"The Metamorphosis" by Franz Kafka continues to say relevant in today's world due to themes of overwhelming responsibility, change in familial dynamic, and the struggles of loneliness.
Loneliness
Responsibility
Change in Familial Dynamic
Though nothing much changed from when he was stuck in his dreadful job, as a vermin, Gregor spent the majority of his time caged in his room to the will of his family. As a result of the imprisonment, Gregor sat alone amidst his thoughts with absolutely no one to connect to.
For a long time, Gregor had been the sole provider for his family which led him to suffer mentally both before and after his Metamorphosis. This led him to see himself as the major piece of his family.
"They had just gotten used to it, the family as well as Gregor, the money was received with thanks and given with pleasure, but no special feeling of warmth went with it anymore (26)."
"If I didn't hold back for my parents' sake, I would have quit long ago, I would have marched up to the boss and spoken my peace from the bottom of my heart (4).
Once Gregor was promptly locked in his room, slowly but surely the family dynamic was altered to sustain his absence as they needed to figure out how to maintain themselves alone.
"Then all three of them left the apartment together, something they had not done in months, and took the trolley into the open country on the outskirts of the city (55)."
"But even if his sister, exhausted from her work at the store, has gotten fed up with taking care of Gregor as she used to, it was not necessary at all for his mother to take her place and still Gregor did not have to be neglected (42)."
"The upset of doing business is much worse then the actual business in the home office, and, besides, I've got 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 (4)."
"lying in the darkness of his room, invisible from the living room, he could see the whole family sitting at the table under the lamp and could listen to their conversation, as it were with general permission; (38)."
After all the difficult and confusing work Grete had put into taking care of Gregor during of his Metamorphosis she could no longer deal with it anymore.
Grete then began to see Gregor as a nuisance to the family and thought the vermin he transformed into was in fact not her brother. And due to this, Gregor's mother took Grete's place as his "caretaker" which showed the lowered authority his mother now had.
The text also concretely states that, "all three of them left the apartment together, something they had not done in months (55)." This insinuates that the family had never had been broken up at all, tossing Gregor aside as if he was never there.
After Gregor's self inflicted death from hearing the wishes of his family they subsequently moved on without him in their lives.
This description of the how the family's conversations looked like now illustrates the divide between them and Gregor. Gregor lies in the darkness while his family is illuminated, showing the unimportance that Gregor now held.
Also, Gregor now having to peer into his family's conversations is a reminder to the reader that he is not considered a member of the family anymore. Gregor is now treated as a stranger and an alien in his home.
Before Gregor's sudden Metamorphosis he was still consistently alone having to travel from place to place with no rest by his boss.
He was given no chance to form deep and long lasting relationships which led him to grow depressed as the days went by. Gregor solely became a worker with no emotional ties to other people.
He would have left ages ago if it wasn't for keeping his parents and family afloat. After all this time Gregor kept the livelihoods of his family his main priority.
During Gregor's internal monologue he describes the utter hatred he holds for his work and the nature of his boss.
The family had begun to treat the money Gregor had brought in as an assumed part of their life that simply needed to be acknowledged.
Gregor no longer felt the sentiment of affection from his family members when he handed them the majority of his salary. There was no longer appreciation for his work only expectation.
✒
✒
💸
👪
🤔
🐞