Metamorphosis Essay

2 Pages 516 Words

Like many of the classics, The Metamorphosis deals with a few distinct characteristics. Firstly, a classic is original. Secondly, they tend to have plots that throw a character into a dilemma or some situation with which they must cope. These two significant characteristics can be seen in such works as Melville’s Moby Dick, Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter, and Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, and it is these characteristics which entitle a book to be considered a classic.
What do these books have to show for their classicism? Not only are they original, but they share common motifs present in past and current societies. With Hester’s story and bastard child, The Scarlet Letter brings us the feeling of alienation. The destruction of the families Montague and Capulet gives us (the readers) a feeling of grief. Finally, Melville’s Moby Dick, demonstrates how someone must adapt to a situation in order to survive it. These are prime examples of realism. Not because they focus on the day to day workings of society, or show us the daily routine of a person, but rather because they show the reader the emotions and feelings that the characters, and in fact, contemporary people have when put into certain situations.
For that very reason, Kafka’s Metamorphosis is considered a classic by many. Kafka’s writing shows us the plight of a family through their eyes. We can see the grief in Gregor’s mother. “He isn’t trying to make fools of us, is he? ”…already in tears, “maybe he’s seriously ill and here we are torturing him..” Grief-stricken, Gregor’s mother has a tough time adjusting to Gregor’s new found condition. We can see the adaptation of the family Samsa to Gregor’s illness when his parents go back to work and his sister becomes the caretaker of Gregor. Similar to how Ishmael must cope and get along with Queequeg, here we see the family finding jobs, supporting themselves, and adapting to the new s...