Death Of A Salesman And Franz Kafka s Metamorphosis

In Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman and Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis, both Willy Loman and Gregor Samsa have experiences that lead to dramatic changes in their lives. In Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman is a Salesman who has been in the business for years, but he has always had this idea that to be successful in life, one must be impressive and well liked. Willy faces the harsh reality of life after being fired, confronted by his only friend, and seeing his sons’ lives fall apart. In Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis, Gregor Samsa, who is also a salesman, wakes up one day to find he is a bug. Gregor is very calm, trying to work with his new situation, but his family’s reaction to his appearance only leads to more†¦show more content†¦When he walks into a business office his name will sound out like a bell and all the doors will open to him! I’ve seen it, Ben, I’ve seen it a thousand times! You can’t f eel it with your hand like timber, but it’s there!(Miller 1594) Willy’s greatest weakness is his optimism. Disorder arises from his optimism and from that his life ends in failure. In addition to Willy’s optimism, comes the optimism of Gregor Samsa. Gregor is very inexperienced with his new vermin appearance. He is fine to deal with his new look, but he would like to figure out how he is going to get to work. So, he starts with the basics, getting out of bed: But then he said to himself: â€Å"Before it strikes quarter past seven I’ll definitely have to have got properly out of bed. And by then somebody will have come round from work to ask what’s happened to me as well, as they open up at work before seven o’clock.† And so he set himself to the task of swinging the entire length of his body out of the bed all at the same time.(Kafka 13) The text itself may not seem so optimistic, but the optimism comes from Gregor’s determination to get out of bed to hopefully get to work. Gregor is hopeful in his abilities to get himself up, even though it does not end how he was hoping with his family’s horrendous reactions to it all. Each story includes optimism, but sadly they both end poorly due to the disorder that arose from the optimism. Although disorder is present throughout both works, thereShow MoreRelatedThe Metamorphosis and the Life of Franz Kafka Essay1938 Words   |  8 Pages   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In his novel The Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka describes his own life through the life of his protagonist Gregor Samsa.   Careful study of Franz Kafkas life shows that Kafkas family, workplace, and reaction to the adversity in his family and workplace are just like those of Gregor.   So we might ask why Gregor was transformed into a bug since Kafka obviously never turned into a bug.   The absurd image illustrates how Gregor lacks self-respect and feels like hes a bug in the eyes of hisRead MoreThe Metamorphosis By Franz Kafka942 Words   |  4 PagesThe Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka and his other novels start like a fairy tale. Kafka, without preamble and intellectual justifications, puts us face to face with the unconscious, and illustrates existential problems. 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The diary of Kafka which was later found also showed Kafka’s intense imagination about his existence and extinction. It became apparent that at the heart of metamorphosis lies deep rooted feelings of Kafka himself. (Kafka.org ). The Metamorphosis a novel written by Franz Kafka is about a man, Gregor Samsa, who wakes up to find