Metamorphosis Essays

Metamorphosis Essays Metamorphosis Essay Metamorphosis Essay Essay Topic: The Metamorphosis Metamorphosis is a richly layered and textured story that is the very definition of a polysemic text that it is open to numerous interpretations. The two most credible readings that apply to this novella are readings of a Marxist and psychoanalytical type. Historically these two interpretations have dominated assessments of the story since its initial publication. Deeper analysis clearly supports each interpretation of Metamorphosis. The common ground in both readings is the marginalization of the individual in society. Kafka’s context growing up in Prague at the turn of the twentieth century was exposed to a world of changing values; of the influence of industrialization on society: and the growing discontent amongst the working class. Against this backdrop, and combined with family tensions Kafka creates ‘Metamorphosis’. Initially Metamorphosis appears to be simply a tale about a man who wakes one morning to find himself transformed into an insect. A Marxist reading however interprets the story as an extended metaphor that highlights the dehumanization and exploitation of the working class and can be read as a type of social parable. The protagonist Gregor Samsa symbolises the working class (proletariat), and his unnamed manager represents the controlling middle class the bourgeoisie. Gregor’s inability to work due to his metamorphosis creates conflict between him and his manager who demands Gregor put aside all personal concerns, and continue to work. This conflict represents the impersonal and dehumanizing structure of class relations. A Marxist reading identifies Gregor as the ‘exploited’. He is forced to work as a travelling salesman, supporting his family and paying off his father’s debt from a failed business venture. While lying in bed, he reflects that: â€Å"Day in, day out†¦I’ve got the torture of travelling†¦about changing trains, eating miserable food at all hours†¦Ã¢â‚¬  His discontent with his daily labour is highlighted via adjectives: â€Å"torture,† â€Å"worrying,† and â€Å"miserable†. He is trapped working at his wearisome job as he is a member of â€Å"the class of modern wage-labours who†¦are reduced to selling their labour-power in order to live† (Marx and Engels). He says, â€Å"If I didn’t hold back for my parents’ sake, I would have quit long ago†. It is economic necessity that keeps him going to work everyday. Conflict arises when his metamorphosis occurs and serves as a metaphor for any type of impairment that renders the worker unable to work. This is the essence of the proletariat dilemma, and is at the heart of a Marxist interpretation of the story. The narrative style supports the supposed ignorance of the working class as Gregor clinging to the hope that he will recover is abandoned, firstly by his boss, then eventually his family, because he is no longer productive. Gregor’s other inability to confront and be horrified by reality lends itself to a psycho-analytical reading of the novella. The story explores the link between Gregor’s mental and physical truth, and as his ability to function within the parameters of humanity dissipates, his physical links with the human world diminish as well. He loses his personal connection with his own body, and slowly but surely loses connection with the outside world. Work and acquaintances move on without him, and his family shuts him away as if he had never existed. And while the author’s frequent superficial focus is on the physical transformation, it is fundamentally the mental breakdown, which Kafka wishes to examine. It is striking, in fact, how oblivious Gregor appears to be to the repulsiveness of the situation. One aspect of him still sees himself as human enough. This is exemplified by his attempts to explain his condition to the manager who has come to investigate his absence from work (‘the chief clerk had already turned away, just staring back at him over a quivering shoulder’); or when he attempts to calm his family’s horror as they see his transformation. Gregor himself seems only mildly shaken by his ‘metamorphosis’ into an insect lacking any appearance of humanity. The underlying reasons for his transformation become evident. As each layer of the text is revealed. His father is a domineering and tyrannical presence who manipulates each family member. Gregor is burdened by a deeper than normal sense of familial duty. His employment is based upon alleviating the impositions of the father. Gregor’s mother, although confused, afraid, and appalled at Gregor’s grotesque change, clings to the hope that deep within the creature remains some part of her son. Gregor himself divides into two separate entities; one of which, the greater part, cannot be considered human. The human Gregor is only barely present, the remaining remnants of his mind appear to be somewhat normal and rational, but in reality the audience is astounded by the inability to comprehend an unbearable situation. Gregor never raises the questions as to why or how he has been transformed. His family views the metamorphosis as a repulsive indulgence on his part. Clear and precise language, combined with Gregor’s seemingly human nd familial concerns for his job and his family’s welfare superficially cover over a deeply disturbed sense of self and horribly engrossing mental illness. In a sense, the entire progression has the appearance of a slow suicide. His mind has firmly and decisively shut away all ability to relate to the rest of humanity and to accept his own reality. His delusional state is one of the most disturbing aspects of the story. Kafka’s t rue intent in creating ‘Metamorphosis’ was to express his concerns that man was becoming an entity bereft of all humanity due to the conditions of world he inhabited. Readings applied to the novella allow narrower interpretations to be explored. Considering his context it is little wonder Kafka’s story possessed many qualities that allowed for a Marxist reading. Similarly though, those who sought to make sense of the human psyche during the same historical period also make a psychoanalytical reading possible. Each reading raises relevant issues, and each has merit in explaining a grimly wonderful tale about a man transformed.