Kafka From the Very Opening

Kafka

From the very opening of the Metamorphosis, Gregor is portrayed as a somewhat pathetic character. He works hard for his family in a job that he detests, and receives little, if any, recognition for his efforts. Unfortunately, Gregor does not experience a profound transformation of his character in the same way that he experiences a transformation of his physical body.

In the Metamorphosis, Kafka demonstrates a metaphor in action, using Gregor's transformation into a monstrous insect as a symbolic equivalent to the experience of deep and debilitating illness. The satire is executed with humor, with Gregor's casual determination to get to work on the day of his transformation comedically illustrating the general routine of his life, from which he clearly was incapable of making a break. This is a humorous sequence in which we are given insight into his everyday life, where the discontent of his job and the unappreciative, even draconian approach of his employers had reduced to him to something less than human. The relatively unfulfilling life which he had led, marked by little more than the instincts of earning money for survival, speaks to his transformation. When reduced to a place where renegotiation of the world with extremely limited physical resources has forced Gregor to redefine himself, Kafka shows a protagonist suffering a dire affliction. His attempts to continue to live his life, even as no elements of it can be said to resemble his life prior to the affliction, are delivered with humor and devastation. In an article by Charmaz (1983), published in the Journal of Sociology of Health and Illness, the theorist draws a correlation between the portrayal of Samsa in Kafka's text and the loss of identity commonly faced by the individual suffering from illness. Accordingly, his article makes the argument that, "for example, Kafka's work the Metamorphosis can be taken as a metaphor for cancer" (Charmaz, 168) Indeed, the experience which Gregor undergoes is dramatically disruptive, debilitating and riddled with terrible indignities. And yet, Gregor seems determined to experience little to no change in character, presenting us with the story's most pressing conflict. Perhaps even more troubling than his inexplicable physical transformation is Gregor's total unwillingness to change in any other regard.

And as with the experience of the ill, initial concerns may regard the practical difficulties posed by the disposition. Considering still the cancer metaphor, we reflect on Gregor's pedestrian concerns in the face of his terrible disposition. He notes of his predicament that "the boss would certainly come with the doctor from the health insurance company and would reproach his parents for their lazy son and cut short all objections with the insurance doctor's comments; for him everybody was completely healthy but really lazy about work." (Kafka, 3) it is striking that in his situation, Gregor's mind is still generally consumed with the petty vagaries of modern life, suggesting the callousness with which illness may be treated by the world outside the afflicted. As others respond to him with fear and disgust, Gregor simply does everything in his power to reflect a false normalcy.

Of course, given the extremity of his conditions, it is clear that his appearance and inability to speak have impacted his family, who attempt to continue with their lives in spite of their terrible disgust and fear. They attempt to achieve normalcy at points by allowing Gregor to witness the family interacting through his opened door. Still, he begins to view his family with a detached hostility as they have clearly begun to treat him with shame and revulsion, rather than as a member of the family. Though his sister still attempts to feed him for a time, she can no longer bring herself to address him directly. Likewise, the mounting unhappiness in the family results in a total neglect, where his room is left to descend into filth, underscoring the idea that Gregor himself is, on the basis of his ghastly appearance, filthy and to be cast out.

This would be particularly difficult for the reader to witness, as Gregor undergoes his descent with seemingly little internal reflection. Much as is the case with his life in service to his job, Gregor is driven only by the practicalities of survival. If in some degree Gregor had ever failed to fully give of himself emotionally to his family, his condition would relegate these parts of himself even further to oblivion. There is clearly a conflicted emotional dilemma for the family, who we might conjecture is saddened by the loss of Gregor but, in quite apparent reality, appears as far more deeply impacted by the presence of the thing which has come to replace him. This causes us to think of the insect as a Gregor which is present but dramatically diminished to the point of invisibility to his love ones, perhaps analogous to a man who leaves early for work before his family is awakened and returns late as his family prepares for bed.