The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka — What is it about?
When I first started reading this book, I couldn’t quite comprehend what was happening, there were many questions which the writer didn’t seem to answer well. The descriptions were unspecific and ambiguous, as if some important parts had gone missing in the PDF that I was reading. So I went through a lot of reviews on this book after finishing it and I was awed by the genius writing which felt dry and boring at first but pitched insane questions when one reflected upon it. Here’s a part of what I collected from my understanding and from what all I read:
The story starts with a character turning into a giant bug overnight for reasons unknown to him. It feels absurd (one can argue that it is) at first, like something we hear in fairy tales where humans can transform into devilish creatures. He feels very uncomfortable in controlling this new weird body, and still goes back to sleep somehow. Him not being too shocked is what shocks me as a reader. Even his family members reorient themselves around this misfortune after a brief shock. A mockery of how we don’t question much in our lives, the ‘hows’ and ‘whys’ of our own existence and thus keep getting pushed around as mere toys of fate. More importantly, it stands to remind that life goes on, irrespective of how unreasonably bad things have been with you, the world won’t pause, those around you won’t pause and ultimately another definition of ‘normal’ will befall your life.
So, of course, the metamorphosis that has happened here isn’t supposed to be a literal one, it can be taken as an allegory of someone who’s suffered an unexpected accident crippling him for life, be it in mental (depression), physical (disability), social (alienation or treatment as an outcast) or spiritual (existential crisis) terms. It reflects how “random and meaningless shocks” in our life trigger realisations that would have remained shrouded in the name of ‘practicality’ otherwise.
It can be taken as a hit on mental illness, as to how his mother kept hoping that he would return to normal someday, in a similar way how we keep telling the people suffering mentally to ‘get over it’ as if it’s something they can control. Also, the taboos that are attached to mental illness which make people attempt to hide it from the society resonates with how Gregor is kept hidden and locked away in a room. On another note, his changed insect voice, that’s become impossible to understand is a metaphor for miscommunication which makes us distant and unapproachable to others.
This story thus raises a question on the identity of being human, since the narration is from Gregor’s (who got turned into a bug) point of view, we are able to empathize with him, because we are made to believe that he’s a human who’s now trapped in the body of a bug. Though towards the end of the story, we see that his sister refers to him as ‘it’ rather than ‘him’. With his body and voice changed and his new kind of disgusting preferences, cravings and needs like that of rotten food, crawling up and down the walls and ceiling, wanting to get rid of the furniture in his room that he has been using all his life, he has become everything that he was not before the metamorphosis. And still, he thinks of himself as himself because he has memories that make him believe in his identity as Gregor and not as a despicable insect.
The ending is somewhat sad since Gregor dies as a bug, bearing loathing until the end from his loved ones, whom he had once dedicated his life to. But the ending is also hopeful, with the family having found a new life, his parents who once seemed helplessly dependent on Gregor are now comfortable in working, and his sister who was portrayed as a sobbing teenager, is now ladylike and ready to enter a new phase of her life.
There are a thousand ways in which this story can be interpreted, the writer has not directed any ‘correct’ way to think about it, everything is left subtle, no special beauty in writing style, no intricate plot to be amazed by, and still a lot to be comprehended, to be pondered upon.
NOTE — Many readers suggest that this story is a reflection of Kafka’s own life story and his relations with his father. It is also believed that Kafka was inspired by Sigmund Freud’s works and depicts his theories in subtle references like the continuous mention of ticking time in the initial pages which might be a symbol of him growing up.
