Sam Dennis

English Coursework- Creative Piece

Herr Samsa Is Content

Statement of Intent

In ‘Metamorphosis’ by Franz Kafka, Gregor Samsa, the main character turns into an insect. Although many would argue that this transformation is literal, I would argue that Kafka uses it as a metaphor or some other form of symbol. If my theory is right, this metaphor is used as a means of portraying the dehumanisation and hence insanity of Gregor Samsa caused by the intense stress and demands of his daily job that he worries about so much. I also believe that Kafka uses the particular case of Gregor to represent a whole generation of workers that all fear the same fate. Herr Samsa, Gregor’s father, in particular fears this and having seen what he fears most in his son, he becomes violent and aggressive towards him; eventually delivering him a slow, gradual death.

To support this argument, we find out that, even before the actual transformation, Gregor behaves strangely with regards to his work; studying train timetables for example. It is for this reason that I have decided to carry on with this idea. With Gregor dying at the end of the novella, I decided to use this metaphor of dehumanisation again and apply it to another one of the workers of the same generation as Gregor’s – his sister’s boyfriend that she has found since the Samsa family left their home to start a new life.

        In order for my adaptation of Kafka’s extended metaphor to be successful, I have had to adopt his style of writing, something that is very particular to Kafka. Kafka uses long sentences yet keeps the novella moving at quite a fast pace. This is because he pays great attention to detail and turns each detail into something significant. Despite this, he is not particularly descriptive concerning the settings that he has chosen in Metamorphosis. This has the particular effect of rendering the scenes of ‘Metamorphosis’ full of action and gripping for the reader. This is what I have tried to apply in my extension of Kafka’s fantastic tale.

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        Grete watched her father open the door, pull his feet across the mat, throw his overcoat off his shoulders and drop it on the banister. He took both his daughter’s shoulders, smiled at her for a moment with an expression that could only be associated with pride and then gently kissed her forehead. He then moved on to the kitchen, Grete in his footsteps. Once there, he placed his hand on his wife’s shoulder, squeezed it, asked her what was for supper and, in turn, kissed her. Herr Samsa presently moved to the living room and with a ...

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