Metamorphosis Kafka Analysis

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

Analysis of the story “The Metamorphosis”, by Franz Kafka was written back in the early 1900’s, but reflected a more modern way of thinking and lifestyle of today. Gregor felt that he was a slave to his job, isolated from his co-workers, and misunderstood by his family. Although that is the norm in today’s society, it was not the norm back then. In the story Gregor finds himself transformed into a cockroach and his internal struggles become a permanent reality. Kafka’s choice of the family member to play the role of the cockroach was necessary in portraying the curse of the working man only living each day in hurried lifestyle with no freedom.

In the early 1900’s people were content with the simple pleasures in life. They spent their time with family and friends, instead of the engaged in electronics. It is during this time of family devotion and satisfaction with the things they had in life that Kafka wrote a story about a man who continued to work a job where he felt alienated and unappreciated. The story portrays a loathsome image of the internal struggles that the workforce is soon to face when Gregor states, “The work is so much more strenuous than it would be in head office, and then there’s the additional ordeal of traveling, worries about train connections, the irregular, bad meals, new people all the time, no continuity, no affection,” (Puchner, Kafka, 2012, p211). Then he continues his internal self-sabotage when saying “If I tried that out with my director some time: it would be the order of the boot just like that… once I’ve got the money together to pay back what my parents owe (my boss)… Then we will have the parting of the ways. But for the time being, I’d better look sharp,...

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...he brothers refused to let this happen and joined forces with the councilors to force Sebembele to renounce Rankwana and the child. He was portrayed as weak for letting a woman control his actions and thoughts. Sebembele repeated throughout the story, “I don’t know what to do” (Puchner, Head, 2012) which became his mantra.

In Conclusion, Sebembele in the end knew what he had to do. He had done a dishonest thing by being with his father’s wife, but he found peace by deciding to stand tall and follow his instincts rather than following the rules of the council. The camp that sided with Sebembele agreed that the brothers were at the bottom of all this, making trouble for all of them (Puchner, Head, 2012). They could try to make Sebembele look bad for being indecisive by letting a woman affect him, but his final decision to stay with her made him the better man.