Examples Of Dehumanization In The Metamorphosis By Franz Kafka

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In The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, Gregor Samsa is dehumanized after and prior to turning into a giant insect. Before his transformation, Gregor had a lonely and tiring life of being a commercial traveler, paying off his parents debt. He always worried about the train connections in his constant traveling, and was not able to become intimate friends with his casual acquaintances. Before his transformation, Gregor feels dehumanized because of the constant pressure from his boss and family to do his job. After Gregor wakes up and realizes that he has been transformed into a bug, he starts to worry about how he will go to work in order to provide for his family. He debates about calling in sick as he thinks ”The chief himself would be sure …show more content…

His family used to care about him but after the transformation, they were no longer concerned for him. Every time the family talks about money, Gregor feels guilty and embarrassed because he can no longer provide for them. When he was able to work before, he had brought money home and “They had simply got used to it, both the family and Gregor; the money was gratefully accepted and gladly given, but there was no special uprush of warm feeling” (Kafka Ch 2 pg 6). Now that he can no longer provide, the family had to come up with ways to keep up with finances. Gregor is dehumanized each time his sister Grete walks into the room to look after him because she cannot bear the sight of him so he hides each time. Each day following Gregor’s transformation, the family’s behavior towards him became more cynical and resentful towards him. They do not allow him to leave his room and worry about how they can go on living with him. They think of him as being a creature, losing their view of him as a human being and no longer important. When Grete decided to take his furniture out of his room, Gregor feels he is dehumanized because they are taking away the link to his humanity. When it came to Gregor’s father, Gregor would “run before his father, stopping when he stopped and scuttling forward again when his father made any kind of move.” His father then threw at apple at him which ‘landed right on his back and sank in; Gregor wanted to drag himself forward, as if this startling, incredible pain could be left behind him” (Kafka Ch 2 pg

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