The Metamorphosis
October 22, 2014
In Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, he starts off with a very descriptive introduction by describing the transformation of Gregor Samsa’s. I was surprised that Samsa was not worried why he transformed into a cockroach, but went back to sleep hoping that everything will be fine after he wakes up. He is more worried about oversleeping and being late for work. While reading the text, I was always asking myself why isn’t Gregor’s family members asking what happened. They are more worried about the money Gregor provided with his job and treated him as an actual insect. However, his mother and sister show some sympathy towards Gregor, but the father does not allow them to visit him. Throughout the text, Gregor learns more about himself and his family.
Kafka later describes how the life of a cockroach by writing about the daily tasks and what Gregor went through with his family. His family treated him indifferently and forced him to stay in his room. The transformation really changed Gregor as the text goes on. He starts losing his appetite for actual human food and starts feeling off of scraps and garbage. He also goes under the couch and hide from his parents while his sister Grete slips food under the couch. Throughout the text, I feel that there is a theme of loneliness, even before Gregor transformed into an insect. The mother tells his manager how Gregor is shy and not outgoing. After the transformation, everyone was afraid of him and didn’t want to interact with him at all.
October 26th, 2014 at 1:07 pm
I was surprised too since Gregor was pretty indifferent to his transformation. You would expect that some one would freak out about turning into a cock roach but Gregor pretty much slept it off like you accurately said. I wonder why Kafka wrote the story in such a manor that made Gregor seem indifferent to his transformation into something as hideous as a cockroach. Maybe we’ll never know. I also like how you accurately describe this transformation and how it dehumanizes Gregor as he explores the life of being an insect. It’s kind of sad that he had to go through this transformation and not see any positive outcome even towards the end of the story.
October 27th, 2014 at 8:24 pm
I also noticed that the very first paragraph of Kafka’s text was vital due to the fact that it vividly described Gregor’s major transformation. When Gregor didn’t show much concern about his appearance as an insect, it made me question whether Gregor was a “mentally” normal human being or not. Since Gregor was mainly affected by the idea of him not making any money anymore and losing his job, it shows that Gregor doesn’t really care about the way he looks, but instead is more materialistic. I also would agree that Gregor does feel isolated from reality before his change because of what his mother said about him not going out a lot.
November 10th, 2014 at 12:30 pm
I am also very much surprised with Gregor’s carefree reaction to his sudden change. He is very clam and does not even question about his change into cockroach. He rather panics at the thought of being late to work. He is so carefree about his appearance that he does not think of why it happened or what to do next to cure it. Similarly, his family are also not shocked about Gregor’s appearance. They never seek help or advice but rather feels ashamed and disguised. For gregor’s family, he was only a source to money which is transferred to Grete after his change. When Grete starts to make money, Gregor is fully ignored and left to die.