Story in the Floor Plan

Story in the Floor Plan

The firm hand of the architect draws straight lines on translucent paper. The lines intersect into corners—forming rooms. More lines intersect—forming more rooms. The rooms line up, one after another, leaving spaces for doors, naturally. The house is built. In The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, the narrator’s voice shadows this architect’s hand, ingraining the familial relationships and intentions of the Samsa family into the walls. The rooms of the architect are the vessels that the narrator fills with the virtuous and appalling intentions of the members of the Samsa family. In sum, the floor plan of the Samsa apartment and the family’s use of space in the apartment parallel their relationships with each other and intentions towards one other. In particular, the narrator reveals the relationship between Gregor and his parents as well as their intentions towards each other through the layout of the apartment.

The order of the rooms in the Samsa apartment demonstrates the relationships within the family. The main rooms are laid out linearly. The living room is the first room beyond the foyer (Kafka 16). Because Mr. Samsa and Mrs. Samsa primarily inhabit the living room, this room may represent them. There is a direct line through the foyer to Gregor’s room, and Grete’s room is exactly behind Gregor’s room (6; 11; 15).

The placement of the living room in front of Gregor’s room with respect to the foyer sets up the perception that Mr. and Mrs. Samsa are the dominant characters of the household. The living room leads to the outside room via the foyer, and thus, is the first room viewed by outsiders. This placement gives Mr. and Mrs. Samsa superiority over Gregor and Grete. For example, Gregor’s manager steps into the Samsa living room from the foyer and delivers “the first word of greeting” (9). This “first word of greeting” is of course directed at Mr. and Mrs. Samsa because they are the first people that the manager perceives upon entering the apartment. The initial perception of Mr. and Mrs. Samsa gives them dominance over the rest of the household.

However, the living room is just a façade on the face of the actual nucleus of the apartment—Gregor’s room. His room is the heart of the apartment while the living room is just the skin. Gregor’s room is physically the center—the nucleus—of the apartment. Gregor himself is also the nucleus of the family because he is the sole provider for his family.