Gregor's Reflection on Society through his Metamorphosis

The Metamorphosis is a novella written by Franz Kafka in 1912. The main character, Gregor, who experiences metamorphosis, is victimized throughout the remainder of his life as an insect. Although it was not his fault initially to become a vermin, he deals with it the best he possibly could; however, his family did not. As Gregor is growing more isolated from the household, the better off he is. He psychologically distances himself from others, hides underneath his couch, and hopes he would somehow reverse the metamorphosis and go to his old self. But as time passes by, Gregor stops fighting his inner battle and accepts the fact that he is no longer a part of the human race, which urges him to reminisce. Then, he finally realizes that the more he worked for the family, the less loved he was; he spent no quality time with them, but was always expected to bring home the money and work harder and harder, beyond his limits, which he mentions in the beginning of the novella: “Other traveling salesman live like harem women. For instance, when I come back to the inn during the course of the morning to write up the necessary orders, these gentlemen are just sitting down to breakfast. If I were to try that with my boss, I’d be thrown out on the spot”(3). Through his transofrmation into a hideous creature, i.e a veminous insect, Gregor becomes more similar to the rest of his surrounding and his metamorphosis depicts the failure of humanity as he becomes, in many ways, more human than the rest of of his family, while at the same time, altering his lifestyle to the one of a vermin.

“One morning, as Gregor Samsa was waking up from anxious dreams, he discovered that in bed he found himself transformed into a gigantic insect”(1). The opening ...

... middle of paper ...

...st of all, not appreciated. Perhaps, not even loved. Although he was hoping for a better future once he paid off his parents’ debts, to finally do something for himself and eventually, make a name for himself, the metamorphosis he experienced was a blessing in disguise. Despite being tortured and hurt in so many different ways, Gregor finally gets the opportunity to see the way he was treated from another perspective, and had learned that not everything is as good as it might seem. Chances are, he probably would have payed off the debt, but he would still need to continue to care for his family financially, thus, never reaching his goal or the desire that the woman in the fur boa represented for him. And although Gregor physically did not resemble a human by the end of his short life, he still showed more humanity, care and dignity, than the society did towards him.