Kafka's Metamorphosis: a Family's Disintegration

A Family’s Disintegration Unity and reliability in a family is testable, particularly during hard times as it’s seen in The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, where the themes of isolation and dehumanization are strongly shown. The concept of family love being absolute is arguable, predominately after the transformation Gregor Samsa goes through which turns him into a huge bug. Kafka implies through Gregor’s unlucky dilemma and his family’s response, that family strength can be frail. It becomes immediately evident how the metamorphosis affects the family, as the members of the family go through a transformation as well. Once awakening from his slumber, the focal person, Gregor discovers he has been changed into a giant beetle-like insect. Oddly enough, he is not upset about his newly changed physical form, but with the fact that he has missed his train and will be arriving late to work. As he tries to gain his composer, after managing to finally get out of bed, Gregor tries to alleviate his worried family’s concerns through the door of his bedroom, only to succeed in making their concerns worse. The Samsa family’s first reactions upon seeing Gregor are completely reasonable, as seeing a massive insect would certainly be a frightful sight, as well as a shocking one, but their true natures are shown by their ensuing treatment of Gregor as the story continues. After the metamorphosis of Gregor, Grete, his sister, becomes a woman exuding self-confidence after attaining authority over her older brother by becoming his only caretaker in the home. Once having shared a close relationship, Grete gradually starts drifting away from Gregor, and eventually grows to hate him. Mrs. Samsa, Gregor’s mother, who was filled with worry for her only son at the beginning of the tribulation, can not tolerate the sight of him. Mr. Samsa, the father of Gregor, once an inactive and weak man, who appeared to be incapable of working, gains employment at a bank and radiates pride

Cited: Freedman, Ralph. “Kafka’s Obscurity.” Kafka 130-34. Kafka, Franz. The Metamorphosis. Trans. and ed. Stanley Corngold. New York: Bantam, 1972. Print. Sokel, Walter H. “Education for a Tragedy.” Kafka 164-80.