The novella, Metamorphosis, written by Franz Kafka, talks about the bizarre story of Gregor Samsa after he turned into a disgusted bug. Gregor Samsa, once a traveling salesman, one day wakes up to discover he is transformed into a giant cockroach. His boss arrives and criticizes him for being late and acting unusually, even suggesting his job might be at risk. With difficulty, Gregor opens the door and tries to explain his dedication through a long speech. However, no one understands him, and his family is horrified by his ugly appearance while his boss flees in fear. Gregor gets injured squeezing back into his bedroom. Soon, Gregor discovers a preference for rotten food. Climbing a wall, he settles on a picture of a lady in a scarf. When his mother enters, she faints in terror. His father comes home, sees Gregor in a panic, and throws apples at hi,me, leaving him seriously injured. To make extra money, his family rents out rooms to three tenants, making Gregor feel more neglected. One evening, his sister Grete plays the violin for the tenants, and Gregor crawls out, scaring the lodgers away. His family resents him even more for this, and eventually, Gregor stops eating and dies. This novella reveals the reality that people in the society at that time were only interested in profit, worshiped money, and had no regard for true love and humanity, and were eventually deformed by society. Throughout this novella, four themes, including Alienation, Isolation, Family Dynamics, and Money Talk, constantly appear and intertwine with one another.
Alienation captures the experience of feeling misunderstood, excluded, or disconnected from what is meaningful. Individuals with the feelings of alienation from others because they view themselves as outsiders and feel unwelcome in specific parts of the society. Gregor previously worked as a traveling salesman to support his family. Suddenly one day Gregor transformed from a human into a repulsive cockroach. He could not go to work anymore, and he could not make money and work off the debts his father had. Why was Gregor changed into a cockroach, not something cute, like puppies or cats? Cockroaches are ugly creatures. Gregor’s transformation of becoming a disgusting bug reflects his mind is ugly. Furthermore, Gregor becoming a bug is also a way to punish himself. He works as a machine in the company, having no friends and no relationships with his colleagues. In his family, he is a tool for making money, paying off the debt his father has accumulated. So Gregor cannot recognize his position in either his family or his work. In reality, he cannot run away from the responsibilities and isolation. Therefore, Gregor is so hated inside himself. His transformation is just a physical manifestation of his hate for his family. Looking closely, readers can see that Gergor’s transformation is an extended metaphor of his self-reflection. Gregor thinks, “He must lie low for the present and, by exercising patience and the utmost consideration, help the family to bear the inconvenience he was bound to cause them in his present condition.” (Kafka, Part 2). Gregor alienates himself from others because he doesn’t like his family, and to avoid further complicating matters. Feeling alienated, an individual becomes an outsider, pushed to the edges of his own life, and unable to engage in everyday human activities that were once routine.
Isolation refers to the condition of being detached from others, whether in a physical sense or on an emotional level, which can result in experiences of loneliness. Isolation limits social interactions and emotional support, essential human needs, fostering loneliness and exacerbating the feelings of inadequacy. Before changing into a bug, Gregor is already isolated. He has no friends at work, no time for romantic relationships. Also, his relationship with his family is not so close either. After his change, he officially becomes a burden to the family, and the family members lose their patience towards Gregor. Everybody wants to be loved and cared for, not neglected and isolated. But Gregor, before the change, doesn’t have the choice because he is very busy at making money for the family and paying off his father’s debts. This leaves no time for Gregor to make friends or romantic partners. Theoretically, Gregor’s father should appreciate what Gregor has done for him. But ironically, his father never mentions his debt. His father just thinks that Gregor as his son needs to pay the debt back. He takes Gregor as grant, and never considered Gregor’s feelings. After the change, family members have to do a lot of things for Gregor like Grete moving around the furniture for him to crawl around, or feeding him food. Gradually, Gregor becomes a burden to the family. Now since Gregor is a bug, he cannot be self-independent. The family needs to go out to work to support Gregor. In addition, family members become impatient to help Gregor take care of him on a daily basis, his father throwing an apple at a sensitive spot of Gregor's bug form. Obviously, before the change, Gregor’s feeling of isolation is inevitable. However, as time goes on, the feeling of isolation gets bigger and bigger. After the change, the isolation is even worse. His family says, “You amaze me, you amaze me. I thought you were a quiet, dependable person, and now all at once you seem bent on making a disgraceful exhibition of yourself.” (Kafka, Part 1). His family hates him for all the economic damage he has done to them, never holding any emotional value to Gregor. The sense of isolation reflects the existential loneliness that many people experience, even when they are surrounded by others.
A drastic change in one family’s membe’s situation could drastically alter the dynamics within the family. Such family dynamics shift revealing underlying tensions, dependence, the neglect, and even resentment as the family struggles to adapt to the new reality. Before going through the metamorphosis, Gregor’s status in his family is determined by the amount of money Gregor makes. Gregor holds all the responsibility with only a little love and appreciation. After the metamorphosis, Gregor is no longer useful for the family, so nobody in the family cares about him. Thus, Gregor just stays inside the room. Before the change, Gregor is the master of the family because he makes the money in the family. Gregor is the main income for the family. Thus, all the family members respect him. The family gives him the largest bedroom, and probably the best room in the apartment. However, after his transformation, family dynamics shifted. Gregor’s sister, Grete, becomes the master of the house, because now she makes the most money by showcasing her violin talents in front of others in order to get money. Also, she provides for the tenants, so gradually the family begins to put the focus on her, which meant that Gregor had to stay in a room and not come out. Because Gregor is no longer useful, nobody in the family cares about him, so Gregor just stays inside the room. Now Gregor is a parasite; Gregor now is completely relying on others, which is opposite to his previous situation."What a quiet life our family has been leading," said Gregor to himself, and as he sat there motionless staring into the darkness he felt great pride in the fact that he had been able to provide such a life for his parents and sister in such a fine flat. But what if all the quiet, the comfort, the contentment were now to end in horror?” (Kafka, Part 2) Gregor’s lack of freedom to act as well as his family’s growing frustrations toward him are factors that eventually cause his death. His family doesn’t really care about him. Indeed, a significant change in a family member’s circumstances can profoundly impact the entire family’s dynamics.
Money plays a crucial role in human lives, influencing access to resources like food and opportunities. When money is lacking, it often becomes the primary source of stress for a family, causing arguments, resentment, and emotional exhaustion for family members. After Greg's transformation, he has to rely completely on his family, just as his family relied on his salary before. His sense of responsibility for his family is more worrying than his strange physical changes. His sister Grete, his mother, and his father are unable to consider or treat him as they did before. The change in their attitudes is largely determined by the family situation and social environment they are in. Grete is the most thoughtful, putting aside her prejudices and bringing him the rotten food he likes. Before, Gregor was the master of the family, getting the largest room and the family respects him. However, after the metamorphosis, he begins to lose his status in the family since he doesn’t make money anymore. His family was very practical about money, immediately moving on from his metamorphosis. The family members hate Gregor not because he becomes a bug. It is because he is useless and he is consuming. Gregor is no longer supporting his family. He was no longer able to make money for the family, and he made any source of income impossible, since he scared away the tenants. Finally, he needed to be fed, which meant that they had to use money. Because of these three reasons, his status in the family slowly drops. What is the reason behind the alienation, isolation, and cold family relationship? He is sometimes guilty about that fact, as shown, “At first whenever the need for earning money was mentioned Gregor let go his hold on the door and threw himself down on the cool leather sofa beside it, he felt so hot with shame and grief.” (Kafka, Part 2) Gregor’s first thought after being turned into a cockroach is to worry about the family’s financial situation, now that he cannot work. Financial difficulties can hinder a family’s ability to afford essentials such as food and shelter as well as increase conflicts within a family.
“The Metamorphosis” represents the testament of true love under various circumstances, and how people can abstain from it just because of disgust. People often will betray others for other personal gain such as in monetary means. Gregor’s family provides no value to him, as his family doesn’t really love him, and see him more as a tool for earning money. When he is turned into a bug, they don’t really care for him anymore. It proves how human love is very fragile, and once something changes, they will abandon it for their own good. Gregor always has the best intentions, but he fails to communicate them effectively, and always makes blunders that increase his family's difficulties. Thus, his family rejects him. In other words, coldness kills Gregor, and the source of the coldness is money. All the relationships in his works or family are all established on money. Everyone is pursuing money and nobody cares about love. Gregor does not find his own identification. Gregor does not have a normal relationship with people. Instead, in Gregor's mind it is all about hatred. That's why Gregor feels isolated. I mean Gregor feels isolated before the change. But after the change the feeling of isolation is even worse. Those all combined together explain that Gregor's death is inevitable.
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