"The Metamorphosis" Personal Response

The Metamorphosis by Kafka

Vocabulary and Personal Response

 

Vocabulary:

·         Amelioration: The act of improving something or making something healed/better.

·         Draught: The act or process of drawing air.

·         Admonitions: Counsel, advice, or caution.

·         Entreaty: Earnest request or petition.

 

Personal response:

 

            Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis” is a depressing story about a young man who turns into an insect and consequently puts strain on his family until he dies.  While reading this story the mental image I create of Gregor is a human-sized cockroach.  I imagine that the only human body part that Gregor has left is his head that is being enveloped by the cockroach’s shell and fangs.  Cockroaches are normally seen by society as disgusting insects.  They are widely disliked and are usually thought to be nuisances or in extreme cases, vermin. 

I believe that the metamorphosis that Gregor experienced was an outside interpretation of how he felt toward his job.  Gregor gravely disliked his job.  He also hated the management and how they treated their employees as small and replaceable.  As a result, I think that Gregor’s body morphed into something that is disliked in order to represent his inner hate for his job.  Furthermore, in the story Gregor quotes, “Were all the employees then collectively, one and all, scoundrels?”  This reminds me of how people treat cockroaches or insects around the house; they are seen as all being bad without any individual thought toward the insect.

This idea of being disliked, or being a vermin is repeated throughout the story.  Initially after the change, Gregor’s father uses a cane and a newspaper to push Gregor back into his bedroom.  The father immediately loses any humanity toward his son and instead treats him as a monster.  Further into the story, the family experiences hardships due to not having Gregor as the family breadwinner.  This further exaggerates how the family is affected by having such a nuisance in the house. 

One thing that I found really ironic in the story is that when Gregor was human, it became normal for him to support the family financially and overtime his parents became less appreciative of his role while his sister was always grateful and supportive.  Then when he turned into an insect his sister is the person who abandons him when she gets a job and then finally suggests that the family gets rid of Gregor!  I think that the development of the sister’s attitudes throughout the story radically changes and that is reflected in the end of the story when her parents see her as a young woman.

I enjoyed this story a lot, but I wish that Kafka explained more how and why Gregor died.  I believe that Gregor died because his human mind was holding on to his sister’s love for sustenance and as soon as she stopped caring and finally wished that Gregor was gone, then he died because he had nothing to live for.