Gregor Samsa Flaws

“One morning, as Gregor Samsa was waking up from anxious dreams, he discovered that in bed he had been changed into a monstrous verminous bug” (Kafka). What just happened? Has Gregor really become a bug? This story, The Metamorphosis, is about Gregor Samsa who deals with a job he hates in order to financially support his family and pay off their debt. The story is told through the lens that is Gregor Samsa. As the eyes and ears of the story, Gregor tells the reader many things that all lead to one conclusion, he really has become a bug; however, this is not true, Gregor, in his current mental state, cannot be trusted. Due to the extreme amounts of stress Gregor is under, he has convinced himself that he has become a “monstrous verminous bug” and Kafka tries to convince the reader of that same fact (Kafka).

Throughout

the beginning of the story, Gregor explains to the reader several factors causing him stress.

First, Gregor mentions that traveling causes him stress. He says he has to deal with the “worries about train connections” (Kafka). If Gregor misses his train even one time, as he did in the story, one of the managers will confront him. After being a good employee for “five year[s]” and never reporting in “sick[,] even once” it would be thought that Gregor’s boss would let him off the hook, but instead, as Gregor puts it, if he called in sick, “The boss would certainly come with the doctor from the health insurance company and would reproach his parents for their lazy son and cut short all objections with the insurance doctor’s comments; for him everyone was completely healthy but really lazy about work” (Kafka). Having this kind of boss is bound to cause Gregor a surplus of stress. Along with trains, Gregor must also deal with the stress of “temporary and constantly changing human relationships which never come from the heart” (Kafka). As a salesman, Gregor must act as if his customer is his best friend in order to have a higher

chance of making a sale. Doing this, consistently, for five years would cause more stress than the traveling itself and could cause the salesman, in this case, Gregor, to forget what a real friend is. One example that Kafka gives to show Gregor’s stress is the scene when Gregor is asked to open his bedroom door, “‘Gregor, open the door, I beg you.’ Gregor had no intention of opening the door, but congratulated himself on his precaution, acquired from traveling, of locking all doors during the night, even at home.” Gregor’s habit of locking the doors, even at home, shows how just much stress he is under. Due to all of this built up stress, Gregor has forced himself to believe that he has become a Monstrous Vermin. Being under large amounts of stress for an extended period of time can cause mental abnormalities.
“Some people experience personality changes in response to stress hormones” (“Mental and Emotional”). According to this statement, if Gregor is under enough stress his personality could change. This could cause him to believe he is a Monstrous Vermin. If he were to believe he has become a Monstrous Vermin, it could only be assumed that even though he is not one, he would, subconsciously, begin acting as if he is. His behavior would change to favor dark cramped spaces. His diet would match that of a bu, as a Monstrous Verminous bug would not have the same diet as a human. Gregor would become a completely different person and would most likely terrify his family. Using examples throughout the story, Kafka tries to deceive the reader into believing that Gregor really has become a bug.
Kafka tries to make the reader believe that Gregor is a bug. One example of this is when Gregor is given many different options for food, he eats the food that no human would be able to tolerate. This scene is referring to the fact that many beetles eat “dung” (“Critter Catalog”); however, it has nothing to do with Gregor actually being a bug, instead it has to do with the fact that since Gregor believes he is a bug, his mind will no longer allow him to eat a normal human diet. As time goes by, Gregor slowly gets more disgusting due to not cleaning himself. This is why nobody can stand being in the same room as Gregor, he not only looks disgusting but actually is. When Gregor leaves his room, his dad attacks him because they are all afraid of him due to how he looks and acts. They do not know what he will do in his current mental state.
The main character of The Metamorphosis, Gregor Samsa, is put under a massive amount of stress for an extended period of five years. This stress causes his personality to change making him believe he has been transformed into a Monstrous Vermin. Kafka uses many examples to convince the reader that Gregor, in fact, has become a Monstrous Vermin; however, this is Kafka’s deception. Gregor has not become a Monstrous Vermin, but now that he believes he has, Gregor subconsciously acts like a one. This causes everyone, including his family, to be afraid of him. In the end of the story, Gregor’s mental change cost him his life, allowing his family to be free of the torture he had begun causing them.