Kafka and Lu Xun: literary and philosophical comparison

Kafka & Xun

Modernist writers frequently question the elements of life that we assume give us meaning. Discuss how Franz Kafka is doing this with one or two of the following elements in "The Metamorphosis": the family, work, relationships, and identity. Also, Lu Xun's "Diary of a Madman" is a story that uses distortion to expose a specific social situation. But in what ways does this story impart meaning about life and humanity in general?

The first line of Franz Kafka's short story "The Metamorphosis" is famous, as it announces that one day Gregor Samsa awoke to have found himself transformed into a gigantic cockroach or insect. However, it is also possible to suggest that Gregor has been living as a cockroach emotionally, for much longer than he has physically. Before Kafka's tale begins, the reader learns that Gregor has been working hard to support his family, who do little to help him, with the exception of his musical sister Grete who does provide him with meals. Gregor's whole life revolves around family and work, which should be admirable. His first thought, even upon being transformed into an insect, is that he will be late for work. Gregor's dedication to the bourgeois ideals of family and work seems hollow. Although Gregor's place of work is angry when he does not show up, there is no affection shown for this faceless employee.

His parents, no longer supported by him financially, are so repelled by his transformation that they completely ostracize their son. Even his sister, when her brother becomes a social pariah withdraws from him, despite his former support for her violin-playing. At first she feeds him and then gradually grows hardened as he resembles less and less the brother she once knew. At the end of the story, the family is relieved upon Gregor's passing, and instead plans for his sister's possible marriage, rather than mourns the loss of the man who sacrificed his life so they could be happy.