What is your biggest fear? Spiders? Snakes? Heights? I would likely say something similar before I read Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis and learned of a more terrifying fear. Gregor Samsa is a working man, who wakes up one morning to find himself transformed into a large insect. As a result, he begins to lose his sense of self as well as his relationships with his loved ones. Samsa’s fate is scarier than his physical transformation as it is truly the fear of becoming an unloved burden by those close to you that haunts me.
After this life-altering change in Samsa’s life, he remains in bed contemplating his missed train and his job as a salesman, and how it will be impacted by his new form. His family and the Chief Clerk from his job wait outside his door, unable to understand his voice and concerned about his well-being. He finally emerges from his room after stalling, scaring away the Clerk, and disturbing his family. He returns to sleep until waking up to food left out by his sister, Grete. Despite being a large insect, he still is concerned with his family’s affairs as seen through him overhearing his family’s monetary discussions, learning that they will need to make changes to accommodate Gregor’s inability to work. His father begins to work again, making him angrier and more irritable, even resorting to attacking Gregor by throwing apples at him after a misunderstanding. Grete begins to move things out of his room to give him space, but it only makes him feel less human. She was the only one who took any interest in caring for him, but she progressively takes less interest in him over time, seeing him more as a chore than the brother she once knew. He finally becomes completely isolated from his loved ones. Due to his family’s financial struggles, they allow three people to stay at their house to earn some extra money, but when they see Gregor, they are disgusted and leave without paying. He at last returns to his room where he dies alone, with his family viewing his passing as a burden being lifted off of them. They turn their focus to their daughter, Grete, and her future, forgetting their son who worked tirelessly to provide for all of them until he no longer could.
The Metamorphosis has a way of making its absurd premise almost normal by how scarily relatable and realistic the characters behave given their circumstances. Samsa’s prioritization of his family and their financial security, even though he hated his job, is a relatable experience for many. He has a sense of guilt for the burden that he has placed on them even though it was uncontrollable for him. His insect form is used as a vessel to represent his forgone humanity, as he clings to his possessions to stay in touch with it. His family’s disgust and aversion towards him only intensify as the story progresses, showcasing how his value is contingent on him providing for them. This is at the heart of the critique of the idea of the working man as his value is entirely identified as his ability to provide for the business he works for and those around him. The society that he lives in defines people by their productivity over their value of humanity, much like our own. The idea that love from close friends and even one’s own family can be conditional upon such things defines the story’s horror and makes it a scarily accurate depiction of the world we live in and what can happen to any of us.
