To me, Metamorphosis was just one big allegory. When most people hear the name of this story, they say “Oh yea, the one where the guy turns into a cockroach.” But that’s not what it’s all about! Though many seem to be horrified and confused by the downplay of Gregor Samsa’s reaction to turning into a monstrous vermin, I believe that this was done to contribute to the story – I don’t think it was so much about Gregor’s physical transformation rather than the deeper meanings and messages behind it. This setup reminded me of George Orwell’s Animal Farm, in which a physical story is told to represent (and possibly take a stab at) the idea of communism. So Gregor’s matter-of-fact realization of what he was did not surprise me, but rather established the genre of the story.
For example, did anyone in Gregor’s family ever view him as a human being to begin with? He seemed to be nothing more to them than a source of income. On the morning of Gregor’s transformation, his family is knocking on the bedroom door incessantly because he never went to work. When the chief clerk arrives and Gregor refuses to let him in, his sister Grete begins to weep on the other side of the door. It may seem at first as if this is all because they care about Gregor, but once they find out he is now a cockroach (and therefore useless to them) they don’t do a thing to help, or even bother with, him. The doctor they frantically called for is sent away, though one would think that someone turning into a cockroach would be all the more reason for medical help. Their whole reaction to his condition is thrown out the window as it becomes apparent that he will never go to work again. Which isn’t surprising, because the job is all about paying off a debt that they created. Gregor’s initial transformation is therefore a physical representation of his role in the family, and it is only one of such connections made throughout the book.
Gregor’s death and its effects really sent my head spinning. It seemed so ironic that his death was what set his family free, even though he had been the only thing supporting them for years. It turns out that what he (and I) thought was “supporting” was actually only “enabling”, and without him the Samsa’s finally become a well-functioning family with their own jobs and interests. This reminds me of a scene from one of my favorite shows, Lost. There’s an episode in Season 1 called The Moth, where a character named Charlie is fighting drug withdrawals (deserted island = you can’t buy drugs anymore = withdrawal). Charlie agrees to give his remaining drugs over to another character named Locke, so that it can at least be his decision to quit. Locke helps him through the withdrawal period, and during one scene he explains to Charlie why he cannot give him his drugs back through an analogy to a moth. Inside of a moth cocoon, the pupa is undergoing a struggle to emerge from its hard encasing. Somebody who cut the cocoon open to free the moth wouldn’t be helping it, but rather hurting it, because the struggle is what makes it strong enough to survive once it emerges. Similarly, Gregor enabled his family in its dysfunction as he carried on his menial job to support them. His short-term contribution added to their long-term dysfunction. What makes this apparent is the lightening of the sky through the window as Gregor takes his last breath (pg 141), and the family’s subsequent vacation day out together (again, a physical representation of an underlying idea, aka their freedom without Gregor). I felt a lightness and an easiness after Gregor died, as the family’s life began to take a turn for the better.
^Here’s the whole scene!
A scene that really struck me emotionally was when Grete plays the violin outside of Gregor’s room. I found this part of the story to be, for lack of a better word, sad. All Gregor wants to do is be a part of his family, be treated as a human being. He thinks back on his plans to send Grete to a conservatory, and imagines a time where they could talk and understand each other again. What I imagine to be a warbling, melancholy violin is the backdrop for this wistful moment. Grete continues to play despite the chaos going on around her: Gregor creeping from his room in the presence of the three gentlemen, the desperate plot forming in his mind to keep her captive, the men turning their noses down on her playing. Everything in the house is about to fall apart, as the men renting in the flat will see Gregor and leave without paying a cent, the family will subsequently undergo financial suffering, and Gregor will be punished. It reminded me of a scene from the movie Titanic (I know, girl moment) where a single violinist plays a slow hymn as the boat sinks. People are running and screaming around him throughout the night, shooting each other, jumping into lifeboats, drowning, and preparing for death… yet he plays through it all. Grete’s song was also the background music for a sad, chaotic, and jumbled scene.
Finally, I have to add that I’m not a fan of bugs, so reading this book made me really jumpy every time after I put it down. I don’t know if anyone remembers the ride in Disney World based off of the movie A Bug’s Life, where you get the sensation of bugs crawling all over you, but that was what reading this book was like for me. I saw a cockroach on the subway platform on Tuesday and felt no sympathy.
It’s interesting how you decided to relate Metamorphosis to Animal Farm. Animal Farm was an allegorical piece written to criticize Stalin and communism, in general. The animals represented actual historical figures in the events leading up to the Russian Revolution of 1917. I understand how that can be related to Metamorphosis and the fact that Gregor transformed into what he really was, at heart – the animals definitely represented the status and personalities of the different historical figures. I find that the reasons why Franz Kafka and George Orwell decided to utilize such technique in their writings quite interesting though.
Franz Kafka transforms Gregor into a cockroach to show how one can treated, even by those he considers close, when transformed into a burden and how a person like Gregor would adjust. George Orwell, on the other hand, represents historical figures as animals to address the various ways a revolution can be corrupted. These two interests make me wonder just how many reasons a writing style can be utilized to make a point.
Huge change of topic, but I had that exact same moment of Titanic in my head when thinking about Grete playing the violin in midst of impending chaos. However, while the Titanic scene moved me, reading about Grete’s scene did not. I wonder if it is due to my dislike of Grete.
I also wonder if Franz Kafka decided on a cockroach because it is so insignificant and small to us, yet it can live for so long on anything. Having to treat something like a cockroach as if it was a cherished part of the family would be care for anyone to do – my first urge is to step on it if it comes within a yard’s radius. The Samsa’s already lacked sympathy for Gregor, believing him to be the source of income for the family and nothing more. He was already insignificant. To be transformed into a creature of even lesser importance, one that people also find repelling… It’s interesting to ponder over.
I love your idea of Gregor’s story being for a deeper meaning than simply becoming a cockroach because he is miserable! Your mood diary really made me think of the book in a different light, especially because I did underplay Gregor’s reaction to becoming a bug. I hated that he just woke up and was perfectly content with his new appearance until I thought of it as a a symbol for a much bigger picture. It seems that Gregor is a representation of the provider of the family serving only this purpose and becoming just another robot in the scheme of society’s only true love: making money. Linking Metamorphosis to Animal Farm is smart because in the way Animal Farm is a direct allegory for communism in the Soviet Union, Metamorphosis seems to be a direct allegory to conformity in the work place. Everyday people go to work and become as you said, a source of income and what more than that? Do people even strive to have a job that they love anymore? This may be a pessimistic way in thinking however, I just hope we all can learn from Gregor’s story and avoid getting trapped in society’s standards. I’d like to think things have changed since Kafka wrote the book, but it is still something to think about.
Your “girl moment” when comparing Metamorphosis to The Titanic is completely justified because the point you are making is so good. Grete, while surrounded by modified chaos compared to The Titanic, continues to play her violin. In my opinion, this is the eye of the storm. Regardless of what is going on around her, Grete continues to play the violin because this is her only source of normalcy while there are three strangers staying in her house and her brother has turned into a cockroach. Obviously the whole situation is far from normal, but she makes the best of it by continuing to do what she loves.