Outside Reading

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka was an extremely intriguing novel to me, which explains why I chose it for the outside reading assignment. This book immediately drew me in, even after the first sentence. The author wasted no time when beginning to describe the life of Gregor, the main character. It’s rare for a story to begin without any background information, but Franz Kafka did an amazing job of instantly drawing you and having it be possible to understand everything that was taking place.
Imagery is the absolute most prominent literary element used in The Metamorphosis. Within the first ten pages, every kind of element was imagery, and without it, the book would be extremely confusing. Sometimes a book that has a lot of descriptions, can seem boring and slow, but this statement is definitely untrue in this particular novel. I believe the author used this kind of element to simply enrich and give the reader a more graphic image of the challenges and upsetting events Gregor is forced to endure while living as a gigantic bug.
Although I have not fully completed with the story, so far the tone has been somber and dramatic. Gregor is having to deal with both internal and external struggles, and his family is of little or no help. It’s actually almost frustrating to read at points, because you feel for Gregor, and just want to help him through the tough situation. The tone is obvious throughout what I have read, because it’s a very depressing story line with many intense events and descriptions.