Metamorphosis

Metamorphosis.

Metamorphosis.

Metamorphosis (Die Verwandlung - original title in German) is one of the best known stories by the author Franz Kafka. It presents Gregorio Samsa, a young merchant who woke up one day turned into some kind of monstrous insect. Despite his new appearance, the protagonist tried to return to his normal life, as he felt the pressure of being the sole financial breadwinner for his family.

It is a work with all the characteristics of the so-called “Kafkaesque stories”. In them, the main character is immersed in a distressing, pressing and dead-end situation. Equally, Metamorphosis It has evident autobiographical features due to its approach to issues such as isolation, rejection, claustrophobia and illness.

About the author, Franz Kafka

Franz Kafka was born on July 3, 1883, in Prague, into a wealthy family belonging to a German-speaking Jewish minority. Two of his older brothers passed away when he was little. He lived most of his life with his family, being very close with his sisters Elli, Valli and Otla. He never married, although he was engaged twice.

He studied law at the University of Prague and worked for a public insurance company between 1908 and 1917. He had to quit his job because of tuberculosis. After two recovery attempts next to Lake Parda and in Meramo, he had to enter the Kierling sanatorium (Austria) in 1920. There he died on June 3, 1924.

Literary influences, style and themes

His main literary influences were Henrik Ibsen, Baruch Spinoza, Nietzsche, Søren Kierkegaard, Gustave Flaubert, Friedrich Hebbel, and Adalbert Stifter. Likewise, Franz Kafka is considered an expressionist and surrealist author. His stories show a coherent mixture of irony, naturalness, illusion and reality, in the midst of a claustrophobic, stormy and ghostly environment.

Furthermore, Kafka's work was censored during socialist Czechoslovakia due to his Hebrew heritage, He was even branded as "reactionary." According to Max Brod (his biographer and friend), Kafka's arguments are loaded with autobiographical experiences. Therefore, the rejection of the father, work schedules, their loves, loneliness and illness, are common themes.

Thanks to Max Brod

Franz Kafka asked Max Brod to destroy all his writings after his death. However, Brod did the opposite, he published them. Among the first posthumous titles are The process (1925) Castle (1926) and America (1927). With the notoriety obtained, the public began to take an interest in Kafka's other works.

Later, they appeared The chinese wall (1931) Diaries (1937) Letters to Milena (1952) and Letters to Felice (1957) Today, he is considered one of the most brilliant authors in German literature, as well as one of the most influential and innovative writers of the XNUMXth century. And yes, like so many other greats, recognition came after his death.

Franz Kafka.

Franz Kafka.

Works published while alive

  • Meditations (Consideration.
  • Sentence (Das urteiI, 1913).
  • Metamorphosis (Die Verwandlung.
  • Letter to father (Letter to the father.
  • In the penal colony (In the Penal Colony.
  • A rural doctor (Ein Landarzt.
  • A hunger artist (An Hungerkusntler.

Synopsis of Metamorphosis

You can buy the book here: Metamorphosis

The transformation

The story begins with the metamorphosis of Gregorio Samsa, a merchant traveler, into a monster that looks like a cockroach and a beetle. He wanted to get back to his daily activities as soon as possible. But she soon understood that she first needed to learn how to move around with her new look and what things she liked to eat.

Faced with the unexpected situation, his sister entrusted herself to feed him and clean his room. As the days passed, Gregorio felt more and more separated from his family and his behavior changed. He was comfortable hiding under an armchair and enjoyed listening to the conversations in the adjoining room.

Resistance to change

The members of the Samsa family found themselves very uncomfortable in their new context, because Gregorio was the only financial support. As a result, they were forced to cut back on their expenses and give the housemaid less work. His sister — with the satisfaction of his father, who avoided the problem and forbade his mother to come to see him — began to neglect Gregorio.

The hindrance

The Samsa were forced to find other ways to support themselves and received three tenants in their home. But the strategy didn't work because one day Gregorio left his room seduced by the melody of the violin played by his sister for the visitors. These, when they saw the monster fled the place without paying a penny.

Irremediably, both Gregorio and his family thought that the best possible solution was the disappearance of the monster. For this reason, Gregorio shut himself up in his room; the maid found him dead the next day. While his family members felt a bit sad, the sense of relief was much greater. Finally, the Samsa decided to move out and start a new life.

Meta

Gregorio's death was caused by two events. First, Gregorio heard the way in which he is despised by the rest of his relatives and by the maid. Then, the protagonist plunged into a deep depression, he no longer wanted to continue living. Second, his father threw an apple on his back when he showed up in the dining room.

The remains of the fruit rotted and infected poor Gregorio's insect-like body. Additionally, nobody wanted to take care of him or take care of him anymore. Therefore, death was the only possible end. In this way, Kafka exposes different themes concerning the selfish, interested, ruthless and opportunistic nature of the human being.

Franz Kafka quote.

Franz Kafka quote.

Implicit messages in Metamorphosis

Kafka exposes quite clearly how society harasses people who are different from the rest. It does not matter if they are useful individuals to your family and your community, it is not relevant whether they are solidarity workers. All these qualities are treasured by Gregorio, whose sense of responsibility prompts him to care excessively for his loved ones (even when their situation is precarious).

Even the protagonist assumes the payment of the debts generated by the lifestyle of his parents. However - in an impressive show of thoughtlessness - the Samsa do not have the slightest solidarity with the change of Gregorio. Rather, they complain about having to work.

The writer deeply questions whether there really are those qualities that identify us as "humanity" and that make us different from animals., and leaves to the fore whether, indeed, we live according to our own interests. The text still lends itself to hundreds of interpretations, however, it is clear that it lays bare many fallacies of society.


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  1.   Gustavo Woltmann said

    Excellent explanation of the book, I am very encouraged to read it. Kafka has always been one of my favorite authors since I read the Process and America, it is a great luck to have counted on Brod to keep his literary legacy alive.
    -Gustavo Woltmann.