Franz Kafka’s novella, The Metamorphosis, encompasses the journey of a man into the world of an insect. This existential work is often dismissed as absurdist; however it serves to give a unique and striking portrayal of the transformation of its
protagonist, Gregor Samsa, into what is commonly translated as a “monstrous vermin” (Kafka, xxii). Kafka’s narration is marked by pessimism, dark humor, and a keen wit. It expresses an underlying cynicism born of exploitation, misery and injustice. The idea of ungeziefer, the original word used by Kafka to describe what Gregor turns into, is defined as “a person or animal which is considered to be loathsome, toxic and unpleasant “ (American Heritage Dictionary, 2009). This idea is essential to interpreting Kafka’s work. Gregor’s character is a symbolic vehicle through which Kafka explores his troubled relationship with his father and his feelings of alienation from society at large. The metamorphosis causes Gregor to be treated as if he is something less than human, a sentiment that Kafka often expressed in his other writings. Gregor’s transformation, then, is outwardly symbolic of the pain of Kafka’s lived experience. Gregor’s appearance comes to reflect his social situation, thus embodying Kafka’s sense of social, religious, and philosophical alienation.
There are many biographical similarities between Gregor and Kafka, reinforcing the interpretation that Gregor embodies many of Kafka’s internal emotions. When the reader first meets Gregor, he is painted as a good son, a simple and hardworking employee whose efforts to repay his parents’ debts go mostly unappreciated. This portrait strongly resembles Kafka’s troubled relationship with his father, Hermann, a businessman who was heavily critical of his son for refusing to take up the family business. After years of abuse, Kafka came to feel reviled and unwanted and, as result of this abuse, Kafka felt like vermin – something unpleasant, reviled and unwanted. In his unpublished “Letter to His Father”, he goes so far as to refer to himself as “Ungeziefer” (Kafka, 2009); that is, as vermin (Brod, 43). He was so intimated by his father he developed a stammer so severe he could barely communicate while in his father’s presence. His growing feeling of isolation from his family led him to confess in his diary that they “are all strangers to me, we are related only by blood” (Brod, 229.) Kafka was never able to gather the courage to rebel against his father and quite literally lacked the voice to protest his feelings of insignificance. This can be seen in a later diary while proclaiming that his father had “inevitably broken my spirit” (Brod, 231).
Gregor’s transformation thus reflects Kafka’s intense feelings of isolation, vulnerability and inability to protect himself or his emotions with ‘armor’ of any kind, especially in relation to his father. It is easily seen how Kafka’s life imitated his art when the reader is introduced to Gregor’s father, a demanding man who immediately displays a violent temper. Every portrayal of Mr. Samsa is laced with visually violent verbiage. Upon our first introduction to the character we catch a glimpse at his violent nature when Mr. Samsa “furiously shakes fists” (Kafka, 17) at Gregor and hisses at him “like a savage” (Kafka, 20) after seeing Gregor’s transformation. Outraged by the loss of the family’s only means of support, he shows no concern for his son’s plight. Instead, Mr. Samsa calls him a failure and subjects him to constant belittling abuse, even to the point of throwing apples at him that cause him lasting injury. Kafka’s pain can be felt as he describes the way an apple lodged into Gregor’s “armorlike back” (Kafka, 7) causing him great anguish and subsequently breaking his spirit.
Kafka’s feelings of isolation were not limited to his family and individual plight, but also extended to include societal implications as is seen in the way Gregor’s biography parallels the author’s. Kafka’s personal story evolved from a minority Jewish community and it appeared that this period was transformational, when many families migrated from the country to villages and changed their views of life. Parents were vehement and staunch. They disregarded the sentiments of their children and forced them to conform to a new cultural environment as a means of looking out for the welfare of the family’s future (Pawel, 1997). The setting was industrial Europe and in an attempt to assimilate with society, parents were over intrusive about the thoughts and actions of their children. They felt their children should be required to follow their path, principles, logic and ideals, and disregarded individual preferences, abilities or goals. Kafka was a writer at heart and could never identify with being a businessman or lawyer. However, Kafka’s subjugation to society and his family had virtually forced him to accept the profession (Friedman, 1970). Working long hours at a job he despised, Kafka felt like a small insignificant creature trapped in a world not of his own making or choice. He felt his freedom was ruthlessly curbed and harbored a tremendous amount of resentment over that fact. Kafka reflects in his 1913 diary entry, “they [Kafka’s family /society] have cheated me of what is mine and yet, without going insane, I can’t revolt against the law of nature –and so hatred and only hatred” (Brod, 1976).
This autocratic and selfish behavior of society is embodied in the action of Metamorphosis. When the parents of Gregor find that their son is deformed and afflicted with a mysterious malady, their first concern is for Gregor’s “job”. They instantly become worried about the financial implications to the rest of the family: “in the course of the very first day, the father explained the family’s financial position and prospects to both the mother and the sister” (Kafka, 25). The family is worried about the financial implications that would fall on them personally in the absence of their son’s income. Following Gregor’s sudden transformation, the Samsa family expresses no sympathy or concern for Gregor, but rather disgust for his neglect of his responsibilities; thus his family treats Gregor like the vermin he has become and Kafka feels. Gregor is flabbergasted by his family’s hypocrisy and is sad to see that he has wasted his life for the happiness and affluence of his ‘so-called’ family. Regardless of this apparent lack of concern on their part for him, Gregor still attempts to embrace his sister and search for some sign of love from his family but is repeatedly rebuffed. Instead of being consoled, his personal effects are removed and he is isolated entirely from his previous human experience. They recoil from him, as from vermin, leaving him to suffer alone. Gregor’s appearance comes to reflect their treatment of him and thus he becomes a symbol of himself. His metamorphosis does not change his family’s treatment of him as a repulsive and inhuman creature; instead, it merely reveals the rift that had long ago separated him from those he loved and who were supposed to love him in return. In this, too, Gregor and Kafka are very similar.
Lacking family and societal acceptance, Kafka began to reflect on religion and philosophy, developing attitudes that are reflected in Gregor’s plight. Franz Kafka was “born in Prague a part of the German Austro-Hungarian Empire. He was of the Jewish faith where Czech was spoken and segregated its Jewish population into a German speaking ghetto” (Rodriguez, 2009). Thus, “Kafka grew up as a member of a minority (the Jewish community) within a minority (The German speaking population) at a time when there was little or no communication between these two groups or with the predominately Czech-speaking citizens of Prague and faced a mounting anti-Semitism during WWI” (Rodriguez, 2009). Although Kafka was an atheist in his younger years, he had an interest in religion which led him to develop a unique brand of “social atheism” that informed much of his work (Rodriguez, 2009). His characters are often abused, oppressed, secluded, and suffering; themes of alienation and abandonment pervade in his writing.
Gregor’s voice, which becomes the unintelligible squeak or the “voice of an animal” (Kafka, 15), represents the ideas of being alien, unheeded and misunderstood that Kafka struggled with through much of his life. Gregor’s transformation serves to further isolate him from the rest of humanity, turning him into something insignificant, filthy, repulsive, and fit only for extermination. He is the object of loathing and disgust. He is ostracized even by his own family, reinforcing the concept that he is “repulsive… and was bound to remain repulsive” (Kafka, 28). The Samsa family, “In accordance with family duty were required to quell their aversion and tolerate him, but only tolerate” (Kafka, 37). As is discussed by Friedman (1970), this sense of being an outsider who is repugnant to others is frequently associated with Jewish sensibilities, and it is a theme often represented in Kafka’s work. After being abandoned by his family and society, Kafka is unable to find any means of connection with anything outside himself, causing him to retreat into death.
The Metamorphosis is, in the final analysis, less a physical transformation than a mental one. Gregor’s change does not alter the treatment he receives from others, but it does affect his perception of himself. The transformation reflects Kafka’s troubled search for meaning, identity, and acceptance in his own life. Though the novella is undeniably witty, it is weighed down by pervasive sadness, and the deep and unrelenting loneliness of its author. In an absurdist tale of a human becoming an alien, Kafka writes of the alienation of humanity. His exploration of these themes is eloquent, to be sure, but the fundamental emptiness of his personal philosophy does not allow him to allay his fears. In this, both author and character remain unfulfilled. “Kafka’s troubled life can obviously be used as a reference point for his literature and his stories stand alone as disturbing, humorous, unique and concise yet complex examinations of the human condition”. (Pawel, 1997). This complexity of the human condition is not lost on readers as they can relate to the common emotions of being alienated, unwanted and a burden to family and society.
Works Cited
American Heritage Dictionary. (2009). Web.
Brod, Max. Franz Kafka Diaries 1910-1933. Schocken Books Inc., 1976.
Friedman, Maurice. Problematic Rebel: Melville, Dostoievsky, Kafka,Camus. University of Chicago, 1970.
Kafka, Franz. “A Letter to My Father” Web.
Kafka, Franz. The Metamorphosis and Other Stories. Barnes & Noble Books, 2003.
Pawel, Ernst. A Nightmare of Reason:A Life of Franz Kafka. Straus and Giroux, 1997.
Rodriguez, N. “The Metamophosis: Biographical, Historical and Conceptual Contexts.” Miami Dade College, 2009. Web.