Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis

Since the Greek philosophers people have debated endlessly the extent to which the mind influences oneʼs personal reality, or even reality in general. In the Metamorphosis, the link between Gregorʼs mental and physical reality are in some way linked, and as Gregorʼs ability to function within the parameters of humanity dissipates, his physical links with the human world diminish as well. He loses his personal connection with his own body, and slowly but surely loses connection with the outside world; work and acquaintances progress along without him, and his family shuts him away as if he had never existed. But despite the authorʼs frequent superficial focus on Gregor Samsaʼs physical aspect, it is fundamentally the mental breakdown which Franz
The first of these characters is the charwoman, whose matter-of-factness in dealing with his needs and presence convey greater acceptance of Gregorʼs infirmity than his family could ever muster. In fact, her attitude is one of disgust, but not at his appearance; rather, it is Gregorʼs allowance of his loss of humanity that mildly disgusts her, as if she has contempt that he could not gather the will to regain himself. He is pitiable to her in his inability to keep his humanity and his nearly complete acceptance of his present state. The other character, the three boarders who function as a single entity, unknowingly reside alongside the pitiful wreck for some time before that evening, when Gregor scuttles out to hear his sister play the violin. This scene reveals something of the nature of Gregorʼs true need and hunger, as he jealously regards the three boarders who take for granted the family in which they participate, and for which he has had greater and greater need, though without fully realizing that need. When they catch sight of him, they are angered, and regard him as pitiful. He is to them a monstrous family secret, but they react to him like another boarder would react to find out that prostitution was occurring in the same house, or the family were hiding an alcoholic or derelict. Gregor himself rapidly diminishes. At the beginning he finds himself in this insect-like condition because of his inability to connect with the family to which he is devoted, but who have taken him for granted. His persistent condition and fading human self serve to further isolate him by repulsing his family members one by one, as first his father shuts him out, then gradually his mother and even the sister that he once adored. It could be argued that on some level, Gregor has intentionally shut himself away within this new armor and purposely cut himself