Das Verhalten der Figuren in Franz Kafkas 'Die Verwandlung' gegenüber Gregor Samsa

Thesis from the year 2019 in the subject area Didactics for German - Literature, Works, grade: 2. 0, Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck, language: German, abstract: This thesis examines the relationships between Gregor Samsa and the other characters in the story 'The Metamorphosis' by Franz Kafka. The literary motif of metamorphosis is not an invention of Franz Kafka. Rather, this motif has a certain literary tradition. The Latin writer Ovid, for example, wrote a comprehensive cycle of around 250 tales around the time of Christ's birth, in which various transformations are performed. This work is seen by researchers as a possible model for Kafka. This thesis will focus on analysing the relationship and actions of the characters in The Metamorphosis towards the protagonist Gregor Samsa in greater depth. In addition, the changing behaviour of the characters towards Gregor over the course of the story will be examined. The fact that the main character, Gregor Samsa, who has been transformed into a vermin, becomes more and more reified as the story progresses and that his behaviour and actions towards Gregor and the vermin develop more and more negatively plays a particularly important role here. The work is divided into the following sections: Firstly, a brief overview of the background to the text is given. In particular, parallels between Francs Kafka himself and Gregor Samsa, the main character of the story, will be discussed. This is followed by a brief list of the characters who are central to the story. This is followed by a description of Gregor's personality and his role within the family as a human being and subsequently as a vermin. Finally, the behaviour and actions of the procurator, the mother, the sister and the father are described. At the end, there is a discussion of the final scene of the story and a conclusion on the underlying theme.