Metamorphosis Existential Analysis
“Let us make our future now, and let us make our dreams tomorrow’s reality,” said by Malala Yousafzai, follows Jean-Paul Sartre’s existential idea of creating your own future. On the other hand, the idea of those who cannot create their own future and has to depend on others to make it is called bad faith. In Franz Kafka’s book, Metamorphosis, the main character, Gregor, can be seen following Sartre’s idea of existentialism. For example, in chapter three of the book, Gregor creeps out of his room to listen to Grete play her violin, while the family and the tenants were minding their own business. Even though Gregor was forced into only staying in his room, he takes a risk and disobeys his family, so that he can take his last moments listening
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For example, when Gregor wakes up, he notices that his body is turned into a bug, but he is not concerned about himself being turned into a bug, and says to himself, “right now I have to get up; my train leaves at five”(15). We can see Gregor as in the less worried about his whole physical change but instead feels more uneasy when he finds out that he is late for work. Due to the fact that Gregor’s family is in debt with his boss, Gregor cannot quit his job to find a new job because Gregor feels a guilt if he did not help is family. Therefore, he had to “hold back for [his] parents’ sake” (14), while in his mind, his thoughts are, “I’d have quit ages ago” (14). Looking back into Sartre’s idea of bad faith, Gregor follows this idea and is determined to follow the path that his parents made for him. When we look at an ant or a bee, we see them as working for a higher superior without question and all they have in their simple minds is the idea of working. This example relates to Gregor and his transformation because we can see Gregor as a “...boss’s minion, without backbone or intelligence”(15). “Without [a] backbone” best describes the backbone to represents the ability to determine or create own destiny, but because Gregor is said to be a minion with no backbone, he lacks the capability to forge a fate that he can live happily.
For example, when Gregor wakes up, he notices that his body is turned into a bug, but he is not concerned about himself being turned into a bug, and says to himself, “right now I have to get up; my train leaves at five”(15). We can see Gregor as in the less worried about his whole physical change but instead feels more uneasy when he finds out that he is late for work. Due to the fact that Gregor’s family is in debt with his boss, Gregor cannot quit his job to find a new job because Gregor feels a guilt if he did not help is family. Therefore, he had to “hold back for [his] parents’ sake” (14), while in his mind, his thoughts are, “I’d have quit ages ago” (14). Looking back into Sartre’s idea of bad faith, Gregor follows this idea and is determined to follow the path that his parents made for him. When we look at an ant or a bee, we see them as working for a higher superior without question and all they have in their simple minds is the idea of working. This example relates to Gregor and his transformation because we can see Gregor as a “...boss’s minion, without backbone or intelligence”(15). “Without [a] backbone” best describes the backbone to represents the ability to determine or create own destiny, but because Gregor is said to be a minion with no backbone, he lacks the capability to forge a fate that he can live happily.