Analyzing The Metamorphosis By Franz Kafka

My favorite book at the time of writing this and I wanted to share my thoughts on the book. If I had to summarize the central theme, it would be “No One Would Love Me if I Were a Worm 😞” but in this case it's a roach.

Part 1: He turns into a roach

The book starts off with an introduction to our MC, “Gregor”. He represents the traditional role a man must fulfill for his time. Get a job and support the family even if you hate your job. His value as a human being is to work and provide, then wakes up one day and it's gone. Everything about him is taken away, his speech, his appearance, his role. This dramatic change in the family dynamic is what drives the story.

Part 2: Mounting Contempt

This man was somehow able to single-handedly support his entire family, afford a fancy home, pay his father's debt, and was going to send his sister to music school. Now that he can’t work anymore, they can no longer afford the house they live in, so they all have to find employment and are forced to rent out a room to 3 jerks. Essentially, everyone is miserable now that Gregor is a bug and his sheer existence takes a toll on everyone else. His sister, “Grete” is the only one who bothers to take care of him or consider what Gregor might want but over time she can no longer see him as her brother, but instead as an insect that needs to be dealt with.

This part is reminiscent of what it's like to take care of an old family member that can no longer take care of themselves. All of a sudden your life gets flipped and they require all your time and attention. Their constant needs become a chore and inconvenience. You can’t move on with your life as taking care of them has become your life. All the while you have to endure the pain of seeing what they have become with no power to turn things back the way it was. This act of care is done out of love, but sometimes out of social obligation and it's through obligation where a sort of bitterness starts to amount. In the novel, His family's love is not unconditional. He can no longer provide, thus he’s unloved and worthless and the constant need to take care of him creates a mounting contempt in Grete which leads to her later saying “we have to try and get rid of it”. She doesn’t want him to die per se but rather just wants to be relieved of her duties. It's important to note that Gregor's personality doesn’t change, his kindness, his care her sister, and his love for his sister's music remains but he has no way to express that. She can no longer stand caring for Gregor, to her, he's just an insect that needs to be gotten rid of.

Part 3: Gregor’s death

When the family spoke of Gregor, they said the Gregor they knew would let them remember him with respect, and leave willingly. This part made me think back on Brene Brown’s Ted Talk where she spoke of a man who shared his experience of being unable to be vulnerable around his family. “They'd rather me die on top of my white horse than watch me fall down”. We see that here where Gregor’s family would rather him die/leave than endure the pain of seeing the man they once knew reduced to a vermin that burdens them day by day. And so that's what he does, He feels the need to “go away” more than ever and dies.

I’ve heard many stories of people who have gotten sick and believe they are better off dead then burden their family with medical bills or constant care. Some even consider suicide as last ditch effort to support their family. An example of that is the actor who played “Gus Fring” from Breaking bad as he confessed in an interview “I literally thought of self-annihilation so they could survive. That's how low I was.” This book captures that dark desolate despair people can fall into once money is tight and times are tough and I find that fascinating.

The Ending:

What really bothers me though is the ending as his family reacts with a “thank heavens he’s gone” attitude and the story concludes with an “and then they lived happily ever after”-esque ending. It's framed as, they are doing better now than when Gregor still had his job, and that the only thing that was stopping them from achieving happiness was him. I don’t believe there was ever a moment in the book where they express gratitude for all Gregor has done for them. They don’t even bother burying Gregor, to honor his memory, instead his body is dumped by the cleaning lady and promptly forgotten.

To be a burden, someone who is tossed aside and immediately forgotten despite how much he has done for his family. An unlovable vermin who is better off dead to not cause misery to those around him. How horrible. Knowing Kafka’s past and struggles with mental health, I imagine this is how he saw himself.

I sometimes think about how much of my value is based on what I can provide and what would happen if one day I can no longer do just that? What would happen if I became bedridden/deathly ill, how would my family react?

Additional Notes:

It's interesting how names are used in this book. For the first part of the book, all the family members are referred to in regard to their relation to Gregor. “His sister” “his mother”. But at the end of the book when Gregor dies, his parents are referred to as “Mr and Mrs Samsan” which is never used prior. It's as if the narrator is treating Gregor as if he never existed.

Gregor's cutout picture of a random lady. I feel it represents how he has never known love, no companionship, he can only ever dream of having a partner but never can obtain one. Having the picture allows him to engage in the idea of love and romance without taking the time from his busy life to pursue it. The only place where he can safely engage with such ideas is through fantasy which is awfully relevant today with the rise of OF, AI partners, or whatever people are using these days. What a time to be alive!