1. Metamorphosis

2. Background Info Author- Frank Kafka Born 1883, in Prague, the capital of the kingdom of Bohemia; today is the capital of the Czech Republic Prague has been called a “City of Three Peoples.”

3. Background Info In Kafka’s time, almost all Prague residents were ethnic Czechs who spoke the Czech language; 6% of the city’s population spoke German, and 5% were Jews, and some of them, as well as Kafka’s family, spoke German as their first language

4. Background Info Kafka’s double minority status, a German-speaking Jew in a Christian, Czech-speaking world, had a powerful influence in shaping his personality Kafka was educated in the German language schools of Prague and at the city’s German University, where in 1908 he took a law degree

5. Background Info Kafka died in 1924 of tuberculosis Before he died, he asked his friend, Max Brod, to destroy all his unpublished writings after his death. Brod decided against this; as a result Kafka’s writings were published, and he became one of he most admired writer of the twentieth century. The Metamorphosis was written in 1916, and takes place in an apartment in an unnamed city that resembles Prague at the beginning of the 20 th century

6. Background Info The Metamorphosis is assigned to a category of fiction known as the novella, or short novel Novellas are longer and more complex than short stories, but shorter and simpler than novels The novella usually focuses on a limited number of characters, a relatively short period of time, and a single chain of events

7. Background Info The Metamorphosis brings readers into the nightmarish world of Greg Samsa, a young man who has mysteriously undergone a monstrous transformation For many, Gregor’s dehumanizing metamorphosis and subsequent feelings or alienation epitomize the human condition during modern times

8. Background Info Kafka felt that The Metamorphosis was one of his more successful achievements, and it’s probably his most widely read work today With the exception of one event, the plot is almost humdrum in its realistic description of family tensions and economic worries

9. Background Info Kafka’s clear, straightforward style belies the terror beneath the surface description The neutral tone also reinforces the feeling that the Samsas are a normal family---with one startling exception One aspect that is frequently overlooked is its humor; humor is a common response to emotional pain

10. Chapter 1 Animals as characters  Beast parables, in which animals represent people, are an old form of literature dating back to ancient times