Episode 55, Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis (Part I - The Life of Kafka)

The Panpsycast Philosophy Podcast

Jack Symes | Andrew Horton, Oliver Marley, and Rose de Castellane

Education, Philosophy, Society & Culture, Courses

4.8 • 612 Ratings

🗓️ 10 February 2019

⏱️ 37 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Published in 1915, Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis is a gruelling and ironic depiction of the pressures imposed by family and profession in the Twentieth Century. The novella centres around traveling salesman Gregor Samsa who, one morning, finds himself transformed into an insect. What follows, depending on the interpretation, is a reflection of how modern life provides a misunderstanding of predicament and a lack of empathy towards those who have been beaten down by an unforgiving capitalist system.

Equally, The Metamorphosis asks questions of Gregor himself. Over time he has continued to disregard his own well-being and autonomy, seeing himself as the saviour of his family's debts. Yet, by doing so, he has missed the fact that his family appear to resent the house he has chosen to rent, or that their debts are not quite as bad as they seemed. He has taken a cross which he need not have beared.

In the words of Vladimir Nabokov, "In The Metamorphosis, contract and unity, style and matter, manner and plot are most perfectly integrated".

Contents

Part I. The Life of Franz Kafka.

Part II. The Plot.

Part III. The Meaning.

Part IV. Further Analysis and Discussion.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Mike Check One, Two.
0:03.1	Mike Check One, Two.
0:05.8	Mike Check One, Two.
0:08.6	Mike.
0:09.6	Classic.
0:10.6	Published in 1915, Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis is a grueling and ironic depiction of the pressures
0:25.6	imposed by family and profession in the 20th century.
0:29.2	The novella centres around travelling salesman Gregor Samza, who one morning finds himself transformed
0:34.6	into an insect.
0:36.4	What follows, depending on the interpretation, is a reflection of how modern life provides
0:40.8	a misunderstanding of predicaments and lack of empathy towards those who have been beaten
0:45.6	down by an unforgiving capitalist system.
0:49.4	Equally, the metamorphosis asked questions for Gregor himself.
0:52.5	Over time, he has continued to disregard his own well-being and autonomy,
0:55.0	seeing himself as a savior of his family's debts.
0:58.0	Yet by doing so, he has missed the fact that his family appear to resent the house he has chosen to rent,
1:02.0	or that their debts are not quite as bad as they seemed.
1:05.0	He has taken a cross, which he need not have bared.
1:08.0	In the word of Vladimir Nabokov, in the metamorphosis, contrast and unity,
1:13.7	style and matter, manner and plots are most perfectly integrated. As always, a huge thank you to
1:20.0	Cullum St Gabriel's and all of our patrons who support the show. If you head over to patreon.com
1:24.6	forward slash panpsychast, you can pledge your support and get yourself
	...

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