The plot of Kafka’s Metamorphosis is based on the grotesque and absurd story of a simple salesman Gregor Samsa, who one day woke up as a huge insect, and his family. From the very beginning, one can expect that the main conflict of the novel will be connected with the metamorphoses that occur with the characters. The fantastic change in the appearance of the protagonist is just an artistic device against which other artistic metamorphoses develop – but not so much with Gregor as with his environment, closest people, the outside world.
Despite his horrific appearance, Gregor Samsa retained the human soul and remained a person who in this terrible situation, like no one else, needed support and understanding. He did not receive either one or the other even from the people closest to him – his parents and sister, meeting in response to all attempts at contact only fear, disgust, disgust, and even aggression. However, even before the incident, there were no warmth and mutual understanding in the family, despite the fact that the young man was the only breadwinner of the family. It seems that the transformation into a miserable insect, the catastrophe that happened to Gregor Samsa, is a logical continuation of his involuntary addiction and his miserable existence. The symbolism here is clear: what could be more defenseless than an insect against human aggression and cruelty.
As the behavior and attitude of the family every day becomes more offensive and cruel, one gets the feeling that a monstrous transformation is also taking place with these people. However, in fact, their callous souls are only exposed to the reader when they throw off the guise of integrity and nobility. The metamorphoses are also reflected in the change in the appearance of Gregor’s room – a symbol of his inner world and the attitude of household members towards him. Thus, from the well-furnished room that appeared before the reader at the beginning of the story, all things are gradually taken out, including those infinitely dear to the owner, despite his protest. Kafka (1971) writes: “They were cleaning his room out, taking away everything he loved; they were now loosening the writing desk at which he had done all his homework as a student” (118). At the end of the short story, the author only leaves a dirty, uncomfortable lair, a dump of unnecessary things which do not have any meaning anymore.
Works Cited
Kafka, Franz. Franz Kafka: The Complete Stories. Edited by Nahum N. Glatzer, Schocken Books, 1971.