Literary works often have a central theme that is key to the narrative; every

character, incident and symbol is linked to it. Authors usually draw from their own
personal experience when crafting such a theme. In The Great Gatsby, F Scott
Fitzgerald explores the American dream – both its alluring promise and
superficiality. In Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka centers the narrative around
identity, self-worth, and their subsequent loss. This response seeks to present how
the authors have used characterisation and setting to present a central theme.

Beginning with Metamorphosis: it follows that downhill tragedy of Gregor Samsa, a

travelling salesman who finds himself suddenly transformed into monstrous vermin
one morning.

Gregor was immediately shunned for his transformation. He was chased back into his
room by his father, Mr. Samsa, who slammed the door in a way that can only be
described as "a true deliverance”. Gregor, in his verminous form, had caused an
inconvenience to his family, and regret surrounding that is what Kafka presents
through Gregor's character. Being the main provider was the one value that Gregor
had attached to him. In fact, it was so imbibed in him that during his
transformation, he thought about the disruption to his work, and not his own
thouhgts mirroring the culture in post-industrialist 1920s. Kafka portrays Gregor
as someone who works for the comfort and convenience of others. It is seen when he
“cowers under the settee” and covers himself with a sheet when Grete, his sister,
walks in to clean, so as to not startle her. It is seen through his obsessive
dedication to work to pay off his family debts, and any savings go towards sending
his sister to a violin conservatory, not his own wants. His own true identity is
ambiguous. Kafka does not tell the reader what exactly Gregor has turned into, only
a monstrous vermin. Kafka thus shows two things: how financial utility was tied to
self-worth in the 1920s, and that when one’s identity is so severely attached to an
external obligations, the cutting off of a source leaves one lost.

In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald presents the American Dream. The main character,
Jay Gatsby is a classic example of it. Gatsby was a rags to riches story. Together
with his ‘gift for hope’, Gatsby embodies the wishful, ambitious, and alluring
promise of success the American dream offers. However, through Gatsby, Fitzgerald
critiques the superficiality of the American Dream as well. Gatsby's dream is to
rekindle an affair with Daisy Buchanan, his past lover, who is now married to a
titular aristocrat: Tom Buchanan. He is downright obsessed with making his vision
come true, so much so that he does everything he can to seem worthy of Daisy. He
amasses wealth, throws parties, buys a mansion right across the bay from her. In
this way, he is similar to Gregor, both of their existence is for someone else.
Coming back to superficiality, Gatsby attains his wealth through bootlegging and
other corrupt means with his business partner. Wolfsheim. Also, the reader must
consider that his entire dream and persona is just an illusion, it can crack any
time. Thus Fitzgerald portrays how corruption has become inseparable from the
American Dream and questions whether it is worth attaining, if it's based on
illusions and lies.

Furthermore Gatsby is a spectator at his own parties. Fitzgerald describes a

certain ‘emptiness flowing’ from the mansion as one party ends, with Gatsby
standing isolated on the balcony. Considering Jay Gatsby is the embodiment of the
American Dream, this ‘emptiness’ highlights the superficiality of it all, and how
below the glamorous success, he is a lonely man.

The authors also present other characters that contribute to the development of the
respective central theme in their work. In this case, they both have characters
that oppose or present barriers to the main character. In the Metamorphosis. Mr
Samsa is one such character. As soon as Gregor comes out of the room post-
transformation, he is enraged "clenching his fist”. Mr Samsa, in a typical
patriarchal fashion, is the head of the household, and thus imposes an expectation
on Gregor: to bring honour to his family. Gregor’s transformation shatters this
expectation, it brings alive Mr Samsa’s worst nightmare. The extent of this is
clearly showed by the language used to portray his emotions – Mr Samsa was
‘quaking’. Thus, an already demanding father becomes tyrannical. There is an
incident where Gregor's mother faints and in a panic, Gregor breaks out of his room
upon hearing this. Mr Samsa is 'furious' and ‘elevated' and begins hurling apples
at him. He almost kills Gregor, yet Mrs Samsa comes in to stop him. Thus, Kafka
brings forth the question of whether, in the presence of an entity so demanding and
overbearing, if Gregor has any space to carve out his own identity, his own self.
It's also nod to Kakfa’s upbringing where he too had a domineering father.

F Scott Fitzgerald in The Great Gatsby present Tom Buchanan as a human

representation of the barriers to Gatsby actualising his dream. Tom is Daisy's
husband. comes from old money. and is of a high society standing. Regardless of
wealth, Gatsby is still someone who originated from inferior circumstances, thus
‘Mr Nobody’ to Tom. Eventually, Daisy, Gatsby's American Dream, chooses Tom over
Gatsby. Fitzgerald, through Tom, effectively shows how origin. quality of lineage,
and circumstances will always pervade and hinder the pursuit of the American Dream.

Setting and symbolism also play a major role in conveying the central theme of both
works, offering physical representations of concepts and motions. The green light
on Daisy’s dock is one such symbol. To Gatsby, the green light held monumental
significance initially. He believed in ‘the orgastic future’ it represented, the
chance for renewal and growth it portrayed. Yet the light and Gatsby were separated
by a bay, and along with Tom Buchanan’s character sketch, it serves to show how
there will always be barriers to achieving the American Dream. Further, green is
the colour of decay and thus could symbolise the moral decay and corruption that
has seeped into the American Dream, in a way alluding to Gatsby’s character.
Lastly, when Gatsby reunites with Daisy, the light loses its significance, becoming
just ‘a green light on a dock’. This serves to emphasise the superficiality and
futility of the American Dream.

Materialism and capitalism, other notions surrounding the central theme, the
American Dream, is presented by Fitzgerald in the form of the Valley of Ashes. It
is a ‘fantastic farm where ashes grow wheat like into ridges and hills and
grotesque gardens’. It is a wasteland, which is a representation of the damages
left behind in the wake of capitalism and the American Dream. Moreover, ashes are
an indicator of death, and thus Fitzgerald portrays the Valley of Ashes as a place
where dreams die, where, while the hope of the American Dream remains, it is never
attained.

In Metamorphosis, Kafka uses symbols to emphasise barriers that exacerbate

isolation and loss of identity. The door to Gregor’s room remain shut, and Gregor
is described as ‘squeezing up’ against it to listen to family conversations. It is
a physical and emotional barrier that shows how, once again, when Gregor lost his
financial utility, he was cast aside. That Gregor had to excessively strain the
barrier to feel any inclusion, to combat his loss of purpose. The picture of the
Lady in Furs is another symbol and Gregor guards it dearly. It represents the one
human desire, the one piece of humanity – attraction – that Gregor has left post-
transformation. It is the only sliver of Gregor's own identity seen in the novel.
Through his dire need to protect it, Kafka shows how in a lost state, one will hold
on to the one thing that hasn't changed, that reminds us of who we are. Thus, both
Fitzgerald and Kafka effectively use setting and characterisation to convey central
themes in their novels.