In the Metamorphosis, it is the image of the main character's family and those around him that is transformed. However, in the Death of Ivan Llyitch it is the main characters image of himself that is transformed. Gregor is the same person on the inside in his cockroach form that he was when he was a salesman. However, his family fails to see him the same. Gregor was happy, but becomes depressed as his family isolates themselves from him more and more. In the Death of Ivan Llyitch the main character moved from depression to joy. The characters in these novels occupy different ends of the emotional spectrum. Their emotional spectrum moves in the opposite direction.

The emotional transformation of the two main characters is opposite as well. Ivan's is an inner transformation. His physical world changes little, it is his emotional world and inner sense of self that changes. Gregor stays relatively the same, but those around him change. This is an important contrast between these two stories. It demonstrates that we have an influence on the world around us, and it also shows that the world around us has an effect on our inner selves as well. Gregor is changed by the actions of the outer world on him. Ivan is transformed from the inside out.

One of the key similarities between these two stories is that both characters find that their old image of themselves is incorrect. Ivan finds that the way he saw himself was incorrect. Gregor finds that his self-image is accurate....

However, his image of how others view him is changed. Gregor thought that he was an important part of the family and that they appreciated his contributions. However, he found that when he became a burden to them and an embarrassment, they abandoned him. Their love for them was not unconditional, but was dependent on what he contributed to the family and gave them.
Ivan found that he was unconditionally loved by his family, but that the judges and people upon whom he had placed the greatest importance were only after his position. Ivan finds that he has forgone true unconditional love for false love. His family loves him for who he is, even though he chose to be absent from them for most of his life. Those with whom he placed the most trust in his life abandoned him in the end. Both characters found that the images that they held about those that were closest to them were false. Both characters realign their self-image with the opposite effect on their emotional world. For one it means joy and for the other it means sorrow. Death comes to them both in the end.

Works Cited

Kafka, Franz the Metamorphosis and Other Stories, trans. Donna Freed. New York:

Barnes & Noble. 1996.

Tolstoy, L. The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Master and Man. Slater, Ann (trans.). New York,

Modern Library. 2004.