Absurdity in Kafka

Agarwal 1

Absurdity in Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis” This title is in the reference of the novella “The Metamorphosis” (“Die Verwandlung”) Verwandlung”) by Fran !af"a (first published in #$#%)&

'bsurdity is defined as something odd and irrational especially when that something is ta"en into the contrast of reality of life& 'bsurdity in literature is a part of the movement called absurdism and is not to be ta"en seriously& 'bsurdity in life of the characters in absurdist literature lac"s the natural meaning of life&

ne day regor *amsa wo"e up to find himself turned into a monstrous insect& 'nd thus begins the story stor y of the *amsa family& f amily& +rapped in a very descriptive narration of regor *amsa as an insect and his family ad,usting to their new lives- !af"a wove a tale that seem absurd and surrealistic in nature but is soberly realistic& .t is the tragedy of regor *amsa in which everyone else lives happily ever after&

The structure of this novella is a very uni/ue than the standard structure of e0positioncomplication- clima0- and unravelling as !af"a begins with the clima0 in the first sentence and everything after that is unravelling& The first se ntence by !af"a leads the reader into thin"ing that this is a fantasy- fairy tale- or science fiction- but after that first sentence- the narrator treats regor1s transformation into an insect in the most literal way possible- forcing the reader to give the story a more or less 2ealist reading& ne of the most biarre thing to see in this novella is that the regor1s family is more annoyed than surprised or horrified at his sudden transformation&

!af"a also ma"es it difficult for readers to give the story an allegorical or metaphoric reading or to read it as parable by the reality of his narration& 'ny critical reader- after reading

Agarwal 2

the first line will immediately try to interpret the story in a metaphoric way and conclude that  perhaps modern man has become an insect&

3iterary review

The story has been read as part of the movement called 40pressionism which tries to describe the way we e0perience the world- not what it loo"s li"e in a representational way& .n an 40pressionist way- perhaps !af"a is showing what it feels li"e to be human in the 56th century& Mar0ist critics have read the story as a metaphor for human beings who are alienated and deformed by mechanical wor" processes& regor1s metamorphosis7whether deliberate or not7allows him to escape from an inhuman way of life& *ome critics interpret this novella and simply read that regor1s awful wor" situation has already turned him into an insect8 the metamorphosis merely ma"es outward what was already true on the inside&

's the relationship between !af"a and his father is not on good terms- freudian and  psychoanalytic critics see the story as primarily about the relationship between father and son&

 9orman 9 :olland in his essay “!af"a1s Metamorphosis” in Modern Fiction *tudies wrote that !af"a mi0es unrealism into realism& 'nd he described the genre of the novella as allegory- surrealism and symbolism&

2obbie ;atson in his essay ess ay <2eality through *ymbolism1 wrote that the unusual story ma"es the genre itself unusual&

2esearch =roblem

Agarwal 3

3i"e a caterpillar1s transformation into a butterfly is a positive transformation and a mortal1s transformation into corpse is a negative transformation- then- what is the nature of regor and his family1s famil y1s transformation in Fran !af"a1s “The Metamorphosis”&

2esearch b,ective

To analyse the transformation transfor mation of regor *amsa and his family in Fran !af"a1s
+or" +or" >ited > ited

The Teaching Teaching >ompany lecture series
!af"a1s “The Metamorphosis”&

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