Fantasy In Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis

Fantasy often reveals the hidden realities of life. In Franz Kafka’s magnum opus The Metamorphosis, the protagonist Gregor Samsa is transformed into a very large insect and tragically dies after his family rejects his new situation. It begins right into the fantasy element, with the first sentence being “One morning, upon awakening from agitated dreams, Gregor Samsa found himself, in his bed, transformed into a monstrous vermin.” (Part I,pg.1204) Even with the fantastical elements, much deeper themes emerge from it. This story is very abstract, but it reveals very subtle realities of Gregor’s tragic life. Kafka has even stated “The terror of art, the dream that reveals the reality.” Kafka’s quote perfectly describes The Metamorphosis as a whole. The Metamorphosis explores the theme of inept familial relationships by using the fantastical elements of the story as a way of revealing the reality of how dysfunctional families are life-threatening to an individual. Reality is often seen through familial relationships. Throughout Kafka’s story, Gregor’s family realizes that he is the only person that provides for the family. Even though he is miserable as a traveling salesman, Gregor realizes this too. For
Franz Kafka brilliantly used fantastical elements in order to reveal deeper themes in his work, especially with the characterizations of Gregor’s family and the effect of his transformation. Consequence is very influential in the work, with the family’s actions being brought up into question. The family’s actions throughout the story effectively have negative consequences, which connects to family dysfunction and Gregor as a character. By using Gregor’s family, Kafka reveals the problems within traditional families, and uses fantasy as a way to show what happens when a dysfunctional family has to deal with an unfortunate