Metamorphosis Cartesian Dualism Analysis

In the 17th century, Descartes presented the philosophy of Cartesian Dualism, with the trademark of “I think therefore I am”. Cartesian Dualism is fundamentally saying that the mind, which is an active substance, and the body, a passive substance, combine to make the living human. Thus, believing that the mind directly and absolutely affects the body, and any physical variation that may occur, while also believing that the body and physical aspects can have an affect on the mind. In Franz Kafka’s novella, The Metamorphosis, Gregor’s pessimistic mind proves to take a serious physical toll. Gregor’s life is spent as a walking salesmen to work off the debts that his family has acquired. However, although he is doing his family a great service,
So, when Gregor’s metamorphosis occurs, and he becomes a bug, his physical state mirrors his mental attributions. However, as Gregor physically changes, there is an effect on Gregor’s mental state, leading him to further alienate himself from his family. Gregor's cycle, thus, exactly mirrors the idea of Cartesian Dualism. Therefore, in The Metamorphosis, Gregor’s ongoing metamorphosis leads to his ultimate demise, and increasing alienation from humanity.
To begin, the reader must first understand why Gregor’s metamorphosis occurs, which is simply that he is incredibly unsatisfied with his life. Before his transformation, Gregor expresses pure disdain for “the torture of traveling, worrying about changing trains, eating miserable food at all hours, constantly seeing new faces, no relationships that last or get more intimate” (Kafka 4). Here, Gregor is presenting his unhappiness in every part of his life. The interesting part is that Gregor seems to both dislike meeting new people, but is despondent that his human interaction is extremely limited. However, his need to be disconnected from society overshadows his desire to have new interactions, as Gregor explains
To begin, Gregor’s mental shift is seen when he begins embracing his new life as a bug. When the novella begins, Gregor explains the exasperating inconvenience of becoming an insect, but as the story develops, Gregor starts expressing less disdain and is “beginning to appreciate” some of his new features (Kafka 20). Gregor also starts to find enjoyment out things such as crawling over the walls, being in confined spaces, and eating rotten food- common attributes of roaches. Now, although Gregor is never completely content in his new state, he does seem to find a sense of warped peace, and is no rush, or even interest, in finding a solution to go back to his original state. In fact, Sokel argues that Kafka’s writing alludes to there being an “antidote” to the metamorphosis- Gregor coming to terms with the metamorphosis, as well as admitting to his secret desire to rebel against his familial expectation, which his conscious has hindered Gregor from doing (Sokel 212). Furthermore, Gregor’s mental metamorphosis continues when he stops seeking to pleasure his family, especially Grete. At the start of the novella, Gregor only seems to have love for Grete and cares deeply for her. In fact, he would conceal himself when Grete enters the room so that she will not have to see his undesirable state. But, by the end of the story, Gregor is showing tense rebellion against everyone, and even