Kafka's Metamorphsis
Kafka’s Metamorphosis
Kafka writes in part two “Did he really want the warm room, so cozily appointed with heirlooms, transformed into a lair, where he might, of course, be able to creep, unimpeded, in any direction, though forgetting his human past swiftly and totally?” This is the point of the story when Gregor starts to come to terms with his new life as an insect. He has not completely and totally let go of human emotions, but he has started to accept his new body and embrace his new abilities. Gregor starts to feel torn between the choosing the insect life and the human life, as he still has a desire to help provide for his family, and into part three his desire turns to shame when he realizes that he financially and mentally burdening his family.
His mother, wanting to accommodate her son, removes the furniture in room so he can move more freely in it. However, Gregor still has a need to have human belongings in his room. The picture of the woman in the furs, for example, has significance for Gregor because it reminded him of his former life. His sister Grete, is the only one who seems to get close to him, even though there is at least in the first two parts of the story, sympathy for Gregor from his mother and sister. Gregor’s father was unkind man who seemed primarily concerned with finances, even from the first day of Gregor’s metamorphosis, and even attacks Gregor later on in the story with fruit, injuring him.
Although it is not possible for a human being to turn into an insect and the concept is absurd, Kafka must be using the metamorphosis of an insect as a symbol itself. Perhaps it is representing an illness that a person has no control over or an addiction. (This arguably is an illness as well) There is no indication that Gregor did anything to deserve to be changed to into an insect, and his mother refers to him as her “unfortunate son”.
In part three, the sympathy that had been there for Gregor begins to wane, as the family grows tired.
Kafka writes in part two “Did he really want the warm room, so cozily appointed with heirlooms, transformed into a lair, where he might, of course, be able to creep, unimpeded, in any direction, though forgetting his human past swiftly and totally?” This is the point of the story when Gregor starts to come to terms with his new life as an insect. He has not completely and totally let go of human emotions, but he has started to accept his new body and embrace his new abilities. Gregor starts to feel torn between the choosing the insect life and the human life, as he still has a desire to help provide for his family, and into part three his desire turns to shame when he realizes that he financially and mentally burdening his family.
His mother, wanting to accommodate her son, removes the furniture in room so he can move more freely in it. However, Gregor still has a need to have human belongings in his room. The picture of the woman in the furs, for example, has significance for Gregor because it reminded him of his former life. His sister Grete, is the only one who seems to get close to him, even though there is at least in the first two parts of the story, sympathy for Gregor from his mother and sister. Gregor’s father was unkind man who seemed primarily concerned with finances, even from the first day of Gregor’s metamorphosis, and even attacks Gregor later on in the story with fruit, injuring him.
Although it is not possible for a human being to turn into an insect and the concept is absurd, Kafka must be using the metamorphosis of an insect as a symbol itself. Perhaps it is representing an illness that a person has no control over or an addiction. (This arguably is an illness as well) There is no indication that Gregor did anything to deserve to be changed to into an insect, and his mother refers to him as her “unfortunate son”.
In part three, the sympathy that had been there for Gregor begins to wane, as the family grows tired.