The Diary of Gregor Samsa in The Metamorphosis

Statement of Intent

While acknowledging that most narratives written in the third person can be adequately revealing, and that a third perspective is sometimes necessary or even essential to the success of a particular narrative; taking into account the context, themes, and symbols of this work, I strongly believe that a personal diary would be imperative if one was seeking to decode some of the underlying emotions, thoughts, and experiences that can be overshadowed by a lack of a first person point of view in the body of a work. Another reason for this approach is that there is a strong correlation between a diary and discovering the workings and development of one’s actions and objectives, and that is exactly what needs exploration in this work. The diary will focus on significant events in Gregor’s life from his perspective in an effort to add another dimension to my interpretation of the text, and to further strengthen the thesis of this evaluation.

I feel a great urge to recount to you the strange events that have occurred in my life thus far, and that have transformed me so utterly to a state of incompetence and inaction. I feel deep inside my heart, that my days are numbered, and that before I should be consumed by an overpowering force and new order of movement— that I have come to convince myself, have been the foremost product of my own hands—I should leave you and others with a tale of my metamorphosis.

Not too long ago, I transformed into the most treacherous of creatures! I had not anticipated it. Indeed scarcely would I have conceived that a day and a time like this would come that I would not be the productive man that I am. Not even my family saw it coming;...

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...lude the fact that even in his new form, Gregor still makes sacrifices in that he secludes himself from his family so as not to cause even more grief by inconveniencing them, despite desperately yearning for affection and sympathy himself; or the fact that he is racked by guilt every time that the family mentions money or that he thinks about the pain that he has inflicted on them by losing the ability to support them by no fault of his. Hence, his family worries about the affects of his metamorphosis on them personally, as suppose to what it means for Gregor. Thus, as this diary illustrates, it was Gregor’s father, mother, and sister whose metamorphosis was the most profound because they demonstrated how easily one’s beliefs, values, and basic treatment of others can be compromised because of a failure to adapt to change.

Works Cited

The Elephant Vanishes