Symbols, Irony, and Feelings
Symbols, Irony, and Feelings in
“The Metamorphosis” and “Astronomer’s Wife”
Randall L. Breeden Jr.
ENG125: Introduction to Literature
Deborah Duff
May 11th, 2010
Symbols, Irony, and Feelings in “The Metamorphosis” and “Astronomer’s Wife” A community is defined as a unified body of individuals. The community is represented by a family, bank, and loggers in “The Metamorphosis” and a married couple and hired help in “The Astronomer’s Wife” The authors of these two short stories give great details that help the reader understand the symbols, irony, and how the characters are feeling throughout the plots of these stories, which could represent the communities that they had grown up in their selves. In the short story “The Metamorphosis” Gregor Samsa’s family, the lodgers, and the hired help are considered the community. Franz Kafka shows a lot of irony and symbolism from the description of Gregor Samsa waking up as a bug and his family not being there for him when he needs their help. “He found himself transformed into an enormous insect”, “he lay on a back as hard as armor”, “a jutting brown underbelly divided into arching segments”, and “his many legs, pitifully thin in comparison with the rest of his bulk” are all descriptive details that Kafka used to symbolize what Gregor had transformed into after his many years as a traveling salesman and devotion to his family (DiYanni, 2007). These lines can also be interpreted as what the other family members, lodgers, and hired help had seen Gregor as compared to them. Kafka also presents a theme that shows how Gregor loses his humanity when he becomes ill and is portrayed as an insect. When Gregor was healthy and had the ability to work to pay off his family’s debts he was looked upon by his family as a member and person. When he became ill he was only viewed as a problem or burden as time went by. The sister is shown as a young girl at the beginning of the story and blossoms into a woman that works
“The Metamorphosis” and “Astronomer’s Wife”
Randall L. Breeden Jr.
ENG125: Introduction to Literature
Deborah Duff
May 11th, 2010
Symbols, Irony, and Feelings in “The Metamorphosis” and “Astronomer’s Wife” A community is defined as a unified body of individuals. The community is represented by a family, bank, and loggers in “The Metamorphosis” and a married couple and hired help in “The Astronomer’s Wife” The authors of these two short stories give great details that help the reader understand the symbols, irony, and how the characters are feeling throughout the plots of these stories, which could represent the communities that they had grown up in their selves. In the short story “The Metamorphosis” Gregor Samsa’s family, the lodgers, and the hired help are considered the community. Franz Kafka shows a lot of irony and symbolism from the description of Gregor Samsa waking up as a bug and his family not being there for him when he needs their help. “He found himself transformed into an enormous insect”, “he lay on a back as hard as armor”, “a jutting brown underbelly divided into arching segments”, and “his many legs, pitifully thin in comparison with the rest of his bulk” are all descriptive details that Kafka used to symbolize what Gregor had transformed into after his many years as a traveling salesman and devotion to his family (DiYanni, 2007). These lines can also be interpreted as what the other family members, lodgers, and hired help had seen Gregor as compared to them. Kafka also presents a theme that shows how Gregor loses his humanity when he becomes ill and is portrayed as an insect. When Gregor was healthy and had the ability to work to pay off his family’s debts he was looked upon by his family as a member and person. When he became ill he was only viewed as a problem or burden as time went by. The sister is shown as a young girl at the beginning of the story and blossoms into a woman that works
References: DiYanni, R. (2007). Literature: reading fiction, poetry, and drama. New York: McGraw-Hill.