Metamorphis Essay - Franz Kafka
Irony in Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka
There are many different kinds of irony, which are portrayed in most literary writings. Verbal irony is when someone states one thing in order to mean the exact opposite. An example of verbal Irony would be someone saying what a beautiful day it is outside when there is a snowstorm accuring. Situational Irony is when something occurs that would not normally be expected when both the reader and the characters do not expect. Cosmic irony is described when asburb things accur along with dark humor. Situational Irony is when the reader has information which the characters do not. In the following essay I will examine these different types of irony's and connect them to "The Metamorphosis" by Franz Kafka (1883-1924).
Part one of this short story begins with situational irony when "Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from useasy dreams [and] found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect" (Kafka 19). Although this story jumps right into the climax both the audience and t'he main character does not expect Gregor to wake up transformed into an insect. Gregor is unsure what he should do with himself in this unexpected situation and turns to cosmic irony. He suggest's to himself that he should go back to sleep and try to forget about all this nonsense but then rules out this option because "he was accustomed to sleep on his right side and in his present condition he could not turn himself over" (Kafka 20). The option of returning back to sleep was as absurd as awaking as an insect. Gregor obviously had a problem and he could not just turn over and go back to sleep, but instead he blames not going back to sleep on the fact that he would not be comfortable enough. Gregor continues to worry about other issues at this time. He realizes that he better hurry up and get his beetle-like body up so that he wont miss his five a.m. train.
Gregor Samsa is part of a middle class family who live in Prague. Gregor, along with his sister, are part of a family that are only interested in the material part of life. Five years prior to this story Mr. Samsa lost most of his money and stopped working. At this time Gregor was left to get a job...