An alien is
defined as an outcast, or foreigner; someone who does not belong. In Franz
Kafka’s Metamorphosis, Gregor Samsa
is an alien. He is alienated from his friends, his relationships, his work, his
family and inevitably, even himself.
Ironically, his alienation begins when he altruistically places the needs
of his family as the central and sole purpose of his life. By doing this he begins the process of
devaluing his own desires and eventually his own humanity. Gregor’s decision to
sacrifice his own happiness for his family by taking a job he does not want, catalyzes
his progression into alienation and ultimately to dehumanization. The literary conventions of symbolism,
characterization, and absurdity are used by Kafka to express his serious caution
that: “By imposing too great a responsibility, or rather, all responsibility,
on yourself, you crush yourself.”
To begin, Kafka’s use of symbolism early in
the novel serves to highlight the sacrifices Gregor makes for his family and
his alienation from society. There is much symbolism revealed through Kafka’s
description of Gregor’s room. At the
beginning, it is clear Gregor sacrifices so much that his family’s existence
depends entirely on Gregor’s selfless industriousness. When Gregor does not get
up the morning of his metamorphosis, his family and subsequently, his manager
come knocking at the three doors of his room. It may seem like they come because they are concerned
for Gregor’s well being, but in fact it is more out of a concern for their own
financial well being. They see Gregor first
and foremost as a worker and breadwinner, rather than as a person or a son.
Thus the three doors are symbolic of everyone wanting something from Gregor. The doors are multiplied to three to show
that Gregor’s purpose is to serve everyone else’s needs. Indeed Gregor is aware of this as “Gregor had
absolutely no intention of opening the door... complimented himself... on the
precaution he had adopted... locking all the doors during the night even at
home” (6). Although it may seem as if Gregor’s room is his sanctuary from these
people, in reality, it is his prison.
All of these expectations on Gregor to sacrifice his life for them
causes Gregor, already alienated, to retract even further from society; his
alienation heightens. Thus, as the novel
opens, Gregor is, literally, a roach in a locked box. Another important symbol is the picture which
is the only decoration in Gregor’s room.
This picture “showed a lady done up in a fur hat and a fur boa” (1)
sitting in a frame he carved “in the span of two or three evenings”, even
though “that boy has nothing on his mind but the business. It’s almost begun to
rile me that he never goes out night”(10). The picture of the woman becomes a
symbol of Gregor’s desire for an intimate relationship that he can never form
because he must devote all his time to supporting his family. This sacrifice
thus alienates Gregor from society by restricting him from having any fulfilling,
intimate relationships. Moreover, another
symbol is presented when Gregor’s mother and sister decide to move Gregor’s
furniture out of his room. Gregor asks himself “Had he really wanted to have
his warm room, comfortably fitted with furniture that had always been in the
family... changed into a cave... at the cost of ... rapidly, and totally
forgetting his human past?”(32). As his
family strips him of his furniture, they are stripping him of his humanity. It
is a distinctly human “want” to have furniture in their shelter to make it a “home”. Now, Gregor’s room is nothing more than a
“cave” suitable for an animal, the lowest of which is the roach. Gregor’s furniture becomes a link to and a
symbol of Gregor’s humanity or lack there of. Gregor tries to hold on to his furniture and
thus, humanity, but his family inevitable wins.
The picture of the woman makes a second appearance when Gregor, in his
desperation, does not know “what to salvage first, then he saw... the picture
of the lady... pressed himself against the glass” (34). Out of all of his furniture, Gregor chooses
to defend this from Grete and his mother. However, although the picture glass “soothes his hot belly” at first, the glass itself is also
symbolically significant as it separates him and the woman in the picture. Gregor’s humanity is out of reach and no
matter how much his wants it, or how close he gets, he is inevitably alienated
from it. By taking away his furniture, Gregor’s
family is thus taking away Gregor’s human identity; they are dehumanizing and
humiliating their son despite all of his sacrifice for them.
In fact, Gregor is imprisoned by his family in
this locked box which presents a second indication of Gregor’s devaluation of himself
and his alienation from society; the Samsa family and their interaction with
Gregor plays a significant role in presenting the theme of alienation. Gregor
and his family’s character, revealed by their speech and interaction with each
other, emphasizes Kafka’s use of characterization to highlight Gregor’s total sacrifice
for his ungrateful family and consequently, his increasing alienation from his
family and society. Gregor’s characterization in relation to his family is
presented most clearly when Gregor declares that “If I didn’t hold back for my
parents’ sake, I would have quit long ago” (4). Gregor wholly sacrifices his
happiness for his family, devaluing himself by putting their needs completely
before his own. This may show Gregor’s loyalty and strong sense of duty to his
family; however, ironically, Gregor’s selfless nature is ultimately the cause
of Gregor’s loss of control over his own life.
This characteristic selflessness that Gregor possesses is sharply contrasted
against his family’s evident self-centredness. In fact, after Gregor’s
metamorphosis, “for two whole days there were family consultations...about how
they should cope [financially]”(24) rather than how they could help their son
Gregor. Their sense of self-preservation is stronger than their concern for
Gregor’s condition and this juxtaposition between their and Gregor’s character throughout
the novella demonstrates their alienation from Gregor as a brother and a son. It
is clear that, as their neglect of Gregor’s conditions heightens, Gregor
becomes increasingly devalued and alienated. In fact, as the family replaces
Gregor’s role in their lives, the reader sees an increase in the family’s
mistreatment of Gregor. Grete now “hurriedly shoved any old food into Gregor’s
room with her foot” and, “the cleaning up of Gregor’s room could not be done
more hastily” (41). Gregor is no more
than a nuisance. Even when Gregor
attempts to show “by his position in a sense to reproach her”, it has no
effect; “he could probably have stayed there for weeks without his sister’s
showing any improvement” (41). Grete’s actions and careless treatment of Gregor
reveal that the Samsa family does not truly care for Gregor as a son and that
they only previously valued Gregor as a breadwinner. Now that Gregor has no
role in their survival it is clear the Samsa family sees him as an “insect” and
not their son. As time wears on, Gregor’s metamorphosis may intensify his
alienation from his family, but ultimately, Gregor’s metamorphosis also only shows
him that he has been alienated from his family long before his transformation.
This is tragic as Gregor had set supporting their survival as his sole purpose
in life, and that causes Gregor to lose everything, including his own humanity.
As Kafka said the open quote, “By imposing too great a responsibility, or
rather, all responsibility, on yourself, you crush yourself.” We see this is true as Gregor’s father
literally throws an apple at Gregor and crushes him because Gregor merely
wanted to come out of his room. Kafka
uses the characterization of the Samsa family to demonstrate this.
Lastly,
absurdity is the third and perhaps one of the most interesting conventions
employed by Kafka to emphasize Gregor’s alienation. Absurdity emerges when what was irrational now
seems reasonable and where the reader is assured that an impossible and absurd
situation is completely normal. Gregor and his family’s casual acceptance of
Gregor’s metamorphosis suggests that his bizarre transformation is normal. Gregor’s acceptance of his metamorphosis
suggests that he is already devalued so much that he does not feel strange even
though he is now an insect. On the other
hand, the Samsa family’s reaction suggests a lack of care for Gregor as their
son. In this way, absurdity thus emphasizes Gregor’s alienation from his
humanity, family, and society as a whole. This device is introduced when
Gregor, on discovering his metamorphosis, expresses his desire to go “back to
sleep for a few minutes and forgetting all this nonsense” (1). This casual
reaction to his transformation creates the sense of absurdity; the reasonable
now seems irrational because the reader is assured of the normality of the
absurd situation through Gregor’s nonchalant reaction. Insects are small,
vulnerable creatures who live meaningless lives with no purpose other than to
survive. They are the lowest in the animal hierarchy, and no human would ever
want to form a bond with a roach.
Kafka’s choice to turn Gregor into a roach is to highlight the extreme
degree of Gregor’s alienation from society.
Absurdity is presented in the fact that Gregor is not fazed by his
transformation, indicating that Gregor feels that being an insect physically, is
normal since he has been one metaphorically for a long time now. Absurdity is
likewise used to reveal the lack of concern the Samsa family has for Gregor.
Even though Gregor can see “the hospital opposite” (28) his window, ironically,
the family never thinks to bring him there. The idea of absurdity is present in
that the family is acting as if everything is normal with Gregor despite his
transformation; Gregor is not even brought to the doctor for potential
treatment. The lack of consideration for this obvious solution demonstrates
that the family does not think Gregor’s condition strange or does not care
enough for Gregor to have time to worry about his condition. It is tragically
ironic that Gregor sacrifices his happiness for a family who does not return
his care. Gregor’s duty to his family causes him to sacrifice his own
happiness. However, by putting his family’s needs before his, he devalues
himself. Indeed, Gregor ironically seems more human than actual humans. For
example, when Grete plays her violin, the lodgers “were disappointed in their
expectations”, “anxiously watched” by Gregor’s parents (46). Only Gregor pays
attention and is moved by Grete’s music. One would think that, because he is a
bug, Gregor would not be moved emotionally by music- an appreciation for the
arts is a trait normally associated with human beings- but it is music is that
brings Gregor back to his humanity and identity. Interestingly, the return of
Gregor’s humanity also coincides with Gregor’s first ‘lack of consideration’;
for the first time, Gregor puts his needs before anyone else’s and this is the
first time that Gregor has not felt alienated. Through this use of absurdity throughout
the novella, and indeed through making the main conflict of the story a
situation of absurdity, the reader’s attention is drawn to the theme of
alienation. Kafka uses absurdity to express that, when one sacrifices their
total happiness in life for others, one becomes increasingly alienated from
everything, even from themselves and their humanity. Unfortunately, Gregor’s
break from his self-devaluation is only fleeting, and Gregor’s brief
demonstration of honouring his own desire, is subdued by his family’s subsequent
degradation of Gregor until the end of the novella when he chooses to die
rather than to burden his family.
In
summary, the central theme of Gregor’s alienation and dehumanization is revealed
by Kafka’s use of the literary conventions of symbolism, characterization, and absurdity.
All of the literary devices are used by
Kafka to present the message that when one sacrifices and devotes everything to
others in their life, one loses themselves. Thus, one must dedicate some time
towards themselves and their own happiness. When Gregor finally dies, he is
alienated and unwanted as a worker, a brother, and a son. Tragically, in the
end, it is the charwoman who disposes of his body saying ‘Look you don’t have
to worry about getting rid of the stuff next door. It’s already been taken care
of’ (54)- like a maid taking out the trash; one last act that emphasizes
Gregor’s alienation from his family and society as a whole. Perhaps here, Kafka
conveys the message that the only freedom from alienation is death.
