The Metamorphosis (1915)

Franz Kafka

Franz Kafka• Born in 1883 into a middle-class, German-speaking Jewish

family in Prague• Studied law• Worked at an insurance company in order to support his parents• Developed an inferiority complex partly due to his difficult,

neurotic relationship with his tyrannical father• Had very little time to devote to his writing• Contracted tuberculosis in 1917 and was supported by his sister

and parents• Feared being perceived as both physically and mentally

repulsive • Suffered from clinical depression, social anxiety, and several

other illnesses triggered by stress• Died in 1924 from starvation when his tuberculosis worsened

and could not swallowed

Kafka’s Alienation

• Felt he was an outsider

– Jewish in Catholic Prague

– Sickly

– Lonely

• Perceived human beings as

being trapped by authority in

a hopeless world

• Became frustrated at having

to support his family

• Had to work in a meaningless

bureaucratic job where he was

just another pencil pusher

– Took time away from his writing Franz Kafka

Prague

• Part of the Germanic Austro-Hungarian Empire

• Catholic city where Czech was spoken– Segregated its Jewish

population into a German-speaking ghetto

• Founded on seven hills and dominated by “The Castle,” looming high over the city as a symbol of authority

• Highly dense city, with narrow, labyrinth-like streets– Associated with the traditions

of magic and mysticism

The Jewish Ghetto

Meaning of The Metamorphosis

Gregor Samsa represents a specific type of behavior—the fear of being alive with all of its risks/rewards and code of behavior—which, in the end, is transformed into the acceptance of life with all of its changes

: The Real Metamorphosis

• This is a novel about Gregor Samsa who learns about who he really is through an overwhelming psychological experience that turns him inward.

• His first step in this journey is disobedience:– Refuses to go to work – Refuses to follow the rules of etiquette

• In his new condition, Gregor begins his soul searching:– Accepts that he has conformed to his family’s and employer’s demands– Realizes the meaninglessness of his life

• Once he sheds his previous self, Gregor begins to delve into his inner feelings and confront the truth of his life.

• Gregor evolves from psychological immaturity to the courage of self responsibility.

• For the very first time in his life, Gregor becomes blissful and becomes a mature person.

• Gregor dies with this realization, a transformed human being

Biological: Metamorphosis

• Takes place in distinct stages:

– larval stage

– then enter an inactive state called pupa or chrysalis

– finally emerge as adults

• Gregor’s transformation parallels this metamorphosis.

Psychological: Depression

• Illness that can challenge the ability to perform even routine daily activities, characterized by the following: – Loss of interest or pleasure – Sustained fatigue without physical exertion – Lack of energy and motivation– Feelings of guilt or hopelessness– Self-centeredness

• Psychosis, a more extreme case of depression, is characterized by the loss of contact with reality:– Having visions– Hearing voices – Feeling sensations that have no basis in fact

• Gregor’s behavior parallels all of these descriptions

Form of The Metamorphosis

The Metamorphosis is a novella – a text that is longer than a short story but not as long as a novel

A Famous Opening Line

“As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a giant vermin

“Vermin” can either be defined as a parasite feeding off the living (as is Gregor's family feeding off him), or a vulnerable creature that scurries away upon another’s approach, as Gregor does for most of the narrative after his transformation.

Symbolism

Writers often use fantastic events to signify additional levels of meaning beyond the literal.Thus, we need to ask ourselves what Gregor’s metamorphosis signifies in terms of larger issues.

Central Symbol of the Beetle/Vermin

• A fantasy that best describes Gregor’s self-loathing:– Worthlessness– Uselessness – Meaninglessness – Awkwardness– Ugliness

Themes

• Kafka’s writings often deal with loneliness, isolation, and alienation, all of which are aggravated by the social and economic systems that structure human relations.

• His style is stark – in spite of the strange subject matter in many of his works, there is no poetic or metaphoric language.

• The Metamorphosis (written in 1912, published in 1915) is probably his most famous work

Style of Writing

• Is so convincing in his matter-of-factness and use of details that the reader may not see the unreality of a situation

• Uses distorted reality to reveal truths• Suggests various levels of meanings• Is quirky

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At first, Gregor refuses to accept his changed state:

• He tries to get out of bed, get dressed, plan his day, and so on, as though his metamorphosis hadn’t actually happened.

• The long, detailed description of the difficulties of getting out of bed reminds us of how dependent we are on our bodies.

• .

His Parents and the Clerk• Gregor, still trapped in his room, hears the

arrival of the chief clerk from his employer, who threatens him.

• When Gregor finally escapes from his room, his appearance so horrifies all onlookers (the chief clerk runs away, and his mother screams and upsets a pot of coffee) that his father beats him back into the chamber, making him bleed in the process.

His Parents and the Clerk

• When Gregor finally escapes from his room, his appearance so horrifies all onlookers (the chief clerk runs away, and his mother screams and upsets a pot of coffee) that his father beats him back into the chamber, making him bleed in the process

Part II: Gregor’s Family

• At the beginning of Part II, an attempt is made to feed Gregor, but the human food that has been placed in his room by his sister (bread and milk) is wholly unappealing.

• Disappointed, Gregor spends the remainder of the long evening trying to hear his family in the living room.

Gregor’s Family

• Note that, as he hears his family steal up the stairs to go to bed, Gregor starts to feel uneasy, and “with a half-unconscious action, not without a slight feeling of shame, he scuttled under the sofa, where he felt comfortable at once, although his back was a little cramped and he could not lift his head up, and his only regret was that his body was too broad to get the whole of it under the sofa . .

Gregor’s Family• “He stayed there all night, spending the

time partly in a light slumber, from which his hunger kept waking him up with a start, and partly worrying and sketching vague hopes, which all led to the same conclusion, that he must lie low for the present and, by exercising patience and the utmost consideration, help the family to bear the inconvenience that he was bound to cause them in his present condition

Gregor’s Family

• Gregor’s concern is for his family, and not for himself. Are they equally concerned with him?

• At first, they seem to be. Gregor’s sister Grete brings him a selection of foods (he chooses the ones that have rotted), and he is pathetically grateful. Note, though, what happens when she returns to the room . . .