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Gregor's change definitely represents anger from many different angles. Perhaps Gregor's anger is the most defensible in that his family has not undergone the most horrific changes imaginable. Gregor is justifies for feeling frustrated because he took care of his family for so long. His "rage at the way they were neglecting him" (768) deserves merit. Sheldon Goldfarb maintains, "Gregor's transformation has a double meaning: it is both an escape from his oppressive life and a representation or even an intensification of it" (Goldfarb). This is true because Gregor was not happy as a man and even more unhappy as a bug. His rage was probably more internal than many consider.
The theme of personal identity is extremely significant to this story in that Gregor was not happy with who he was before his change. He completely loses that identity and faces an even worse identity crisis as a bug. He hates his life as a working man, asserting that waking up early "makes one stupid" (Kafka 742). His friends are only "casual acquaintances that are always new" (742). Gregor only stays committed to his job because of his family - not because it is something that gives him pleasure and certainly not because it gives him a sense of identity. The theme of freedom is closely linked with the theme of identity because Gregor is not free as the man he is before he becomes a bug. In a strange way, he is free from the constraints of his life prior to being a bug but that does not mean that he will be any happier. His new identity only represents new problems associated with being a bug and these new problems curtail his freedom in many ways.
Kafka interlaces many themes in "The Metamorphosis" to illustrate a point about the human condition. We are much more frail than we like to...
Kafka forces us to look at our condition in relation to ourselves and to each other. These issues are as relevant today as they were when Kafka wrote the story because we are becoming a more and more isolated world. Gregor must become an insect to realize that his life has been a waste and his family does not love him. Even in his death, this does not change. In short, Gregor's life was utterly useless and Kafka urges us to live a life that is significant to oneself and, through that significance, will become significant to others. It is through alienation, repulsion, anger, identity, and freedom that Kafka proves this point. Gregor must experience all of these things for us to see how insignificant his life was and how significant it could have been had he only reached to be something more than a financial resource for his family. Through this tale, the frailty of the human condition takes center stage because we are all human.
Works Cited
Ben-Ephraim, Gavriel. "Making and breaking meaning: deconstruction, four-level allegory and 'The Metamorphosis.'" Midwest Quarterly 35. 1994. GALE Resource Database. Site Accessed May 26, 2008. http://www.infotrac.galegroup.com
Goldfarb, Sheldon. "Critical Essay on 'The Metamorphosis.' Short Stories for Students. 2001. GALE Resource Database. Site Accessed May 26, 2008. http://www.infotrac.galegroup.com
Hibbard, John. "The Metamorphosis: Overview." Reference Guide to World Literature. 2nd ed. 1995. GALE Resource Database. Site Accessed May 26, 2008. http://www.infotrac.galegroup.com
Kafka, Franz. "The Metamorphosis." The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction R.V. Cassill, ed. New York W.W. Norton and Company. 1981. pp. 740-78.
Works Cited
Ben-Ephraim, Gavriel. "Making and breaking meaning: deconstruction, four-level allegory and 'The Metamorphosis.'" Midwest Quarterly 35. 1994. GALE Resource Database. Site Accessed May 26, 2008. http://www.infotrac.galegroup.com
Goldfarb, Sheldon. "Critical Essay on 'The Metamorphosis.' Short Stories for Students. 2001. GALE Resource Database. Site Accessed May 26, 2008. http://www.infotrac.galegroup.com
Hibbard, John. "The Metamorphosis: Overview." Reference Guide to World Literature. 2nd ed. 1995. GALE Resource Database. Site Accessed May 26, 2008. http://www.infotrac.galegroup.com
Kafka, Franz. "The Metamorphosis." The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction R.V. Cassill, ed. New York W.W. Norton and Company. 1981. pp. 740-78.
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