Franz Kafka is the author of the famous anthology, The Metamorphosis. He was born in 1883, in Prague which is Czech Republic’s capital. He was brought up in a moderate Jewish family. After pursuing law in the University of Prague, he secured a job in the insurance field and wrote during the evenings. He later moved to Berlin in 1923 to carry on with his writing. However, he developed tuberculosis and died afterwards. He was the only son in a family that included three daughters since his two brothers died during infancy. He never had a smooth relationship with his mother because she was not party to his passion in writing. On the other hand, his father was a successful man who made a living out selling men’s and women’s apparel and gave him the best motivation. Kafka derived a large proportion of his determination directly from his family.
The Metamorphosis is a renowned Novella done by Franz Kafka. The story is about Gregor Samsa, a salesman on transit who toiled in oeder to provide for his sister and parents. He wakes up one morning only to find that he has undergone trnasformation into a hideous insect. He eventually results to a claustrophile linked to enclosed places and loses his ability to work. Due to his inability to offer support to his family, he goes back to work again. The story has its basis on Kafka’s individual experience with abject insomnia that equipped him with independence upon his sister. According to the story, Grete Samsa takes care of him after transformation. The relationship kicks off in a cordial and cooperative manner but reduces to a passive state that Grete abandons his room in confusion to spite Gregor.
The morning shocks Gregor when he wakes up as a gigantic insect. Lying down, he can see his rounded brown belly with several arched segments. He is not able to balance well because he can hardly maintain his position. He can see his numerous legs waving at him in a pitiful manner. This marks the starting point of his metamorphosis. According to the story, the transformation to a gigantic insect renders him a disgrace to the family, making him an outsider to his home and a characteristically alienated individual. This gives him a harrowing and absurd human feeling meditation that makes him feel inadequate, guilty and isolated.
Franz Kafka’s work has portrayed a number of themes like; Man and the Natural World, Morality and Ethics, Life, Consciousness, and Existence, Transformation, Identity and Isolation. In The Metamorphosis, Gregor questions his own humanity with time as he survives as a bug. He develops a dubious feeling towards those people who continually mimic animal behavior. Identity puzzles Gregor to an extreme extent when he wonders if he really is a bug. He has no way to pass his thoughts to others and the cleaning of another woman raises another question of intelligence. Isolation subjects Gregor to general alienation from the current society. Being plainly a parasite to his family makes him to contemplate retreat from his society, a factor that causes unhappiness in him. Getting happiness becomes a hard task for him because he is not able to meet the societal and individual needs.
Gregor’s family doesn’t make any efforts to cure him following his transformation. They are not moved at all by this occurrence and don’t even wonder why it has occurred. This is an indicator that it was an expected transformation. The metamorphosis metaphor is therefore vital to understanding the family reaction to the occurrence. May be, the metaphor reflects Gregor’s life that lacked humane appreciation and was full of failed communication and cold emotions that transformed him into an insect. Gregor on the other hand is not moved about the transformation. Based on the happenings, we can say that the metamorphosis is a psychological one being a result of his quite purposeless life. This novel should be used as a cautionary narration because according to Gregor, he has a long way to go in order to mend his relationships with his family and people around him. The Metamorphosis shows the adverse effects of lack of communication.
Gregor alienates himself from his family while he tries to make ends meet. This renders him lonely because he lacks time to socialize with people. In the other publication by Sherwood Anderson’s, Winnesburg Ohio: “Lonelines,” the theme of loneliness is well explored. The town dwellers are seen to be grotesque and retarded morally, spiritually and mentally. They gravitate themselves towards George and tell about strange and and sad stories.
The story of Gregor is not only about transformation. It is a wakeup to realization of his past stupor beckoning him to change for the better. Gregor’s environment is composed of god people who care about others while the people in Ohio seem to mind their own business. They narrate rather sad stories whenever they have a chance to and do not really care about the outcome. They do not value humanity, kindness and spirituality. They care about survival but do not care about the means.
Works cited
Assemism. Analysis of the Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. Retrieved from http://assemismx.wordpress.com/2012/10/12/analysis-of-the-metamorphosis-by-franz-kafka/
Salem Press. Critical Insights. The Metamorphosis. Retrieved from http://salempress.com/Store/samples/critical_insights/metamorphosis.htm
Franz Kafka. The Metamorphosis. Retrieved from http://www.americanliterature.com/author/franz-kafka/book/the-metamorphosis/summary
