The Metamorphosis

               The work, The Metamorphosis is about a young man named, Gregor, who works as a traveling salesman to maintain his family’s well-being and to pay off his father’s debt.  He is the only source of income for his family and although he hates his job, he continues to pursue it for the sake of his family. The very first line of the work informs the reader that one morning Gregor wakes up to the realization that he has transformed into a “monstrous verminous bug (Kafka 1). This shocks the reader right from the start and sets the stage for the rest of the piece. The fact that he transformed from a hard-working young man into a large, ugly bug, perhaps a cockroach, is symbolic for many reasons, for one, bugs like cockroaches are considered as irritating pests and are unwanted, also, the transformation from a human to a bug dehumanizes Gregor because now, although he maintains his human mind, he is in the body of a bug. The explanation of Gregor’s realization is very detail oriented and the reader can virtually envision it happening. One thing that can be considered ironic is that Gregor isn’t upset by his transformation and upholds a very calm and collected attitude. Gregor seems to worry more about the common, real-world problems such as getting to work on time, making his sell deadlines, and the other stresses a traveling salesman has to endure. This idea suggests dehumanization because Gregor’s job dehumanizes him. The first and foremost issue on Gregor’s hands is that he’s a bug, but he couldn’t care less, all he cares about is getting to work on time and accomplishing his work tasks. This mentality continues on throughout the section, and when Gregor’s manager shows up, it reaches a climax. All Gregor wants is to convince his manager to let him keep his job and in doing so, he breaks out of his room. This brings his family and boss to the realization that he no longer is in the human form, nor can he communicate with them. And at that, Gregor’s father herded him back into his room like a wild animal, “stamping his feet on the floor…waving the cane and the newspaper” (Kafka 8). At this point, Gregor is no longer considered as a human being; while he still retains his human mind, he has lost his way to speak and communicate and is in the body of a bug. Also, his family is appalled by his appearance and treats him like an animal, herding, hissing, and hitting poor Gregor.  Gregor is undergoing the process of dehumanization at this spot in the story, which will continue on throughout the other parts as well.

                The second section begins with Gregor waking up after being knocked out by his own father. He wakes to find his favorite food left sitting in his room from his sister, Grete. The food doesn’t appeal to Gregor at all and when his sister returns she realizes that and brings him a varying selection of foods to see which he prefers. Gregor happily devours all the rotten foods and is repulsed by the fresh stuff, further demonstrating the idea that he is not human and hinting the idea that he is a gross and repulsive character now. His sister cares for him, and soon after, his wounds feel almost completely better, possibly meaning that his physical state has some correlation with his humanity or his dehumanization. Gregor continues to reside in the confines of his bedroom and “from day to day he perceived things with less and less clarity” (Kafka 13). This is symbolic because with the continuation of Gregor being locked in a room, much like an animal being locked in a cage, he slowly loses his ability to see clearly, which can be taken literally and analytically. Literally, it means he can’t see clearly any more, for example when he looks out his window he can barely make out the buildings that used to be so clear, but analytically it means that he is slowly, but surely losing his grasp on life, reality, and control of himself. Gregor receives pleasure from scurrying around on the floor, walls, and ceiling, showing that he is taking on some bug qualities and becoming less human. Because of this, Grete proposes that they move the furniture out of Gregor’s room so he has more space to carry out his bug interests. Gregor’s mother disagreed with Grete’s suggestion; “the sight of the empty walls pierced her right to the heart, and why should Gregor not feel the same, since he had been accustomed to the room furnishings for a long time and would therefore feel himself abandoned in an empty room…and isn’t it a fact that by removing the furniture we’re showing that we’re giving up all hope of an improvement and are leaving him to his own resources without consideration?” (Kafka 15). But unfortunately, Grete convinces her that the plan is the right thing to do, and they remove most of the furniture, leaving Gregor in almost a bare room, dehumanizing him even further. Gregor tries his hardest to hold on to what he can so he can remain alive to himself, but doing so results in a series of unfortunate events, such as his mother fainting at his appearance, his father misunderstanding the occurrence, and ultimately, his father chasing and wounding him significantly with an apple.  Gregor has been stripped of his humanity, he is a bug, has no way to communicate, his mere possessions that tied him to his human life have been taken from him, and now his father believes the only way to manage him is to use brute force, when in reality Gregor is completely sane and understands everything that’s going on. The section ends with Gregor’s mother crying and begging her husband to spare Gregor’s life, insinuating that there might be some hope for Gregor in the future.