Kafka's The Metamorphosis Analysis Free Essay

Franz Kafka is the author of the novella, The Metamorphosis whose publication was done over a century ago. The novella rotates around Gregor Samsa who is a traveling salesperson (Kafka 3). The book is based on the responsibilities he has on his family. Gregor uses his income to cater for all family financial needs. Gregor is released from this obligation by his metamorphosis. He begins to develop negative feelings towards himself as he starts viewing himself as a problem to his family. At this point, Gregor perceives death as one of the ways of resolving his problems. Gregor believes his family will have a better life after he dies. The novella talks about Gregor's transformation and the perception of his family towards him. Other characters in the novella include the father, Grete Samsa, the mother, the office manager, the borders, and the house cleaner. Kafka's novella plot synopsis and character analysis reveal the themes in the novella used.

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PLOT SUMMARY

The novella begins with Gregory transforming into a huge bug. When Gregory wakes up, he realizes that it is raining outside by peeping through his window and that he has transformed into a bug (Kafka 3). From his bed, he sees everything in his room looking normal despite his transformation. The reality of his metamorphosis into a bug hits him when he tries to roll over to continue sleeping but is unable because of his new body shape (Kafka 5). After failing to sleep, he starts meditating about the difficulties of his salesmanship job. He considers resigning from the job and leaving his nagging employer. however, he cannot leave the job because he is helping his father to pay his debts (Kafka 5). He decides to wake up and go to work.

Gregor's parents and sister bang on his door to wake him up and catch the train on time. However, when he tries to respond to them, he realizes that his voice has changed (Kafka 7). He rocks his new body and falls on the floor. Gregor's family is on his door pleading with him to open the door and wondering whether he is alright. As Gregor struggles to walk and reach the door he hears the voice of his office manager. the manager had come to check on him and find out why he has not gone to work. The office manager gives Gregor a stern reminder about the repercussions of failing to go to work. However, Gregor assures him that he will go to work (Kafka 15). Gregor's family members and his office manager cannot comprehend what he is saying.

After a long struggle, Gregor finally unlocks the door using his mouth (Kafka 18). Upon seeing Gregor in his new form, the manager runs away and her mother faints out of consternation. Gregor runs after his manager but before catching up with him, his father manages to drive him back to the house using a cane and his newspaper. Gregor hurts himself as he tries to enter his room. The father locks the house after which Gregor sleeps out fatigue.

Whensome times Gregor wakes up, he finds that one of his family members has brought him milk and bread. Notably, before his transformation, he liked this diet but after the changes in his body, he does not crave for milk anymore. In the following morning, Grete comes in the apartment and realizes that Gregor had not consumed the milk and replaces it with rotten food remains, which Gregor consumes immediately. Gregor's sister continues feeding her brother rotten food on daily basis without any informing her parents. While in the apartment, Gregor pays close attention to the conversations held by his relatives. He realizes that most of their talks rotate around his inability to provide for them due to his new form. He also discovers that her sister and father have been hindering her mother from visiting him in his apartment.

As time progresses, Gregor gets used to his new body and starts crawling around the room and climbing the walls. Grete realizes that Gregor is having fun with this and removes some furniture from the room to give him enough space to enjoy himself. However, Grete's act infuriates and distresses Gregor. The mother sees Gregor as he hangs on the wall trying to save a woman's picture and faints again. Gregor's family members begin leaving the bedroom door ajar in order to allow him to watch over them at night. Gregor notices that his family is undergoing financial problems because of his transformation. They bring another house cleaner who entertains Gregor and talks to him more regularly.

As time progresses, Gregor completely loses his appetite and hardly eats. The boarders who have taken rooms and pay rent to Gregor father notice Gregor in his new form and threaten to vacate the rooms. Grete asks her parents to consider eliminating Gregor to avoid more damage. However, before they eliminate him Gregor passes away in his bedroom and his relatives are happy that their burden is gone. The life of the family becomes better after Gregor's death as the boarders return and rent back the rooms, they move to a better apartment, and Grete grows more beautiful. Grete's parents start considering their daughter's marriage and begin looking for her suitor.

MAIN CHARACTERS

Grete Samsa. Grete is Gregor Samsa's sister. Apart from Gregor, Grete is the only other character that has been referred to by her name. This demonstrates that she is a key character in the novella. She sympathizes with Gregor and acts as his caretaker after his metamorphosis. Notably, before the transformation, Gregor and Grete had a warm and caring relationship. As a symbol of the affection Gregor felt towards his sister, he had promised to pay for her college tuition fees (Sparknotes: The Metamorphosis: Character List). However, Grete is insensitive as she suggests they should kill her brother. This demonstrates she has lost hope that Gregor will return to normal.

Gregor Samsa. Gregor is the main character in the novella. He is Grete's brother and son to the father and mother. He works as a traveling salesperson before his metamorphosis. Gregor is the character that transforms from a human being to a giant bug. He is the most important character in the story as the storyline of the novella is based on him, his life and life of his family. Before his metamorphosis, he was a diligent individual. As a traveling salesperson, he supported his family financially (Kafka 5). Notably, his family is worried about how they will survive without his financial support. The act of caring for his family members demonstrates that he was very caring and loving to his father, mother, and sister (Sparknotes: The Metamorphosis: Character List).

Gregor does not complain about the intense challenges he goes through at work. Gregory also demonstrates his composure for dealing with issues affecting him by not grumbling about his new fate. He does not moan or wonder about the cause or cure of his new body but embraces his new form and lives with it until he dies (Kafka 72). The act of not grumbling depicts his resilience and forbearance.

The Father. He is the father to Grete and Gregor as well as a husband to the mother. The audience learns about his characters through Gregor's perceptions of him (Sparknotes: The Metamorphosis: Character List). Gregor perceives his father as cruel and unkind because of the way he treats him in his new body. The father is materialistic as he only views Gregor as a source of money and little as his son. This is demonstrated by the unsympathetic and ruthless way he treats his son after he undergoes the metamorphosis. Furthermore, Gregor's father is irresponsible as he fails to manage his business leading its failure. In addition, he has lost the morale to look for a job thus compelling his son to cater for all the family expenditures from a job he does not like.

THEMES

Life's Absurdity. The metamorphosis talks about ridiculous, surprising, unimaginable and unreasonable events. The events presented in the book show that the story happens in an unexpected and chaotic world. The absurdity theme is demonstrated by the transformation of Gregor from a human being to a giant bug. This metamorphosis supersedes natural events, as it is unlikely and impossible to occur in the real world. The theme of life's absurdity is also demonstrated by a lack of explanation for the transformation that Gregor went through. The story does not provide anything wrong or unnatural that Gregory or his parents did to deserve to be turned into an insect (Guides). Gregor just wakes up one morning and finds that every part of him has transformed. The author presents Gregor as a good and responsible man who is working hard to ensure his family stays well and hence he does not deserve the misfortune that begets him. It is worth noting that Gregor decided to take a traveling salesmanship job he dislikes despite in order to provide for his family. He also had a plan of taking Grete to music school.

Another way the absurdity theme is amplified in this novella is through the treatment that Gregor families give him after his transformation. The family treats Gregor's condition as an occurrence that will fade away and does not treat him with affection as expected. For instance, Gregor's father locks him in his room despite not showing any signs of being wild or hurting people in his new form. In addition, he hits him with a cane and a rotten apple injuring him badly (Kafka 52). This shows that he does not care about the welfare of his son in his new form. It is absurd that Grete feeds him rotten food and brings the idea of eliminating him completely to her parents. Grete and her father also hinder Gregor's mother from visiting him in his room despite her insisting.

The absurdity theme is also depicted by the reaction of novella characters towards Gregor's new form. It is absurd that a majority of characters in the book do not show any surprise towards Gregor's situation. In addition, the characters do not ask questions about Gregor's metamorphosis and act calm as if the event was normal. For instance, Gregor's father and sister are not surprised by Gregor's metamorphosis and move on with their life as if nothing has occurred. Moreover, they do not show concern about what happened to Gregor as they do not ask questions or care to find out what caused his untimely and unnatural transformation from a human being to an insect (Guides).

Gregor actions and reactions toward his new form are also absurd and ridiculous. Gregor acts as if nothing has happened to him and thinks that he is still the person he was before the metamorphosis. For instance, Gregor worries that he may not arrive at work on time and informs his office manager that he will go to work. This is ridiculous as Gregor has turned into an insect and he cannot go to work in his new form. In addition, he is not worried about his new form, as he does not show any effort of finding the cure for his new fate.

The sympathy theme is demonstrated by Gregor's family as they struggle to balance between contempt and compassion towards him. When Gregor's mother finds out about his son's new fate, she is surprised and faints (Kafka 47). She does not accept the fact that his son has metamorphosed to an insect. she highly sympathizes with. Gregor's mother pesters his husband and daughter to allow her to go see Gregor to know about his whereabouts after his tragedy. She insists on seeing Gregor out of love and compassion towards her son. Gregor's mother is concerned about him because she believes that Gregor is still her son despite his metamorphosis.

Grete also demonstrates compassion towards her brother after his transformation occurs. She demonstrates sympathy for Gregor by ensuring he eats food. She establishes the kind of food that Gregor likes in his new form. Grete establishes that her brother dislikes milk and loves eating rotten food scraps. She gladly takes this food to him every day as a symbol of sympathy.