Metamorphosis By: Franz Kafka What is reality? Every person has his or her own
"reality" or truth of their existence. For some it may be nothing they
expected while others can just be successful in anything. The true reality is
that regardless of what direction is taken in life a person brings the same
inner self, motivational levels and attitudes. As followers of literature we
often escape our own "reality" and experience life through the
imagination of the author's we read. By doing so, many people find themselves
gaining information about themselves. In Franz Kafka's
"Metamorphosis," Gregor Samsa's reality changes indifferently in spite
of his drastic physical changes. Before the Metamorphosis, Gregors life
consisted of working and caring for his family. He led a life of a traveling
salesman, working long hours, which didn't permit to him living his own
"life". He reflects his own life as "the plague of traveling: the
anxieties of changing trains, the irregular, inferior meals, the ever changing
faces, never to be seen again, people with whom one has no chance to be
friendly" (Kafka 13). Working to pay off his family's debt, Gregor never
left anytime for himself. Kafka himself counterparts this sentiment in a quote
taken from his diaries; "no matter how hard you work that work still
doesn't entitle you to loving concern for people. Instead you're alone, a total
stranger, a mere object of curiosity" (Pawel 167). So in-depth with his
work, Gregor becomes unknown to himself and to life. In Gregor's life he had no
room for anyone other than his family which in the end left him without love or
caring or any other kind of companionship. He worked so industriously for his
family that this became his only goal in life. They became so dependent on
Gregor to support them but did nothing for him in return. Up until now Gregor
was living a life of obligations, he came home every night to an empty hotel
room to ensure his family was taken care of. His parents and "their
dominance thus extends to the system which deprives him of creative life and
married love" (Eggenschwiler 54). Apparent to everyone, Gregor was no
longer thought of a member of the family but nothing more than a "support
system." The fact of the matter become, "everyone had grown accustomed
to it, his family as much as himself; they took the money gratefully, he gave it
willingly but the act was accompanied by no remarkable effusiveness" (Kafka
48). Gregor still "believed he had to provide his family with a pleasant,
contented, secure life"(Emrich 149). Before the metamorphosis, Gregor's
existence was much like it was after it. After being transformed into a
cockroach Gregor lived in isolation with his family. In a "dark bedroom, in
the jumble of discarded furniture and filth, monstrous vermin, a grotesque,
hidden part of the family"(Eggenschwiler 211). Gregor's sister was the only
one who helped poor Gregor, in his time of transformation. She was frightened
but managed to put her fears aside, she even got angry with others for trying to
help. Upon his sister taking care of him, the rest of Gregor's family would not
associate with him. "No one attempted to understand him, no one, not even
his sister, imagined that she could understand him"(Kafka 45). Before long,
Gregor noticed that through his metamorphosis he had not lost nor gained
anything. "The actual metamorphosis symbolizes a rebellion assertion of
unconscious desires and energies" (Eggenschwiler 203). After the
metamorphosis, Gregor's family undergoes some pretty harsh changes. For after
the change, Gregor would not be able to support his family's lazy asses. He went
to his boss and begged him to "please sir, spare my parent" (Kafka
24). Strangely, after what his family put him through he still looked vigorously
for a way to help his parents, "his duty was to remain docile and to try to
make things bearable for his family"(Kafka 42). As time passes, Gregor
realizes that his family doesn't need his help and support and that he is
nothing more than a burden to them. The family never realized the strain that
the transformation had put Gregor through, and now they have cut off relations
instead of supporting Gregor they desert him. Even his sister had gotten to the
point of no longer feeding or cleaning Gregor's room, she might stop in and give
him a piece of bread but not stay and talk to him. The thing that really got to
Gregor is the memories of all the things he had done for his family and now here
he is being shoved into some room and given nothing in return. Thinking of his
family Gregor decides he must go. Gregor died that night and when his family
found out they mourned for only a minute and went about their sick ways. Did
responsibility prove to be too much for the family Gregor had taken care of for
so many years? The true reality of Gregor and his family can be seen through the
resulting condition of the family itself. For five years Gregor had remained a
slave to his own family not finding out they could have taken care of themselves
until it was too late. Now Gregor realized he was forced to live a life of not
loving anyone and basically just a life of loneliness. Upon hearing that his
family could have taken care of themselves, Gregor was not angry but glad that
his father had made his understand what life was about. After observing a family
who lived on in the comfort of someone else, we are shown a "family
exhausted and depressed form laboring at menial jobs-messengers, seamstress, and
salesgirl. In this story the "Metamorphosis", we tend to believe that
Grego's change into a cockroach is the main purpose of the story but after close
consideration I believe it was a story of the transformation of the family.
Franz Kafka asks us to fathom if only for a moment the thought of our lives
changing due to some radical change. Do we feel like Gregor? Would we be better
off as a "cockroach?" I believe the answer is no. Through the
"Metamorphosis" we observe as one man's life is proven to be in vain
and no better as a cockroach than a human. Can anyone be sure that their lives
are good and perfect and that their family's would understand and accept any
change that could arise? However selfish this may seem, the fact is that above
and beyond all things a person must consider his/her self first. Sense of self
will keep you through all the adverse times in life and be a companion to rely
on when no one else cares.