Let me get something off my chest first. When Professor Wollman introduced Kafka’s “Metamorphosis” by saying how it is about about a man who turns into a roach, I was turned off a bit because I absolutely do not like bugs. I don’t like seeing them, touching them, or having anything to do with them (let alone reading about them). I was kind of grossed out:
However, as I progressed throughout the story, I was able to get over the fact that I was reading about a bug. In actuality, I was reading about a man who is trapped inside a bug’s body.
Gregor’s humanity appealed to me as I felt empathy towards the character. Here was a man who once had a job that he did not really enjoy. But once he loses the ability to work, his family is forced to step up and take care of him rather than the other way around. This is where Gregor starts to appreciate the things he had before he transformed into an insect. There is a sense of regret that Gregor is forced to face for the remainder of his life. He feels guilty since he can no longer allow his sister to pursue her passion of learning the violin. And he is also cursed of the sight of his exhausted father every night after work. This reminded me of the Christmas classic It’s a Wonderful Life since it shows how one man can really make a difference on his family.
I also felt empathy towards Gregor when his family starts to neglect him. Behind Gregor’s tough insect shell was a man’s conscience. However, his family loses sight of this and treats him as if he were nothing more than a household pest. Gregor faces disgust and scorn from his family since they cannot even look at him without panicking or losing consciousness. But most importantly, I felt a sense of shame and disappointment from Gregor’s father, which can be a crushing blow to any son who is expected to step up to take care of the family. Because of this, Gregor feels ashamed and rejected, and probably even becomes depressed. Gregor’s depression eventually leads to his death, which shockingly gives relief to his family….
This disturbed me the most. Forget the fact that Gregor is a bug.
just staring at the window
Gregor’s strange situation may be fictitious, but the emotions I felt towards him were all too real.
I think you make a good point stating that Gregor is a man inside a bug’s body. Human has this tendency to perceive one’s identity through his outer appearance, completely ignoring the possiblility that one’s inside might not match his outer appearance (both in a good and a bad way). In this case the family fails to see that inside the hideous body of that cockroach their son and brother is still there.
I think that your comparison of Metamorphosis to It’s a Wonderful Life was a good one. They are parallels of each other in regards to the family situations. When George Bailey and Gregor Samsa are snatched from life as they know it, they are both able to see how much their families benefitted from their actions. However, though this is detrimental to the Samsa family at first, in the long run they learn how to cope and use it to make a better future for themselves, whereas the Bailey family gets George back to right the order of things. In the end, I think the Samsa’s are better off when Gregor is dead and gone, unlike Bailey’s family. From the beginning of the story it’s obvious that Gregor is the doormat they are all too dependent on, which hinders their growth as a family unit and as individuals. By the end, they are all accomplishing their own goals and supporting each other, symbolized by the light the reader sees through the window as Gregor takes his last breath (pg 141).
I also empathized with Gregor. I thought it was completely awful when Gregor’s family neglected him after his transformation especially since he had provided financial support for them all throughout his adult life. The Samsons did not seem to appreciate his efforts to take care of them when he was able to work. Instead of looking after Gregor like he had done for them, they ignored him and were even disgusted at the sight of him. The fact that they felt relieved when Gregor died depressed me the most.
The fact that Gregor’s family reacts with relief upon discovering his passing was also an instance that heavily disturbed me. The sense of disconnect from humanity that his family has is almost absurd. They never even seemed to consider him a part of their family; he was only a means to an end financially. I like how you mentioned that Gregor’s conscience was behind his shell. This made me think of how the apple pierced his shell and seemed to pierce his conscience as well. After the incident Gregor begins to starve himself to death in one last selfless act for his family’s benefit.