Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis

Kafka’s Metamorphosis is an excellent social commentary on the modern man. The authors own personal struggles are seen throughout the story. For example, themes of yearning for meaning and the oppressive alienation of the individual are seen throughout Kafka’s life. In his early years, he struggled with extreme bouts of anxiety and feelings of alienation which subsequently brought on an identity crisis. He was Jewish although he did not share in Jewish beliefs and he grew up in Catholic Czechoslovakia speaking German. His father pushed him away, and choosing literature was a lifelong struggle for him as it was not a well-looked upon career. It is no wonder then that the narrative shows itself as a completely normal family and a completely
Before his outward metamorphosis, Gregor was absorbed mainly by his sense of duty to his family and by his job in sales. He thinks of nothing other than paying off his family’s debt and possibly sending his sister to a conservatory. Because of this he is enslaved by his family and is trapped in an oppressive job. Society taught Gregor that he was only as important as his paycheck and so he faithfully returns to an exhausting job to come home to a family that treats him as no more than a source of income. He was a slave to his job and to his contribution to society as well as to his family. He always dreamed of the day in which he would pay off his debts and live as a free man, but Kafka draws the obvious conclusion that this could never happen for Gregor or anyone else. Kafka believed that there is no escape from societal duties running the lives of today’s modern man and denying them their humanity. Gregor threw his life into his family and role as breadwinner, and although he always completed his duties with fervent devotion, inevitably they became so dehumanizing that he began to feel the side effects of living under such
Instead of human, he becomes the number of sales he lodges for that day, and his worth is determined only by the slowly declining amount of debt his family has faced. Because Gregor the person was worth nothing, and money was all-powerful, he began to ignore his own needs. After he is unable to work because of his condition, Gregor attempts to rebuild the identity he once lost. Instead of becoming healthier, however, he finds that lone in his room, he becomes more vermin than human. The rift between being a secure human being and losing all sense of personal identity grows ever wider. He slowly starts getting used to his new legs and body. Soon he gives up all pretense of walking on two legs and begins to walk on walls, eat decayed food and use his