Magical Realism Essay

Hoang Tran Chau Dr. Bede Tregear Scott HL808 Introduction to Magical Realism October 8, 2015

Magic in Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis While reading The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, the first sentence has got me intrigued of how a traveling salesman suddenly turns into an enormous bug, as it is pretty much unrealistic. However, towards the end of the novel this magic does not stand-alone by itself but blends in with the realistic elements of the narrative world. Hence, The Metamorphosis is one of Franz Kafka’s masterpieces, which best-described magical realism in literature. The Metamorphosis clearly demonstrates the characteristic of magical realism. First of all, Gregor becomes an enormous bug with a human mind. “After changing in to a bug he acts and behaves as an insect but thinks emotionally and sentimentally like a human being” (M. Kamalakkannan, Confluence of Magic, Realism, and Fantasy. 2006). Like most vermin and beetles, they like to hide in holes, fissures, and dark places. Gregor also prefers that. Most importantly his repulsive reaction for normal food need to be indicated. He cannot find the bowl of milk brought by his sister tasteful to him anymore. …..he immediately dipped his head into the mild almost over his eyes. But he soon drew it back again in disappointment…because he didn’t like the milk at all, although it used to be his favorite drink, and that was certainly why his sister had

put in the room; in fact, he turned away from the bowl almost with repulsion and crawled back to the middle of the room. (Metamorphosis, 16) Later when his sister brings a wide range of things, among the food he prefers the foul cheese and the rotten vegetables. on the other hand, he did not care for; he couldn’t even stand their smell and even dragged the thing he wanted to eat a bit farther away. (Metamorphosis, 18) Gregor shows concern for his observant sister’s reactions by the way she comes to clean Gregor’s room everyday since his metamorphosis begins. He hides himself under the couch but the sight of even small part of his body jutted out is a threat to her. So, to spare her even this sight, one day he carried the sheet on his back to the couch – the job took four hours – and arranged it in such a way that he was now completely covered up and his sister could not see him even when she stooped. (Metamorphosis, 22) Although his transformation has frightened his family pretty much, they still accept his existence. However, in this second part the chore eventually becomes a mundane and finally disgust, of that is the realistic metamorphosis. If she had considered this sheet unnecessary, then of course she could have removed it, for it was clear enough that it could not be for his own pleasure that Gregor shut himself off altogether, but she left the sheet the way it was, (Metamorphosis, 23)

Among the family members, Gregor observes his father undergoes a tremendous change. From a harmless inactive old man, his father became the bread feeder for his family and also the protector. The breathtaking encounter between Gregor and his father was terrifying to Gregor. The infuriated father starts throwing apples at Gregor. One apple gets stuck to his back and causes great pain to Gregor and ultimately causes his death at the end. (M. Kamalakkannan, Confluence of Magic, Realism, and Fantasy. 2006). Towards the end of the story, Gregor realizes how much his sister hates him and with that kind of disgust his father sees him. In the last part of the novel with the lodgers, his sister shouts, “It has to go”. These words cause great pain to him than the rotting apple on his back. Finally, he wishes to terminate his life immediately. He thought back on his family with deep emotion and love. His conviction that he would have to disappear was, if possible, even firmer than his sister’s. (Metamorphosis, 39) In this summary the change of form of Gregor is the magical element and the change of the other characters is the realistic element. Gregor’s portrayal is a truly typical example for magical realism. Kafka employed the magic (the metamorphosis) to depict a metaphor of a physical abject of the unknown that does not fit in to a classification of the normal world (political influence). With the context and background evidence, I assert the author is trying to convey the humanistic side of the story which of that all men are created equal and have right to live and pursuit happiness. That is why Gregor for whatever people think he is, he still has a heart of gold, he is a man in the form of a bug.

Bibliography Kafka, Franz. The Metamorphosis. Translated and edited by Stanley Corngold, New York, London: W.W. Norton & Company, 1996 Electronic sources Kamalakkannan, M. “Confluence of Magic, Realism and Fantasy: A Study of Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis”. The Indian Review of World Literature in English, Vol. 2, No. II (July 2006) Lecture notes Bede, Scott. “Lecture 3 and 4”, 2015