The Metamorphosis Case

The Metamorphosis

The Metamorphosis, a tale of psychological terror by Franz Kafka, is a story of disconnect between body and mind. The author depicts a young man named Gregor Samsa as a lonely, family oriented, traveling salesman. This same salesman wakes up as a horrible creature in his family's home. Kafka employs the use of carefully selected details, characterization, and situational irony to depict Gregor Samsa's alienation before and after his transformation.

Kafka's writing has a strict realist style, with the exception of Gregor's transformation, "He uses a writing method that voids all aspects and elements of the story that defy interpretation." (Baston) and because of his style of writing it is easy to spot the symbols in his story. Gregors transformation seems to be the main source of all his troubles, although oddly enough, it is not the center focus of the story,  "Kafka refused to allow the image of the bug overpower the story by not permitting the publisher to illustrate it, which made the insect superfluous." (Baston). This detail alone allows the reader to concentrate on the other factors in the text. Throughout the story, there are very subtle indications of the horror about to take place within Gregor Samsa's life. The ugly weather Gregor wakes up to is the authors technique of bringing a sense of an ominous mood. Furthering the thought of the ominous mood with "Gregor tries to get back to sleep, his hope of "forgetting all this nonsense" suggesting escapism, but his insect form prevents him from attaining a comfortable position." (Dr.MichaelDelahoyde). Another symbol throughout the book is the cut out magazine picture on his wall. From the beginning, Kafka gives the reader a glimpse of the image as he vividly describes the picture. The picture, seemingly unimportant, later becomes Gregors' only escape from solitude. This same picture becomes the only thing comfortable to him, it becomes his sense of familiarity and normalcy. As the story progresses, Gregor seems to truly see his surroundings for the first time. Gregors' view from his bedroom is one that is both lonely, oppressive, and "a little on the small side"(3). The apartment though, is described as comfortable and spacious as Gregor has provided a decent home to place his family in. This detail in the story explains Gregors primary concern being his work which is then centered around money and appearances, much like the lady in the picture.

Gregor is characterized as a hard worker, and although his place of work is described to be a very strict, no nonsense environment, Gregor does not thrive there. Most of his ruminations concern his job: "the torture of traveling, worrying about changing trains, eating miserable food at all hours, constantly seeing new faces, no relationships that last or get more intimate" (Dr.MichaelDelahoyde).