Repression and Isolation: A Psychoanalytical Interpretation of The Metamorphosis by Kafka - Essay Example

Franz Kafka can be seen as another artist who attempted to explore the unconscious in his work.  Many of his works contained nightmarish scenarios and richly symbolic writing that any psychoanalyst would have a field day with.  The idea that people had an unconscious aspect to their mind and repressed many of their troubled memories led to a world view that was fragmented and  in which people were isolated from one another, which can be seen in Kafka’s most famous work, “The Metamorphosis.

”  Gregor Samsa, the man who wakes up one day and finds that he has turned into a bug one day, is a classic case of repression.  Gregor must work for a boss he hates, and he wishes that he were able to tell him off.  The reason that he can’t is that Gregor is working off a debt that his parents incurred, and nobody else in his family is able to work to pay off this debt.  The sole responsibility lies upon Gregor, and he must repress his feelings to be able to function on a day-to-day basis.

  This idea of repression illustrated in “The Metamorphosis” is central to the work of psychoanalysts.  Because Gregor has to work to support his family, he has secretly repressed feelings of resentment against them, and this keeps him at a distance from other people, leading to a sort of isolation.  One possible interpretation of Gregor’s transformation would be to view it as his unconscious self coming to the surface.  Because he has kept his feelings in for so long, they have transformed him into a creature not recognizable as human.

  Everything that he used to enjoy about his life, for instance, his favorite meal, no longer appeals to him when his sister serves it to him.  Gregor has apparently reached a breaking point and can no longer deal with his life the way that it was; while this transformation turned him into a giant bug, it did enable him to no longer have to put up with his boss from the job and be responsible for supporting his family.  The release of his repression, in the form of his transformation, released him from all the pressures that he was feeling.

  However, it is obvious that Gregor did not release his repression in a positive way; nobody could say that they would wish to be a gigantic bug for the rest of their lives. Because Gregor did not release his repression in a healthy way, he is turned into the giant bug in the story.  Gregor now has to suffer through even more isolation.  His parents refuse to look at him, people scream when they hear his voice, and the only reason he does not starve to death is that his sister continues to feed him.

  As we can see, the applied idea of repression has resulted in Gregor leading a life of isolation.  He might not have to work for his boss anymore, but he is completely cut off from human contact; when he does venture out from his room one time, his father throws an apple at him.  The apple lodges into his back and turns out to be the wound that kills Gregor. ]We can see the negative effects of repression upon the family as well.  They, for the most part, don’t acknowledge Gregor’s existence.

  They take on borders but try to hide Gregor from them; they have repressed their feelings toward Gregor’s situation in order to attempt to live a normal life.  However, when Gregor does make his presence known to the borders, they decide to leave.  A psychoanalytical interpretation of this event would say that Gregor is now the family’s dirty little secret that has been hidden away in their unconscious, and when he decides to show himself, it is as though the secrets kept in the family’s unconscious has been released, and it is the release of their secret that drives away the borders.

  Their repressed feelings came out and drove away from the borders, causing the family to live in isolation. As the story ends, Gregor has died and the family states that the bug in Gregor’s old room couldn’t possibly be Gregor.  This is because they feel that Gregor wouldn’t have imposed on his family so much and caused them so much pain.  They have fully repressed their feelings towards Gregor, and they eventually decide to move on and leave everything in the past as they move to a different apartment.

  Gregor’s transformation was much too painful for the family to deal with; it eventually becomes fully repressed in their unconscious. Though there are many interpretations to “The Metamorphosis,” the psychoanalytical approach shows how it fits into the modernist movement through its theme of isolation.  While we can say definitely what Kafka had in mind for his story, there is no doubt that this interpretation shows the story in an interesting light.