Literary Analysis of Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis



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.

The Subway Terminal


I was here once.

In a place where there were no signs

No maps, No landmarks

Yet permanently embedded with the remains of all

who had passed

A grease-stained Chinese take-out box

A 10-pack of Ice Mint Marlboro cigarettes

The lingering scent of a divorced woman's Chanel No. 5

Scintillating with the perspiring brow

of a man who had spent a long day at a construction site

No lambent light needed to illuminate

the heavy yearning of the draft that

Whistled erratically through the cracks, bringing with it the past

The sound of aching ligaments and a lazy alcoholic's breath

The silver laugh of a child, the sound of a man's spit against a trash can, the light scent of lustful adultery, the constant

 rhythm of shoes to pavement, no time to stop

The screech of wheels to metal

grinding

to a halt

Constantly running

a race never won

Till death takes all

And only mere ghosts of those who passed remain here

Relics of days bygone.