摘 要

关于卡夫卡《变形记》主题的解读, 不同的读者会有不同的体验和理解。笔者在仔细研读该文后发现, 它叙述了资本主义社会里的小人物格里高尔为了追求理想而奋斗的过程, 这个过程充满着艰辛、孤独、执著和绝望。此文是一首为在资本主义社会里孤独的奋斗者而唱的哀歌。人们普遍认为《变形记》表现了人类的异化, 但其实《变形记》还暗含有一种更深的意蕴。因此卡夫卡在《变形记》中实际上还表现了一个具有现代性和哲理意味的主题:语言的焦虑。 而主人公异化为甲虫则使得读者能够转换一种新的体验角度, 从而更真切地体会那种语言的焦虑及其折射出的人类的沟通困境。本文试图从小说的异化，不和谐以及现代化三个主要主题角度出发，对其作简要评述。

关键词：卡夫卡；《变形记》；异化；不和谐；现代化

Contents

1. Introduction………………………………………………………………………1 2. Demonstration…………………………………………………………………….2

2.1. The theme of alienation……………………..…...……………………………...3

2.1.1.The alienation of man…………….........................................…..……………...3

2.1.2. The alienation of interpersonal relationship.......................................................4

2.2. The theme of disharmony…………………….......……………………………..5

2.2.1. The disharmony between human and nature..…………………...…………....5

2.2.2. The disharmony among Human beings………………………...……………..6

2.3.The theme of modernity ..……………………..………………………………....7

2.3.1 Ineffective individual resistance...........................................................................7

2.3.2. The dissimilation of irresistible...........................................................................8

3. Conclusion………………………………………………………………………...8

Works Cited………………………………………………………………………....10

Bibliography………………………………………………………………………...11

An Analysis of the Theme of The Metamorphosis

1. Introduction

For Kafka, readers are familiar with him now. Especially his representative work, Metamorphosis, many readers began to know Kafka from his work. Although it is a middle part, the academic community’s attention to it is no less than the three unfinished pieces. The academic circle has always been very concerned about Metamorphosis. There are many angles of research, and one is to explore the theme of the Metamorphosis. The second is to analyze Metamorphosis from the artistic and aesthetic perspectives. The third is to make a comparative study of Metamorphosis. Kafka was born in a Jewish merchant family in Prague under the rule of the Austro Hungarian Empire. His father ran the wholesale business of the department store, and founded the family business by hard work. His mother is a melancholy, fancy family woman. Kafka primary school and middle school are in German school. In 1901, Kafka studied German literature at the University of Prague, and then he succumbed to his father’s will to transfer the law and received a doctor’s degree in law in 1906. After 1908, he had been a staff member of a semi official industrial injury insurance. In 1922, he resigned from his post because of a serious lung disease, cured all over Europe, and died in Vienna in 1924. Kafka’s short life experienced a dark and dreary age. He witnessed the disintegration of the Austro Hungarian Empire and the unprecedented disaster caused by World War I. At the same time, Kafka’s personal mental situation was also very unpleasant.

The Metamorphosis is the story of a travel salesman, Gregor, who wakes up from his sleep in the morning and becomes a beetle, and then dies in his family's indifference. The Metamorphosis is considered by many scholars to be the representative work of Kafka, which has a great influence in China. But Kafka himself made it clear that he was not satisfied with the novel. The fundamental reason for this difference lies in the multilevel implication expressed in the works, at least in the transmission and interpretation of the surface meaning and potential meaning, between Kafka and the readers. Metamorphosis is not only the famous work of Kafka, but also its masterpiece, the highest expressionist novel, and the most profound work of revealing the theme of alienation of human nature. Kafka tells the most extraordinary and unbelievable story with a calm and impersonal tone of intonation. Under the oppression of social alienation, the heroine Gregor transformed into a giant beetle, losing his job and gradually being disliked by his family and neighbors. He was mercilessly expelled from the human world and soon died in loneliness and solitude. The novel reflects loneliness and strangeness between people. That is competition intensification, emotional desalination and deterioration of relationship between people.