The novel The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka entails a man who entirely transforms into an enormous insect at the story’s beginning. The foremost outstanding thing is that Gregor, as an insect and human being, accepted the difficulties he encountered without complaining (Kazemian 1). At the collapse of his father’s business, he accepted his new role as a money-maker in the family without question, even if it involved working as a salesman, which he despised. Upon realizing his condition had changed, he did not regret it nor attempt to correct it or wonder about its cause. Instead, in his new form, Gregor acknowledges it and strives to live his life to the fullest possible. Every book or piece of art has a central topic, and the real message of the story is developed with a theme connecting the entire plot. The Metamorphosis by Frank Kafka has one absurdity as one of its central themes. This paper provides a detailed discussion of the absurdity as Kafka presents in his works The Metamorphosis and A Hunger Artist.
As can be seen, the story’s opening paragraphs go right into its central theme that the protagonist, Gregor Samsa, has been converted into a gigantic insect. It makes it possible for author Frank Kafka to highlight the absurdity of Gregor’s agonizing transformation. This opening ceremony conjures images of the agonizing process of changing into a bug and the utter absurdity of the transformation (Saouli 3). When Gregor wakes up to find that he has transformed into a gigantic bug, it is an outrageous event that transcends the realm of natural occurrence. It becomes supernaturally significant because it is unlikely to occur and physically impossible.
It is evident from the book how expertly Kafka used Samsa’s transformation into a giant insect to create moments of utter absurdity after Samsa tries to get out of bed and keeps analyzing his mental state. He attempts to lock himself out of his position while still in bed, which leads to the following ridiculous situation. His greatest fears have come true, and, as a result of his absence, his supervisor has visited him to see how he is doing (Kazemian 4). The ridiculousness of this circumstance stems from the fact that Samsa is not late for work but that his supervisor has gone to check on him because even the slightest delay generated suspicion in his mind.
In this strange turn of events, it is evident that Gregor Samsa takes pleasure because he cannot successfully communicate with his management or his parents. While Gregor tried to conceal the fact that he had shrunk to the size of an insect, his voice had also altered, giving the appearance of a temporal fever, allowing him to remain hidden in his room for longer. As a result, Kafka demonstrates how some aspects of Samsa’s metamorphosis were beneficial to his current circumstances. Kafka’s ability to focus on peculiar circumstances and address them intricately is his authentic charm as a storyteller. As he painstakingly reveals Samsa’s transformation through several stages of metamorphosis, we witness his capacity to delve deeply into the absurd.
Kafka makes a great unexpected turn by concealing the change process of one of the significant characters of his work. It is noteworthy that the novel never explains Gregor’s change. According to Kazemian (3), it never suggests, for instance, that Gregor’s transformation is the consequence of a specific reason, like being punished for misconduct. Contrarily, it appears like Gregor has been a lovely brother and son, accepting a job he dislikes to support his family and prepare to pay for his sister’s conservatory tuition. No proof exists that Gregor merits his fate. Instead, the narrative and every member of the Samsa family portray the incident as a chance occurrence, similar to contracting a disease. These components work together to give the narrative a distinct tone of absurdity and imply a cosmos without any central authority.
In A Hunger Artist, Kafka presents an exciting story of absurdity, telling of an ability of a man who voluntarily offered himself to fast indefinitely, and he did it with so much ease. This drive for indefinite fasting was also motivated by the man’s insatiable appetite to become famous and hold the record as a person who fasted for the longest period (Kafka 5). However, his physically starved situation contradicts his passions. Thus, in this work, Kafka demonstrates the paradox that accompanies the need to ascribe meaning to one’s life, which the hunger artist perfectly represents.
Kafka shapes the hunger artist as a man who has made up his mind to paradoxically attach meaning to his life. The man on a mission seeks to gain fame and enter the books of records as having gone for the longest time possible without having the basic human necessity, food. In so doing, he also sought to make fasting his profession. As a result, he embarked on his journey to fast immeasurably, a mission that sounds contradictory to basic life sustenance. This life story could only culminate in the death of the hunger artist, even though he strongly believed that he could go for an indefinite period without food (Kafka 7). Regardless, the hunger artist could not abandon his mission even when the end is so well defined, and he knows that the odds are against him. He was motivated by the masses of people who could come to watch him. It gave him happiness to spend sleepless nights as long as there were people who could come to witness him seeking the meaning of his life. It was an interesting story of a man seeking to fulfill his desires.
The story also receives a twist regarding the relationship between the hunger artist and his audience. Kafka’s storyline hinges on the artist’s validation of the reaction that the crowd accords him. The artist bases his life on the crown watching him while he embraces the qualities of degradation, self-denial, and deprivation. Consequently, the crowd’s eagerness to witness a once-in-a-lifetime experience attracted them to the artist. However, they started growing impatient and bored after the 40th day (Kafka 15). Thus, they required time to refresh their enthusiasm. However, this decision could mean the hunger artist would no longer be happy. Thus, basing his life’s meaning on such flimsy grounds speaks of the absurdity of his mission.
In conclusion, in his works The Metamorphosis and A Hunger Artist, Kafka presents interesting stories that are a reflection of the extent that people go in an attempt to attach meaning to their lives, including engaging in self-destruction behaviors. The perspective of The Metamorphosis on the world suggests that it is silly and unconcerned with how people behave. Both virtue and evil are not rewarded or punished in the world. Kafka also shapes A Hunger Artist as a desperate man who seeks other people’s validation at the expense of his well-being. However, the people he sought to entertain turned against him when their enthusiasm needed something new. Consequently, the artist was no longer happy since he could not attract huge crowds anymore.
Works Cited
Balaban, Maria-Zoica. “Franz Kafka and the absurd universe.” Lingua. Language and Culture vol. 20, no. 2, 2021, p. 235-246. Web.
Kazemian, Saba. “The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka; a metaphor of a social reality.” Critical Language and Literary Studies, vol. 18, no. 27, 2022, p. 145–162. Web.
Prithivirajan, S. “Absurd transformation in Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis.” Electronic Research Journal of Literature, vol. 2, no. 2020.
Kafka, Franz. A Hhunger Artist. Twisted Spoon Press. 1996