor samsa transformation quote

Only Gregor Samsa was responsible for the well-being of everyone. The image of the hero personifies a conscientious and extremely responsible person. Even after seeing what his body has become, he only worries that now he will not be able to work and let his family down. When, after waking up, he heard the manager rushing to him, he asks for forgiveness and tries to explain himself to him.

Gregor Samsa. Character Profile

Sensitive, attentive, sympathetic and kind - this is how the reader sees the central character. His description at first does not fit with the image of the terribleinsect. But the painful realities of his existence make him empathize with the hero. Now it is difficult to make out who you empathize with more - an insect with a human soul or a person living like an insect. After all, the transformation of the hero is actually just a reflection of his inner state, in which he has been for so long.

Gregor Samza Characteristics
Gregor Samza Characteristics

It seems that what happened to Gregor was not a transformation, but a reunion of external and internal sensation. For his relatives, the change in appearance seems to be the final touch in his "insect". When Samza falls in his room, unable to cope with the changed body, the manager states that "something fell there." Seeing that the son is late for work, his relatives chant his name, reminiscent of an appeal to an animal. For relatives, he has long lost his human appearance. Now Gregor had to realize it too. However, the hero learns all these and other truths already in the guise of an insect. The death of the main character marks the end of that pure and human that was inside his family. And this brings undisguised relief to his loved ones, whom he loved so much. Gregor Samza dies a painful and lonely death.

"Transformation". Quotes from the story

Many complex thoughts lurk in simple passages from the story. Kafka's writings are often described as "a lot of meaning in a small number of words."

Gregor Samza hero image
Gregor Samza hero image

Gregor, after the transformation, suddenly discovers that “there is much more sense from calm reflection than from impulsesdespair. In these words, it is revealed how useless were the actions of Samza, which he was so proud of. And the main idea of the story is in two lines: “He who loves his neighbor in the world does no more and no less injustice than the one who loves himself in the world.”

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