My first feeling as Gregor’s metamorphosis unfolded was one of peculiarity towards the reactions from his family. In my mind, I envisioned the door slowly creaking open to the horrible, human-sized, hard-shelled Gregor and watching the lens of the narrator swing to the family’s ensuing panic and horror. Embedded left is what my reaction would have been, as well as what I thought was the natural reaction to have. Therefore, when the family responded in a rather reserved albeit still repulsed manner, it made me think under what circumstances that would be the natural response. It would be easy to claim that Kafka’s Metamorphosis is staged in an alien world accustomed to strange transformations; the chambermaid certainly seems to be no stranger to Gregor’s situation. And, perhaps, by drawing from the similarities between Kafka’s life and Gregor’s fictional narrative, readers can come to the conclusion that Kafka has projected his feelings into this symbolic representation and the way a family would react.

Edgar the Alien Roach Man (MIB- 1997)

However, the whole narrative can also be Kafka’s personal perspective on how change can be disturbing and unsettling. Most metamorphoses in life are not unrealistic cross-species transformations, but subtle everyday changes. If one looks at Gregor’s metamorphosis as an emotional occurrence, his family’s reaction becomes much more understandable. To the Samsa household, the act of Gregor’s door opening was symbolic of their perspective of Gregor’s personality changing. From there, as with most emotional changes, their adaption and struggle to include this physically different Gregor becomes the main problem.

For a part of Metamorphosis, I was also reminded of a fictional short story I read in high school called The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. The main character is a woman trapped in a room by her husband who claims she suffers from depression and nervous tendencies. Her mental health deteriorates as she begins to focus on the yellow wallpaper of the room to excruciating detail. Eventually she believes she is one of the many women whom she sees creeping under her wallpaper. Likewise, Gregor is trapped within the confines of his room, his connection to humanity weakening, and his ability to resist what has happened to him decreasing. Pink Floyd’s “Don’t Leave Me Now” especially resonated through my mind to fit the tone of Gregor’s solidarity. The narrative and music both matched in their haunting and dissonant qualities.