Analysis Of Gregor Samsa In The Metamorphosis By Franz Kafka

A caged animal will go crazy in captivity, no matter how nice that cage may be. Gregor Samsa from The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka is that creature in captivity. After transforming into a large insect Gregor’s connection to the outside world and his family disintegrates. The loss of appetite, insomnia, and human interaction work to destroy Gregor’s humanity, leaving an empty shell of what the salesman used to be. The isolation of Gregor Samsa after his metamorphosis leave many negative repercussions on his mind, just like it would do to any other sane person.

Many scholarly writers such as Robbie Batson believe that Gregor is an extension of Kafka himself, both having been traveling salesmen, similar family life with an abusive father, a dependent mother, and although Kafka had three sisters he had a close relationship with Ottilla like that of Grete and Samsa. Kafka even is similar to Samsa in spelling, almost like a cryptogram(Barfi, Azizmohammadi, and Kohzadi). As the breadwinner in his house, both Kafka and Gregor had the responsibility of taking care of their family through

States who see it as a “dream experience”(qtd, in Chenoweth, The Threats of Sleep). This dream experience is shown by a dreamer believing wholeheartedly that what they are dreaming is completely real. Because Gregor is continuously in a dream-like state, he is unable to truly sleep and “he [loses] grip on life and humanity”(Chenoweth). When Gregor awakens to find he is a bug, he believes that he has been transformed and punished because of his sleep, making Gregor fear sleep just as Kafka did in his life. In both of their struggles with escaping sleep there was a need for it, Kafka felt that it was vital for his writing, but also that “perhaps insomnia itself is a sin. Perhaps it is a rejection of the natural”(Fraiberg 32). For Gregor he could not find comfort in