Change and Transformation in the Metamorphosis - Book Report/Review Example

The Metamorphosis The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka was originally written in German in the year 1912. It was considered one of Kafka's masterpieces. Kafka was known as the most influential writer of his time. He was born in Prague in 1883. He died of tuberculosis. The writing was not his priority as a source of livelihood but a source of hobby only. He was not that known before as a man in society, he was known for his literary works. The family of Franz's father belongs to a poor family while his mother from a well-to-do family.

His father sets up dry goods in a store to sell for a living while his mother is the daughter of well to do merchant of clothes and brewery. He had 2 brothers who died that affected him so much, but he was blessed with sisters. He was sent to a German school and was not Czech. He speaks much Czech when he was a child but had mastered the German language as he finished school. His mastery of the language is seen in his literary works (http://www.kafka-franz.com/kafka-Biography.htm). The work of Franz entitled "The Metamorphosis" is one of his remarkable works.

Literary works like that of Kafka are an example of heavily influenced by the artist's own life struggles and reflection. In the story, the main character was Gregor Samsa a traveling salesman who is already burnt out of his job. He was torn between his responsibility with his parents about the job he is into and being free to do other things. He was transformed one morning into a bug and woke up late for work. He was suddenly thinking of what was happening to him lately was grieving for the hassles he gets from his work and the relationships he gets from people who only come and go and is always volatile and not intimate and permanent ( Kuper, 2003).

The story written by the author is a mere of his own sad life. Franz was linked to many women for one-night stands, sex, flirting. There was no such intimate relationship for him before he got married. He never had a proper commitment to any girl until he met Felice his wife. He was very much inspired by that time and continually writes more literary works until they get married. But their marriage was shaken when Grete Bloch came into their lives. She was the friend of Felice who acted as the middle person of the two every time they got problems.

But there was a time when Franz and Grete were found to be sneaking out together without Felice knowing about it. The story of Franz's life is therefore somehow shown in his literary works, especially in relationships. His works also reflect the real situation in life at that time. In the same story he also put about the hardship it gets for a mobile job (the livelihood of Gregor Samsa as a traveling salesman). It can be reflected in the life of his father as a seller of dry goods in the streets just to earn a living.

The title of the story means "change" or "transformation". It may be a dual meaning (change for good or bad). Gregor, the main character, though changes into a bug which is a symbolic figure of annoyance and pressure. And the description of Gregor as been transformed into a bug is an implication of how hard for him to tackle everything, from standing up to sleeping. Therefore, artists are really sometimes biased with their literary works. It is even where their emotions poured out. It greatly influences their moods and feelings.