Franz Kafka’s “Metamorphosis” in our life and interactions, Pt. 1

In this series of articles, I would like to show the connections between the concept of the famous novel “Metamorphosis”, and our every day social interactions.

Before I get started, “Metamorphosis”, written in 1925 by Franz Kafka, is considered to be one of the most prestigious novels of the 20th century’s literature, and Kafka builds its plot around the following absurd incident: Gregor, a young man who lives with his family, wakes up one day to realise that he has a body of a vermin. And from this starting point, the writer puts under harsh tests the relations of his protagonist, Gregor, with his close environment.

Despite the dramatic and horrifying impression imposed at a first glance, Kafka approaches the subject with a quite humorous and comical mood that wants to send a message though. For example, the very first thought of Gregor when he faces his new body, is if he is going to be late for work at the office (a work that he does not particularly enjoy as we learn) and if his delay will have an impact on his salary. So, we have a person that wakes up in a bug’s body and what frightens him the most is the reaction of his employer. And after that, comes the reaction of his family, which is completely based on Gregor’s salary to get through.

Bearing these in mind, we see that Gregor was totally neglecting himself during his past life. He was following a full-time, dead-end job he did not fancy, having to deal with a boss he could not bear, only to provide his family with the basics. In other words, he wasn’t living his life for the sake of his own. It was only after his Metamorphosis, that he started thinking about himself and how he could feel comfortable in his own room. In a way thus, we could say that his becoming a bug, actually helped him look after his own desires, even if he risked his relations with his close ones.

So, the questions that come on the surface and that will be analyzed in the next article, are the following: How possible is it that every person in today’s world, lives its life as Gregor did before his Metamorphosis? Are we living our life mainly for the sake of those who need us, rather than for our own selves and needs? And after all, should we follow our personal Metamorphosis, and face the respective consequences?

I leave you with this food for thought, until the next article.

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