The Metamorphosis.  A story of betrayal, of one cockroach’s love for his human family despite hardship, of agonizing loneliness. 

Franz Kafka. A life of unmet expectation, depressing feelings of inadequacy, and solitude.

To take this psychological novella for its mere face value is to, in essence, de-value it.  The stark, too-ordinary language confuses the reader into a lulled sense of comfort, and the confusion of both the protagonist and the author, himself, is hidden under layers of meaning.  Who exactly does Gregor Samsa represent?  One day, he finds himself an insect in an all-too-human world.  Slowly, we discover that it is not Gregor who is bestial; it is his parents, his sister, his boss, the three tenants.  These people are the ones who objectify, who are never satisfied, who crush the feelings of others and root out the very essence of humanity—love.  Gregor, on the other hand, becomes physically more and more cockroach-like while his mind grows more human by the day.  This sharp contrast encompasses the main question of The Metamorphosis: What is humanity? What defines a human?

If Gregor is rejected due to his insect-figure, his lack of voice, and his inability to communicate does this make him any more likely to have defective ears?  Does this assure that he has also lost his intelligence and his human mind as well?  Grete Samsa would be likely to say an adamant “yes,” for though she “knew him best,” Grete was completely unaware of the tenderness of each of her brother’s actions.  The humility and the generosity of Gregor’s actions were always hidden by his hard shell exterior and his disgusting cockroach odor.

Franz Kafka, too, lived in a family in which he constantly struggled to reach out to his loved ones, namely his domineering father. Like Mr. Samsa in The Metamorphosis, Mr. Kafka was strict and always beat his son back, never listening to Franz Kafka’s pleas for love and affection.  Described in terms of war and battle, Mr. Samsa was always ready to “kill” the joy and life of his son, Gregor.  This same rejection of love caused Kafka, too, to fall into feelings of inadequacy and a state of depression.  How much of Gregor Samsa is Kafka?  Interestingly, if Kafka believed that Gregor was a Jesus-figure, one who died with “deep emotion and love” in his heart, despite all the difficulties of his hard life, and if Kafka related to this cockroach-man character he created, then perhaps, Kafka, too, felt his life was worth something.  Kafka may have compared himself to the holy character of Jesus to gain a desire to live and prove something, rather than to commit suicide and end his tortured life.

One of the most interesting aspects of The Metamorphosis is the way this short novella comes around in full circle.  We find that in the beginning of the literary work, Gregor’s parents are continually leeching off of him, completely dependent upon the money that Gregor brings home.  Thus, Gregor lives with a constant feeling of responsibility for parents that should have been able to help themselves survive.  This catch-22 situation traps Gregor at home, keeps him from gaining a relationship of his own (and perhaps making his own family), and transforms his mentality into that of a bug—a mindless, worker-bee creature.  When Gregor really does gain the body of an insect, his family is once again forced to work and for once, Gregor can regain himself, as a human being.  Yet, the victory is short-lived, as his parents (and the rest of society) would much rather have a worker bee as a son and employee than a living, breathing, thinking human.  The Metamorphosis thus serves as a criticism to the incoming Industrial Revolution that took over the world during the early 1900s and objectified human beings who often became just numbers in the massive technological boom.  At the end of the novella, the reader is exposed to the harsh truth as the Samsa parents once again objectify: this time, as they ponder the possibilities of arranging their daughter’s marriage to trap another son (a son-in-law) into their scheming web.  Grete becomes a source of money, and only this excites Mr. and Mrs. Samsa enough to be hopeful for the future.  Indeed, the novel revolves around the necessity of money which seems to trap each character into his/her overwhelming life. 

The Metamorphosis is a novel of many facets, many ideas, and many connections.  Through it, we can also look into the life of Kafka, himself.