A Look at "The Metamorphosis"

As Gregor lay in bed, he said to himself "Before it strikes a quarter past seven, whatever happens I must be completely out of bed. Besides, by then someone from the office will arrive to inquire about me, because the office will open before seven o'clock." (Kafka et al., 13). This line is interesting because it is so relatable. There are very few people who have not had this experience at some point in their lives.

Gregor is an interesting character who finds stress in his job and it shows through his lack of motivation. The opening line of part one indicates he feels insignificant. As the story progresses that vision becomes a reality as his family not only allows his manager into his home and to the door of his room, but they all stand outside the door discussing what must be wrong with him. Gregor seems to be acting peculiar according to what is said but he acts more like he is overwhelmed by the people in his life and how intrusive his job is. He has no social life; he spends all his time focused on work and he isn’t able to spend the morning sick in bed without having his parents and his boss disturbing him. The story will more than likely lead into him breaking free of this way of life.

Not knowing it was Gregor on the wall his mother saw him and screamed “Oh God, oh God” (Kafka et al, 58). The imagery of an elderly woman seeing a giant insect stuck to a wall and just falling forward on the couch is both relatable and humorous.

Gregor still has many human traits even though he is being portrayed as a bug. Some of his bug-like traits are similar to those of humans who have are subjected to stressors like his family. A bug would scurry away from a situation it felt was promoting harm and in a similar way a human would avoid that situation, particularly if it was family members who were causing mental grief. Gregor having a distaste for the milk his sister left out for him may be due to his insect metamorphosis but it is also common for people who are discontent to stop liking the things they enjoy. When Gregor decided to hide under the couch and spent his evening in and out of sleep this is another similarity in how humans act when they are attempting to feel safe. Clearly Gregor is looking for a way to feel better but does not know what is wrong.

The cleaning woman shouted “Come and look. It's kicked the bucket. It's lying there, totally snuffed!” (Kafka et al, 88). The reaction of Gregor’s death was crude and distasteful regardless of the situation.

The story did not evolve in a predictable way at all. In the beginning it seemed as though Gregor was bored with his job and his life and the story would change to him having an interesting adventure. Typically, these stories tend to have the main character have a dramatic change and then learn to appreciate what they had with their family before returning to it. The ending was very strange, particularly the last line. The family moving on completely so quickly without much of a care and the parents making plans to marry off their daughter as they sat on the train. There was no thought about Gregor or what had happened, only the future and how the daughter would be the focus. The description of how they looked at her and watched her stretch herself at the end felt as though there was an insinuation that she would become a bug next.

As Gregor’s character changes throughout the story his personality becomes more paranoid and insect like as does his body. At the start of the story Gregor appears to be bored and have self-esteem issues, the transformation to an insect could be viewed as a metaphor rather than what was actually happening to him. As the story progressed, he became more paranoid and distant from his family. This change not only affected him but triggered a response with his mother, father and sister who went through their own variety of personality changes as a result. Gregor went from being a work minded bored young man to an over self-conscious insect before finally meeting his demise. By the end he no longer cared about what was initially important to him when the story started. His priorities changed from being miserable about his job to wanting to hide and being paranoid about what those around him were saying and doing.

Gregor on the wall his mother saw him and screamed “Oh God, oh God” (Kafka et al, 58). This quotation tells several things about the story. One is that Gregor’s metamorphosis to an insect is real in the story and not a metaphor for a mental illness or his feelings. It was somewhat unclear as the story started if Gregor was actually going through the metamorphosis or if the concept was an exaggeration of his mental state until this point in the book. His mother’s reaction completely affirmed he had in-fact turned into an insect. Another is that his mother can not see him in himself anymore, even though one would think being her son his mother would recognize him in some way. Gregor’s sister was able to see it was him. Additionally, this quote shows that although the story is quite serious there is a degree of humor being used.

The story utilizes “Marxian class theory” which states that political and ideological consciousness is determined by class position. An individual's position within a class hierarchy is determined by their role in the production process. How a person is viewed in society and their view of their own self worth is determined by the position they hold within a class and the type of work they perform. Social identity and values are reliant on the type of work a person performs both by that person and their peers. This provides more understanding as to why people identify as “more important” or “less significant” in society based on what their job or career choice is. Personal value as well as the measure of their success comes from the perception of their role in the workplace and how that contributes to society or is viewed by their peers.

Sources

Kafka, Franz, and Ian Johnston. The Metamorphosis. The Floating Press, 2008.