Utilitarianism in The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

What if, one day, this person is crossing the street on his way to work and a speeding car hit him. Due to the impact, he loses consciousness. The next day he wakes up in the hospital and is paralyzed. What would this mans first thought be? Of course, he would question why that he is paralyzed and if this illness is curable. Unlike the character in my parable, the main character in Franz Kafkas The Metamorphosis, worries about the most unlikely things. Although Gregor Samsa had awoken to discover that he is an insect, he is afraid that he will be late for work and as a result he will lose his job. As a result of this behavior, Gregor Samsa is a perfect example of utilitarianism in the early 20th century. Comparatively, Gregors family†¦show more content†¦Eventually, by the end of the story, Gregor transforms into a useless being, the epitome of utilitarianism. Not only did his transformation into a bug change him physically, emotionally Gregor changed also. From having hidde n feelings towards the family, to recognizing the true feelings he had, Gregor changes dramatically (Hibberd. To the family, he becomes a nuisance and is considered a burden. He craves compassion from them but they lacked the lively character of former times (175). Gregor reflects and realizes that he must disappear due to the burden of his bug state to his family (Goldfarb). He thought of his family with tenderness and love. The decision that he must disappear was one that he held to even more strongly than his sister, if that were possible (186). Out of love, Gregor makes the decision to leave/die for the sake of his family. At the beginning in his human state, he never embraced the feelings he had nor shared them. As a bug, Gregor accepted his feelings and was unable to share them, even though he desired to (Klingenstein). As Gregor has transformed from utilitarian to humanistic, so has the family transformed from humanistic and compassionate to utilitarian. To add to the example of Gregor representing utilitarianism, his father and sister are also examples of utilitarianism. At the beginning of the book, they are compassionate and loving towards Gregor. Yet, by the end of the story, the fatherShow MoreRelatedStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 Pagescriteria. Ethical considerations should be an important criterion in all organizational decision making. In this section, we present three ways to frame decisions ethically.77 Three Ethical Decision Criteria The first ethical yardstick is utilitarianism, which proposes making decisions solely on the basis of their outcomes, ideally to provide the greatest good for the greatest number. This view dominates business decision making. It is consistent with goals such as efficiency, productivity, and