The Metamorphosis
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Many people go through drastic changes in their lives trying to get away from their past when they have haunting memories caused from a tragedy or a past relationship. We go to great lengths to attempt to change or forget what has happened before, but it always seems to fail because our minds cannot simply forget these events that rip and tear at us from the inside. In Franz Kafkas The Metamorphosis, Kafka explores the absurdity of life through Gregors transformation as he struggles with himself and the outside world around him.
In this story Kafka writes about a dream that he had years earlier. He tells the story just as the dream occurs and shows how ones troubles can push them so far these influences will affect the people who love them the most.
Kafka first begins his absurd writings with aspects of dreams or nightmares that cause him great hurt, but makes them think about and learn from the dreams hidden meanings.
Kafkas stories have often been compared to dreams or nightmares, but the analogy has seldom been elaborated. We may here take the opportunity of inspecting the actual mechanics of the dream-logic – the pseudo-logic, the subrational thought – with which not only The Metamorphosis but Kafkas whole work is saturated (Flores 111).
Dreams and nightmares represent absurdity or the unrealistic aspects and desires of the human mind. Kafka shows how peoples lives can be based on something completely unreal and not focused on any of the actual important opportunities that people allow to pass right by them.
Waking and finding himself supernaturally, unmistakably, and disgustingly transformed, Gregor shows concern only with the weather, his job, the train he missed, and the best method of getting out of bed: in other words, he automatically displaces his attention on to inessentials, on to peripheral details of his situation, distributing and reducing his manifest emotion accordingly (Flores 111).
Kafka displays the way the human mind avoids the important thoughts if they are hurtful or damaging to the normal routine of the daily lifestyle. Gregor focuses on these small problems instead of the most important problem, that he has been transformed into a measly bug. This extraordinary change begins to affect the ones around him quickly and harshly.
Gregors family is greatly affected by his metamorphosis and struggles to try and deal with the situation calmly. Each of the family members deals with the situation much differently than the next because each of them looks at the circumstances in different ways.
The mother represents the possibility of salvation; in this case salvation from writing. She holds out the hope that Gregor as the monstrous bug, as the distorted metaphor, the unrepresentable can still exercise a useful and salutary activity within the realms of the family and language. She tries to treat Gregor the monster as if he were nothing but her son – opposes emptying his room of furniture for fear that he will miss it. However she cannot bear to look at him, at his monstrosity, cannot bear to see him as he is (Gross 81).
Gregors mother obviously suffers from Gregors transformation and attempts to deal with the situation with the best of her abilities. She only makes Gregors attempt to escape worse because it is not working as he planned and he is greatly affected by her repulsion of his drastic changes. “The sister, almost from the outset, ministers to the needs of her brother as vermin – brings him garbage to eat, clears his room of furniture so the he can move freely over the walls” (Gross 81). Gregors sister seems to accept his transformation easier than his mother. This is true because his sister is less mature and does not see it as such a tragedy as a more mature adult would. His sister does not realize the reality so she treats him the same as she had before. As the novel progresses, Gregor further troubles his whole family with his new disgusting form.
Gregor attempts to become closer with his sister to get a sense of normalcy. “But although Gregor no longer wishes to remain in the ordinary world, he continues, consciously or unconsciously, to articulate his desires for the Outside – for his sister – in terms of that world, in terms of power and utility” (Gross 82). “He would never let her out of his room, at least, not so long as he lived; his frightful appearance would become, for the first time, useful to him; he would watch all the doors of his room at once and spit at intruders” (Kafka 131). Gregor is in need of attention or connection with others so desperately that he keeps his sister in his room for long stretches of time. As Kafka says, Gregors disgusting features finally become useful to him which shows he is beginning to adapt to his new form. Since his attempts at escaping life failed he has to find new ways to live with what he is given; he is too ugly to be seen in the outside world so he uses his sister to get this so desired connection.
Gregor is becoming completely separated from his family. When his cleanliness is gone he begins to feel alone and worthless because he has been rejected by the only people left that love him. These events destroy any chance of Gregor having any happiness when he is surrounded by his confused and hurt family.
The very possibility of integration with the family is destroyed when Gregor undergoes a gradual symbolic castration-feminization at the hands of his father. First his father threatens him, then makes him bleed by roughly pushing his through the narrow door to his room and finally permanently cripples him by embedding an apple in his back. The wound in his back prevents Gregor from ever cleaning himself and thus deprives him of the only means he had of being presentable to the household (Gross 82).
Gregors father has betrayed Gregor, making his transformation even more painful and his struggle harder. The family does not know how to react with Gregors transformation. His father responds with anger and physically injures Gregor, pushing him further into depression. Pushing Gregor through the narrow doorway symbolizes Gregor being backed into a corner, getting more and more cramped with every hurtful act his family bestows upon him because of the pain his father causes him, Gregor wishes he could get away from everything that causes him hurt, which is the entire world.
Through Kafkas dream we see how his life has been full of struggle with his family and he expresses it through Gregor. He puts Gregor in his own shoes and shows how he is treated and how he feels about it. Now that he has been completely rejected from his family Gregor has to make a very important decision and the choice he makes may change his life forever.
Kafkas