Metamorphosis: {Illustrated}
By Franz Kafka
()
About this ebook
The Metamorphosis (German: Die Verwandlung, also sometimes translated as The Transformation) is a novella by Franz Kafka, first published in 1915. It has been cited as one of the seminal works of fiction of the 20th century and is studied in colleges and universities across the Western world. The story begins with a traveling salesman, Gregor Samsa, waking to find himself transformed (metamorphosed) into a large, monstrous insect-like creature. The cause of Samsa's transformation is never revealed, and Kafka never did give an explanation.
The rest of Kafka's novella deals with Gregor's attempts to adjust to his new condition as he deals with being burdensome to his parents and sister, who are repulsed by the horrible, verminous creature Gregor has become. Part I: One day, Gregor Samsa, a traveling salesman, wakes up to find himself transformed into a "ungeheures Ungeziefer", literally "monstrous vermin", often interpreted as a giant bug or insect. He believes it is a dream, and reflects on how dreary life as a traveling salesman is. As he looks at the wall clock, he realizes he has overslept, and missed his train for work. He ponders on the consequences of this delay. Gregor becomes annoyed at how his boss never accepts excuses or explanations from any of his employees no matter how hard working they are, displaying an apparent lack of trusting abilities.
Gregor's mother knocks on the door and he answers her. She is concerned for Gregor because he is late for work, which is unorthodox for Gregor. Gregor answers his mother and realizes that his voice has changed, but his answer is short so his mother does not notice the voice change. His sister, Grete, to whom he was very close, then whispers through the door and begs him to open the door. All his family members think that he is ill and ask him to open the door. He tries to get out of bed, but he is incapable of moving his body. While trying to move, he finds that his office manager, the chief clerk, has shown up to check on him. He finally rocks his body to the floor and calls out that he will open the door shortly.
Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka was born to Jewish parents in Bohemia in 1883. Kafka’s father was a luxury goods retailer who worked long hours and as a result never became close with his son. Kafka’s relationship with his father greatly influenced his later writing and directly informed his Brief an den Vater (Letter to His Father). Kafka had a thorough education and was fluent in both German and Czech. As a young man, he was hired to work at an insurance company where he was quickly promoted despite his desire to devote his time to writing rather than insurance. Over the course of his life, Kafka wrote a great number of stories, letters, and essays, but burned the majority of his work before his death and requested that his friend Max Brod burn the rest. Brod, however, did not fulfill this request and published many of the works in the years following Kafka’s death of tuberculosis in 1924. Thus, most of Kafka’s works were published posthumously, and he did not live to see them recognized as some of the most important examples of literature of the twentieth century. Kafka’s works are considered among the most significant pieces of existentialist writing, and he is remembered for his poignant depictions of internal conflicts with alienation and oppression. Some of Kafka’s most famous works include The Metamorphosis, The Trial and The Castle.
Read more from Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka - Collected Works Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Existential Literature Collection Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Franz Kafka: The Collection (A to Z Classics) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Greatest Ghost and Horror Stories Ever Written: volume 4 (30 short stories) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Collected Works (Complete Editions: The Metamorphosis, In the Penal Colony, The Trial, ...) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/57 best short stories by Franz Kafka Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Trial Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Metamorphosis, in the Penal Colony and Other Stori: The Great Short Works of Franz Kafka Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Aphorisms of Franz Kafka Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Franz Kafka Collection Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Metamorphosis Annotated Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Metamorphosis
Related ebooks
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka (Book Analysis): Detailed Summary, Analysis and Reading Guide Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Metamorphosis: The Classic Short Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Study Guide for Franz Kafka's "A Country Doctor" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsElsie and Mairi Go to War Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Franz Kafka: The Complete Novels Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEssential Novelists - Paul Heyse: loyalty to classical tradition Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKafka and Orwell on China: Essays on India and China Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Quick Guide to “The Trial” Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMetamorphosis Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Study Guide for Isabel Allende's "The Daughter of Fortune" Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Literary Titans Revisited: The Earle Toppings Interviews with CanLit Poets and Writers of the Sixties Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Study Guide for Franz Kafka's "Hunger Artist" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Burning Secret (Arcadia Classics) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Chronicles of Clovis: Stories by Saki Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A study guide for Franz Kafka's "The Castle" Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Queen of Spades, and other stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsReady Reference Treatise: Barn Burning Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLiterature Companion: Ordinary People Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Novels Of George Eliot, A Review: Insightful literary criticism from one of the original masters. Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWilliam Golding: The Unmoved Target Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCzeching Out: The Search for Franz Kafka Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Magic Pumpkin: A Ukranian Folktale: Graded Readers, #5 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Boxer: A Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Study Guide for Franz Kafka's "In the Penal Colony" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Study Guide for John Dos Passos's "The Big Money" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStudy Guide to Of Human Bondage by W Somerset Maugham Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNetworks Rising: Thinking Together in a Connected World Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUndine Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLiterary Research and Canadian Literature: Strategies and Sources Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Companion to George Eliot Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Classics For You
The Bell Jar: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Animal Farm: A Fairy Story Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Republic by Plato Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Learn French! Apprends l'Anglais! THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY: In French and English Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Warrior of the Light: A Manual Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fellowship Of The Ring: Being the First Part of The Lord of the Rings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5East of Eden Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Silmarillion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rebecca Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Flowers for Algernon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Things They Carried Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Heroes: The Greek Myths Reimagined Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Old Man and the Sea: The Hemingway Library Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Farewell to Arms Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5We Have Always Lived in the Castle Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5As I Lay Dying Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lathe Of Heaven Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Persuasion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Two Towers: Being the Second Part of The Lord of the Rings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jonathan Livingston Seagull: The New Complete Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Canterbury Tales Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hell House: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wuthering Heights (with an Introduction by Mary Augusta Ward) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5For Whom the Bell Tolls: The Hemingway Library Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Odyssey: (The Stephen Mitchell Translation) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Good Man Is Hard To Find And Other Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Confederacy of Dunces Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ulysses: With linked Table of Contents Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Titus Groan Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Metamorphosis
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Metamorphosis - Franz Kafka
Part I
One morning, as Gregor Samsa was waking up from anxious dreams, he discovered that in bed he had been changed into a monstrous verminous bug. He lay on his armour-hard back and saw, as he lifted his head up a little, his brown, arched abdomen divided up into rigid bow-like sections. From this height the blanket, just about ready to slide off completely, could hardly stay in place. His numerous legs, pitifully thin in comparison to the rest of his circumference, flickered helplessly before his eyes.
What's happened to me,
he thought. It was no dream. His room, a proper room for a human being, only somewhat too small, lay quietly between the four well-known walls. Above the table, on which an unpacked collection of sample cloth goods was spread out—Samsa was a travelling salesman—hung the picture which he had cut out of an illustrated magazine a little while ago and set in a pretty gilt frame. It was a picture of a woman with a fur hat and a fur boa. She sat erect there, lifting up in the direction of the viewer a solid fur muff into which her entire forearm had