Franz Kafkas The Metamorphosis - Essay Example

Critical Review of Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis. Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis has love as a major theme. Gregor loves his family so much that he is overwhelmed with his responsibilities to perform his duties. He has to work to provide for his beloved family. He is so obsessed with his need to get up from bed to go to work that he cannot change his attitude towards his compulsion to attend office even when he realizes that he has become a bug. He struggles to approximate normality as he struggles with his new physical body. He hides this new development from his family because he cannot share with them his problems. We read from the book that ‘Gregor wanted to answer in detail and explain everything, but in these circumstances, he confined himself to saying, “Yes, yes, thank you mother. I’m getting up right away.”’ Gregor wants to protect his mother from learning that he has transformed into an insect. He feels alienated that he has to wake up at 4 am. ‘ “This getting up early,” he thought, “makes a man quite idiotic.”’ Yet he labors on for the love of his family. We question why Gregor has transformed. It is the result of Gregor interacting with all aspects of his environment. He tells us his alienation with his work and family; “‘If I didn’t hold back for my parents’ sake, I’d have quit ages ago. I would’ve gone to the boss and told him just what I think from the bottom of my heart. He would’ve fallen right off his desk.’” (Kafka 3) After Gregor transforms, his unemployed family members were forced to transform too and seek work to earn a living. However, these and other changes were insufficient to maintain Gregor. He remained alienated in his bug form. Slowly, even his sister, Grete, isolated herself from him and he elected to starve to death. ‘He remembered his family with deep feelings of love. In this business, his own thought that he had to disappear was, if possible, even more decisive than his sisters.’ (Kafka 83). We analyze Gregor, the protagonist. Kafka has made him an existentialist. Gregor is isolated in his hostile work and home environment. Although Gregor says that he has to work to pay off his father’s debt, he has the freedom of choice not to. Moreover, we learn that Gregor has even made more than enough money for his family’s expenses and Mr.. Samsa has secretly saved the excess money. Gregor could have take charge of his family’s finances, paid off his father’s debts and liberated himself from bondage. Gregor does not feel betrayed or taken advantage of when he learns about his father’s stash of money. Is Gregor a martyr or being stupid? We read that; ‘Gregor, behind his door, nodded eagerly, rejoicing over this unanticipated foresight and frugality. True, with this excess money, he could have paid off more of his fathers debt to his employer and the day on which he could be rid of this position would have been a lot closer, but now things were doubtless better the way his father had arranged them.’ (Kafka 41). Kafka used this existentialism philosophy to convince his readers how Gregor put himself in his tight spot. Gregor is responsible for his choices. Mr. Samsa, Gregor’s father, is alienated from him. This made Gregor crave for his love by assuming the financial burden. However, Mr. Samsa does not make any effort to lavish time nor attention to Gregor. When Mr. Samsa wanted to speak, he would ‘when he had wanted to say something, almost always stood still and gathered his entourage around him?’ (Kafka 58). He felt threatened instead of being loved by Gregor because he was no longer the breadwinner of his family. After Gregor’s death, Mr. Samsa feels that he is back in charge. He stands up to his bully lodgers and chases them out saying; ‘"Get out of my apartment immediately,"’ (Kafka 87). Grete undergoes transformation but her metamorphosis does not change her into an insect or any form different from her usual human one. Grete used to feed, clean and defend Gregor but gradually, the pressures of working and life take their toil on her. She shows a complete change of heart. She is instrumental in killing Gregor as he hears her convincing persuasion; ‘"My dear parents," said the sister banging her hand on the table by way of an introduction, "things cannot go on any longer in this way. Maybe if you dont understand that, well, I do. I will not utter my brothers name in front of this monster, and thus I say only that we must try to get rid of it. We have tried what is humanly possible to take care of it and to be patient. I believe that no one can criticize us in the slightest."’ (Kafka 78-79). Now Grete becomes the leader. Mr. Samsa echoes her view; ‘"She is right in a thousand ways," said the father to himself.’ (Kafka 78). Grete emerges the victor in this domestic power struggle. She is a feminist. As soon as Gregor dies, she receives love from her mother; ‘"Grete, come into us for a moment," said Mrs. Samsa with a melancholy smile, and Grete went, not without looking back at the corpse, behind her parents into the bed room.’ (Kafka 85). Mrs. Anna Samsa does not play a significant role in Metamorphosis. Most of the time, she is physically overwhelmed by emotions. Grete helps her while her husband does not. Mrs. Samsa’s opinion is only heard once when she says; ‘"and isnt it a fact that by removing the furniture were showing that were giving up all hope of an improvement and are leaving him to his own resources without any consideration? I think it would be best if we tried to keep the room exactly in the condition it was in before, so that, when Gregor returns to us, he finds everything unchanged and can forget the intervening time all the more easily."’ (Kafka 49). By this, we can deduce that Mrs. Samsa nursed impractical hopes when everyone else in the story has accepted Gregor’s metamorphosis. On the other hand, we are reminded that Kafka has used Expressionism. Gregor’s human form has been distorted into the shape of an insect. He didn’t really change into a bug but is perceived as a bug by the people surrounding him. We are reminded that rationally, how can a human transform physically into a bug? Kafka uses Mrs. Samsa as a voice of reason anchored in reality when the small apartment’s world has been turned into a serious, absurd comedy surrounding a bug. At the crucial moment when Mr. Samsa and Grete have rejected Gregor, Mrs. Samsa ‘begged him (Mr. Samsa) to spare Gregors life.’ (Kafka 60). For all her weakness of physique and character, she deserves credit for loving Gregor right up to the end of his life. The other characters in Metamorphosis have miniscule impact upon this story and will be omitted from this discussion. The setting of Metamorphosis is in a hostile and dehumanized world. Gregor has to wake up at 4 am to prepare for his working day. Gregor’s thoughts are made known to us when he thinks aloud, ‘Among them was then no truly devoted person who, if he failed to use just a couple of hours in the morning for office work, would become abnormal from pangs of conscience and really be in no state to get out of bed?’ (Kafka 11). Gregor has been working so hard with long hours that work has dehumanized him and transformed him metaphorically into a lower life form, namely, a repulsive bug. The futility of Gregor’s situation has no reprieve and the only escape is in death. Gregor willingly submits himself into starvation and his fate; ‘He remained in this state of empty and peaceful reflection until the tower clock struck three oclock in the morning.’ (Kafka 83). The socio-political setting of Metamorphosis tells us that one is free to move about when one conforms to expectations. Gregor traveled freely when he was a useful, working salesman. As soon as he appeared transformed into a useless bug, he is imprisoned in his own bedroom because he is perceived as a threat or a non-conformist deformity. We read that Mr. Samsa ‘set out to drive Gregor back into his room by waving the cane and the newspaper. No request of Gregors was of any use; no request would even be understood. No matter how willing he was to turn his head respectfully, his father just stomped all the harder with his feet.’ (Kafka 27). Metamorphosis is an allegory; a moral story with symbols and metaphors. The symbol of the salesman is a dark one. Gregor is a capitalist worker who is controlled by economics and his boss. He is dehumanized and consequently transformed into a bug. Mr. Samsa can be an allegorical representation of God in common life. The reluctant theologian in Kafka depicts God in a passive role. The authoritarian figure is present but does not interfere much. Mr. Samsa does not help Gregor. We have mentioned that he wants to keep Gregor in his bedroom. The bedroom is a symbol of the alienation that imprisons Gregor. Mr. Samsa has direct access to Gregor, but leaves him to struggle on his own, just like the absent God that Kafka discusses about in his writings. Mr. Manager is a symbol or metaphor of Gregor’s hardships. Gregor talks to him through his bedroom door but Mr. Manager fails to grasp what Gregor is speaking about. The door is a physical barrier and symbol of the barricade that alienates Gregor from his superior. Initially, Gregor locked his door to serve as a protective barrier to keep people out but now the locked door also works against Gregor by keeping him in and making it a struggle to unlock. Gregor’s father, the allegorical God, wanted to interfere by calling for a locksmith; ‘"Anna! Anna! yelled the father through the hall into the kitchen, clapping his hands, "fetch a locksmith right away!"’ (Kafka 18). The tone in Metamorphosis is serious. This serves to counteract and rationalize the absurdity of a man-insect metamorphosis. Kafka wants us to take his message seriously even as Gregor narrates his extreme physical exertions towards getting up from bed and performing his routines. Gregor feels he has to report to work even in his bug-like state. The tone is somber as the Manager comes to lecture, intimidate, threaten and complain about Gregor’s behavior. (Kafka 14 – 15). Gregor liked to look out of his bedroom window. The opening symbolized the brighter prospects of the world immediately outside his room but at the same time bringing in the cold which is part of the price of freedom in the open. The tone sets the mood. It is bleak inside with nothing but domestic troubles. Metamorphosis can be read as a dark comedy. Kafka spent great pains to describe the physical difficulties Gregor encounters as an insect. He wants us to understand what it is like to be a human while using the guise of a non-human. Gregor is dictated by time. It is funny as it is against the nature of insects to race with time to get out of bed. Similarly, a man who is as guilt ridden as Gregor when he wakes up late is also funny. The servant girl expresses her desire to leave the employment of the Samsa household but she does not leave. She stays on, confining herself in the kitchen. She feels comfortable there. She repeats the theme of voluntary isolation and imprisonment. Her predicament is self-inflicted. Why doesn’t she leave? Kafka wants us to understand that there are visible or invisible binds and bonds in society that make us shackled and unable to escape. Mr. Samsa’s three lodgers wanted to leave during one night but they forgot about leaving in the next morning. Of all the characters who wanted to leave in the Metamorphosis, only the Manager succeeded. We can deduce that only the rich capitalist is free to move about within this economy driven society. This is part of the tone of this novel. Nothing changes because nothing can be changed. It is only when Mr. Samsa, the symbol of the passive God, acts decisively to chase away the lodgers, then only do they really leave. Mr. Samsa told them twice; ‘"Get out of my apartment immediately,"’ and ‘"I mean exactly what I say," replied Mr.. Samsa and went directly with his two female companions up to the lodger.’ (Kafka 86). Kafka used the omniscient narrative style. Gregor’s transformation is his journey into self awareness. Gregor shares his thoughts as we read his stream of consciousness. The omniscient narrator tries to present the perspective from Gregor’s point of view. The narrative never leaves the house. Kafka was a Jew who experienced isolation and racial discrimination. He wanted to be an Existentialist and take responsibility for his choices. He choose to write a parody to highlight his Zionist stance using post-modern Expressionist and Existentialist elements in his plot. This is the plot of Metamorphosis. The Jew Gregor feels alienated; his metamorphosis into a bug is exaggerated. Kafka’s Existentialism makes him responsible for his own actions. There are three scenes which are the tiers of isolation. The first scene is about Gregor isolating himself in the house. He cannot yet accept his transformation into a bug and struggles to convince himself and his Manager that he will report for work. Gregor hates himself as a bug. In the second scene, Gregor confines himself in his room because he does not wish to alarm his sister and mother. Gregor begins to accept his transformation. The third and last scene has Gregor isolating himself from himself. His family accepts his metamorphosis as being final. Gregor witnesses Grete’s betrayal when she says; ‘"It must be gotten rid of," cried the sister. "That is the only way, father. You must try to get rid of the idea that this is Gregor. The fact that we have believed for so long, that is truly our real misfortune. But how can it be Gregor? If it were Gregor, he would have long ago realized that a communal life among human beings is not possible with such an animal and would have gone away voluntarily. Then we would not have a brother, but we could go on living and honour his memory. But this animal plagues us. It drives away the lodgers, will obviously take over the entire apartment, and leave us to spend the night in the alley.”’ (Kafka 80). At this level of alienation, Gregor loses his will to live. Grete behaves like an exterminator who uses the power of suggestion to drive Gregor away. Gregor’s existence and sacrifices relied on his love for his family. Now that he is too weak to love them in spite of their hateful behaviors, he does not resist starvation and death. When Gregor dies, the light that shines comes from a window leading outside. ‘From the window he witnessed the beginning of the general dawning outside.’ (Kafka 83). Instead of gloom and sorrow, there is symbolic light to denote hope. His family members were happy and made new plans. This shows deconstruction. The outside is unbounded and there cannot be limited by a sole interpretation. ‘So, too, the double bind presented by Kafka’s text; “Interpret me; but, whatever you do, do not interpret me.”’ (White 68). I disagree with White. There is a limit to the amount of interpretations possible with Metamorphosis. To see where there is nothing to see but only what we imagine out of it is using mysticism and imaginary. In this case, nothing can be defined. I think this would be an excuse for countless interpretations and this is unfair to the other literary works. Whereby the literary critic White suggests that Kafka cannot be truly translated, Gilman comes to the rescue to suggest using multi-disciplines to understand Metamorphosis. ‘Kafka turns out to be as much as an Expressionist as a Zionist as a mystic as a pre- and post-Communist Czech as an Existentialist as a post-modernist as a post-colonialist as a (whatever he will be next month).’ (Gilman 9). I agree with Gilman and disagree with White because I am able to locate definite themes of Expressionism, Existentialism, Zionism and post-modernism in Metamorphosis; which is actually an autobiography of Kafka. Beth Hawkins said that Kafka believed that God does not help humans. I agree with her statement. Hawkins’ studies said: ‘Reluctant theologians, perhaps, these three authors use their work to explore a set of questions, for them to become urgent: What does it mean to believe when all bases for belief have been shattered? Is God necessary for belief? What kind of God, if any, is compatible with a loss of illusions so pervasive that no absolute has been left intact? If God is one such illusion and can, therefore, be created or destroyed, what type of God is most conducive to building an ethical system based on responsibility and solidarity?’ (Hawkins xii). Gregor does proclaim God in ‘“O God,” he thought, “what a demanding job I’ve chosen! .......”’ (Kafka 2). However, Gregor does not pray to God to help him out of his predicament. Gregor’s mention of God is more like an exclamation than a plea for help. He invokes the name of God again in ‘”Good God!”’ when he sees his alarm clock showing half past six (Kafka 4). Gregor’s invocation of God sounds more like a convenient conversational phrase than anything else. He struggles with his handicaps alone in the whole novel. If there was a just God, why would he inflict punishment and death upon Gregor? Kafka’s writing excludes this God. There is a school of literary critics who say that Kafka ‘wrote in a detached and precise manner, using legal and scientific language to create works of lucid prose that appeared utterly removed from the author’s own emotions or opinions.’ (Bossy 100). I disagree with this view. Kafka used strong adjectives in phases like ‘anxious dreams’ and ‘flickered helplessly’ (Kafka 1) to convey the utter despair in this desperate situation. Bossy said that Kafka’s Metamorphosis had a ‘distorted image of the world and his character’s acceptance of surreal situations – Gregor Samsa’s lack of surprise when he wakes up as an insect, for example – all pointed the irrationality at the roots of a supposedly rational world.’ (Bossy 100) I think Gregor was surprised at his surreal situation. He thought to himself, ‘”What’s happened to me,”’ ( Kafka 1). The image of his world is a ruthless one. Kafka used extensive descriptions of Gregor’s mechanical bug like movements to home in the message of how poignant and pathetic a life struggles in his contemporary setting. Love is a main theme that runs through the entire novel. Gregor lived mainly for the love of his sister. From the start, we learn the extent of Gregor’s love for Grete when he planned to use his hard earned money to send Grete to a music conservatory. After his metamorphosis, he shows his love with his consideration for her by avoiding contact with her. He loved to listen to Grete’s violin recitals. He wanted to shield her from the insulting behaviors of the lodgers. Grete spurned his love. On the last day of Gregor’s life, she locked him in his room and Gregor finally accepted his fate and died. Gregor Samsa’s love for his family and especially, love for Grete, killed him. The end. Works cited. Asker, D.B.D. Aspects of Metamorphosis: Fictional Representations of the Becoming Human. USA: Rodopi, 2001. Bossy, Michel-Andre. Artists, Writers, and Musicians: An Encyclopedia of People Who Changed the World. USA: Greenwood Press, 2001. Gilman, Sander. Franz Kafka. USA: Realton Books, 2005. Hawkins, Beth. Reluctant Theologians: Franz Kafka, Paul Celan, Edmond Jabes. New York: Fordham Univ Press, 2003. Kafka, Franz. The Metamorphosis. 1916. www.mala.bc.ca: Johnston, Ian. “Franz Kafka The Metamorphosis 1916”. Oct. 2003. Nanaimo, BC, Canada: Malaspina University-College, 22 Jan. 2007. White, Daniel. Labyrinths of the Mind: the self in the postmodern age. New York: Suny Press, 1998.  Read More