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The Metamorphosis

The Metamorphosis. By Franz Kafka. The Metamorphosis. Considered one of the most influential Existential texts. What is Existentialism??????. Existentialism.

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The Metamorphosis

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  1. The Metamorphosis By Franz Kafka

  2. The Metamorphosis • Considered one of the most influential Existential texts. • What is Existentialism??????

  3. Existentialism • Existentialism is the philosophy that individuals create their own meaning in their lives, as opposed to having a deity or higher power creating it for them. • The individual determines his/her reality.

  4. Existentialism • Human free will • Human nature is chosen through life choices • A person is best when struggling against their individual nature, fighting for life • Decisions are not without stress and consequences • There are things that are not rational • Personal responsibility and discipline is crucial • Society is unnatural and its traditional religious and secular rules are arbitrary • Worldly desire is futile

  5. Existentialism • An existentialist believes that a person should be forced to choose and be responsible without the help of laws, ethnic rules, or traditions.

  6. Main Feelings of Existentialism • freedom • absurdity • anxiety • indifference • boredom • dissatisfaction • alienation • skepticism • meaninglessness

  7. Franz Kafka • Born in 1883 to middle-class, German-speaking, Jewish family. • Did well in school but was always isolated and alienated. • The Metamorphosis has many parallels to Kafka’s own life.

  8. Family • Kafka’s father – workaholic, domineering, aggressive. • Kafka’s mother – passive, delicate, fainting woman. • Kafka’s dependence on his family ( it is common in Europe for adults to live with their parents for a long time).

  9. Religion and Isolation • Although Kafka is Jewish he felt isolated from the Jewish community. Isolation is a prevalent theme in his writing. • ''What have I in common with Jews? I have hardly anything in common with myself and should stand very quietly in a corner, content that I can breathe.''

  10. School and Work • Kafka led a double life – He pretended to go along with society even though he disagreed with social constructs. • Known by his friends as a harsh critic of social conventions – he was quiet about his opinions in public. • He feared being an outsider. Because of this he was hesitant to publish any of his works during his life.

  11. Illness • Around age 35, Kafka came down with tuberculosis. He died from it in 1924. • Kafka was pre-occupied with feelings of frailty and mortality. When he was ill, he wanted to hide his illness because he was afraid of physically repulsing others. These feelings of shame can be seen in Gregor.

  12. Kafkaesque • Anything to do with alienation, absurdity, anxiety, or isolation. • Kafka’s world was a bizarre, threatening, absurd maze with horrors at every turn - much like Gregor’s!

  13. What Do You Think….. • You would miss the most about being human if you woke up and you were a bug? • View Youtube clip • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDWEkzaBULQ

  14. What do you think? • Do you think we are having less “human moments”? • What do you think causes this lack of “real human moments”?

  15. Works Cited • www.tameri.com/csw/exist/kafka.shtml • http://kafka.sky7.us/ • www.prestwickhouse.com

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