In Franz Kafka’s 1912 novella The Metamorphosis, the main character, Gregor
Samsa, formerly a travelling cloth salesman, faces the difficulties of living
as an insect among an entirely human family.
the whole package, including misunderstandings,
the communication divide, and the loneliness.
He is shunned and hurt by those who he cares for most, and even decides
to starve himself to death once his sister starts to feel that he should
disappear. It’s as if once Gregor’s
money-making potential went out of the window, his worth and presence as a
family member did as well. This is
strange, especially since no one else in the family works (at least not until a
while after Gregor transforms into an insect), and Gregor is working to pay off
their debt.
I feel that one of the reasons that
the family feels so detached from Gregor (and has no compunctions about hurting
him or treating him poorly after his transformation) is that he barely is able
to spend any time at home from his job – the emotional connection he presumably
had with his parents seems to have thinned out over such a prolonged period in which
his presence in the household was so fleeting.
Because of this, it is probably difficult for Gregor’s family members to
‘find’ their son, let alone in such a horribly offensive creature’s body. As the saying goes, “Out of sight, out of
mind.” And this holds meaning in both senses:
his absence and his transformed body.
The only person who I think really
shows a tiny bit of genuine concern or kindness to Gregor is his mother, and I
think this is because she still holds a belief that Gregor will come back to
them one day. This is evidenced when she
tells the rest of the family that she is worried that if they move the
furniture out of Gregor’s room, he’ll feel like they gave up on him once he
comes back.
Even his sister Grete, who Gregor
really cares about, seems to think of him as nothing more than a giant icky bug. She volunteers to take care of him – and she
does so initially in a somewhat squeamish manner – but apparently soon enough
the novelty wears off and she starts to find him a nuisance. Her attitude distinctly sours, and she
becomes more hateful towards him. I
wonder why she grows to view this insect that used to be her brother with such
distaste. Does she resent him for his
absence? Does she just not feel any
connection to him? What about the rest of
the family? Tell me what you think!
Your idea that Gregor bond with his family was weak even before he was a bug because of his physical absence is really interesting. Beyond even being away from home for his work, I wonder if Gregor isolated himself from his family even at home. He did lock all the doors to his room.
ReplyDeleteNishant and Annemily, you pose some interesting points. I would like to take it even a step further. I speculate if Gregor and his family ever had a relationship to begin with. The way he talks about their abuses in such positive terms leads me to believe that this was embedded deep into his psyche from an early age.
ReplyDeleteI definitely think that Gregor had preexisting tensions with his family before his metamorphosis. You're right in that only his mother shows real concern for him. His father and his sister end up either physically abusing Gregor or mentally abusing him through dehumanization. I wonder if there would be more concern on the part of the family if another family member had turned into an insect.
ReplyDeleteTim, I see why you would wonder such. I think there would be, at least from Gregor's end. If something were to happen to his family but he remained human, I believe not only would he do everything in his power to assist them but he would also remain emotionally supportive to them. I feel that because his care remained for them even after his terrible transformation and their treatment of him, we can be sure that it wouldn't disappear because of another family member's sudden cosmetic change.
DeleteNice post, I think that this post really fits in well with the story. Gregor or his family never show specific examples of the closeness that families typically have, the only example that I can think of being that Gregor's sister knows that he likes milk. They do not seem to talk often with Gregor being a traveling salesman, and they treat him more as an economic asset to their family. This then would really contribute to their relationship after his transformation. No one in his family had a strong connection to him as a human before, so why would they after? Makes a lot of sense, nice point!
ReplyDeleteKeep in mind, also, that Gregor's room is the same room he's inhabited since he was a child--it still has his old school desk in it, where he did his homework. But, as you point out, adult Gregor never gets to spend much time in his room, or at his home, and this reflects the larger idea that his transformation took place long before the insect thing: his job has already turned him into this unrecognizable time-table-studying guy who only cares about work and sacrifices himself so that his family can live in style and comfort (in the same home that he's had to largely abandon!). He sleeps most nights in hotels, and when he is home, it seems like he barely has time to make a nice frame for his favorite magazine picture.
ReplyDelete