Is Metamorphosis a tragic novel

Introduction

It was once said by Franz Kafka that, there has to be a book which needs to act as an axe, so that the pain and anguish one has within, can come out in the public, which he terms as “breaking the ice”. “The Metamorphosis”, which is his short story, does a wonderful job for Franz Kafka, in breaking the ice within. In the novel “The Metamorphosis”, the author Kafka communicates the tragic and bizarre story of a man who belongs to a working-class. The man gets transformed into an insect due to which, he faces complete isolation, loneliness and rejection from his family members and the rest of the society as well. (Speck, p.77)

Background of the story

Metamorphosis of a man is used by Kafka as a symbol, to give an effect to the idea of rejection and isolation among individuals, and their eternal dependency and enslavement to their work and jobs. These forces are described by the author as forces of materialism. The author has criticized the role of modern capitalist society, and how mankind has become preoccupied with their financial stability and security, which is fairly obvious and prominent in the novel. “The Metamorphosis”, undoubtedly, does the work of an axe, to make the reader to understand his opinion and viewpoint. The author has used the tragic, central character in the novel, to create a particular stimulation so that, the reader can get a better understanding and view of society's tragic dilemma and how it results in isolation. The core conflict and the tragedy in the story is server by the isolation, which the protagonist in the novel faces. (Gallagher, p.125)

How it StartedThe story goes back into the early part of 1900's, into an area where there is small working-class community. One morning, Gregor Samsa wakes up in his bed and finds that his body has been transformed into a huge insect. As he was lying on his bed, with his hard, armor-plated body, and back, he raised his head a bit so that he could look at his round brown abdomen, which was divided into rigid domed sections. On its top, the bed cover could barely remained at its position and was about to fall down entirely. Greg found that he had several legs, which were extremely thin as compared to his remaining bulky body, shaking hopelessly in front of his eyes.

At first, he thought of staying inside his room, but later, he thought of getting up silently, so that no one notices, quickly dress up, after which he could have breakfast. After all that, he could think about the next move, how he could get out of this situation. He realized that, staying the bed would do no good for him, and that he would not be able to come up with a rational conclusion. While he was lying in his bed, hopelessly, he remembers that even before, he had faced a similar situation when he felt some sort of anguish, most likely due to ...