Compares and contrasts two of Franz Kafka’s most famous stories, `The Metamorphosis` and `The Hunger Artist`.
This paper presents a comparison and a contrast between `The Metamorphosis` of Gregor Samsa and the privation of `The Hunger Artist`. The paper first summarizes the two stories and then takes a look at the themes of identity, family, and change running throughout the stories. This is followed by a comparison of the characters, the conflicts, and the language features.
`Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis contains one of the most famous beginnings of any short story ever written, stating that the central protagonist, Gregor Samsa, woke one morning to discover that he had been transformed into a large cockroach. Gregor’s parents, unsurprisingly, are rather distressed by this development. Despite Gregor’s alarming appearance, however, they apparently recognize him. However, Gregor becomes a prisoner of his room and a prisoner of his body. He can no longer go to work. Once, he was the financial and emotion support structure of his family. Now he is reduced to scuttling around his room. He is beaten by the home’s charwoman and fed by his repulsed sister Greta.`