The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka is a book that I would have to say is rather odd, and by odd I mean the entire story consists of a travel salesman who who wakes up as a giant insect and battles his own emotion and frustration as well as his family’s horror and disbelief. To make things even worse there is no happy ending, the book simply concludes with an apple lodged in Gregor’s, the insect morph’s, back thrown by his father who let his anger get the best of him. We can easily begin with the title of this book, The Metamorphosis, which for me has a tough time actually making a connection with this book. Although the main character, Gregor, changes into a bug at the very beginning of this story, I would not consider it a “metamorphosis”. A metamorphosis is simply a change in form from one state to the next like a caterpillar becoming a butterfly for example. While the word metamorphosis can also mean a change in nature by either natural or supernatural, I do not believe that the change Gregor goes through can be considered a metamorphosis by definition. Gregor truly does not grow in his change nor does he benefit or mature through the change. In fact the exact opposite thing happens, Gregor backtracks, he loses himself, he withers, his complete being is more savage and primitive then it was before, and worst of all he dies of weakness and depression in the resolution. Gregor himself was not an entertaining character to make the plot pass smoothly. Gregor is as undynamic as Jerry the Cat chasing and tormenting Tom the mouse. His character is weak and the least diverse character I have ever read about. He is weak, unsure, and lacked confidence in the beginning and he continued in that until the very end. This could be for a lot of reasons it may be connected to his lifestyle always having to provide and work without getting anything in return. The book seems to be focused a lot around money and the desperate need of it. Although the father finally got a job again after Gregor’s change, I am unclear why he did not do this even after he lost his business? Gregor wished to send his sister to music school, but instead he was forced to labor and give it all to the family and their needs and not get help from anyone else. I truly think the story ends with Gregor’s death because of the fact that the family is happy at the end and realize they can live on their own. The book puts a lot of emphasis on the sister’s change and how she grows a lot more and learns to become a worker, the father finally gets a job. It’s almost as Gregor was not the one to metamorphosis, but instead it was his family who truly grew, matured, and changed in nature. They realized that Gregor’s financial support was not a necessary factor in their lives, and they just needed to work harder. Even though it says in the book the relationship of the family taking the money and Gregor giving the money was mutually symbiotic, and neither party was frustrated or in concern about it. I think the way they treated him after becoming a bug truly represented how they lacked a gratitude for him over a long period of time. They may have tried to take care of him at first, but once he chased the money away along with the boarders, they made it quite clear he was useless to them now. This ultimately killed Gregor, made him sulk away, stop unable to move, and die. The Metamorphosis was interesting, but definitely a strange book. I would not be quick to recommend it to anyone, just because I solely chose it for two reasons. First, because the title seemed interesting and seemed to have a creepy, dark connotation which usually correlates with book I enjoy reading. Yet, the metamorphosis represented in the book is more focused on the family and not the metamorphosis I thought it would be. The second is the plot is most definitely misleading, by no means is it interesting. The main issue is the main character is dry and boring. All in all This book was interesting to read because it was translated from German and written by an author from Czech Republic, it had no apparent theme.
We can easily begin with the title of this book, The Metamorphosis, which for me has a tough time actually making a connection with this book. Although the main character, Gregor, changes into a bug at the very beginning of this story, I would not consider it a “metamorphosis”. A metamorphosis is simply a change in form from one state to the next like a caterpillar becoming a butterfly for example. While the word metamorphosis can also mean a change in nature by either natural or supernatural, I do not believe that the change Gregor goes through can be considered a metamorphosis by definition. Gregor truly does not grow in his change nor does he benefit or mature through the change. In fact the exact opposite thing happens, Gregor backtracks, he loses himself, he withers, his complete being is more savage and primitive then it was before, and worst of all he dies of weakness and depression in the resolution.
Gregor himself was not an entertaining character to make the plot pass smoothly. Gregor is as undynamic as Jerry the Cat chasing and tormenting Tom the mouse. His character is weak and the least diverse character I have ever read about. He is weak, unsure, and lacked confidence in the beginning and he continued in that until the very end. This could be for a lot of reasons it may be connected to his lifestyle always having to provide and work without getting anything in return. The book seems to be focused a lot around money and the desperate need of it. Although the father finally got a job again after Gregor’s change, I am unclear why he did not do this even after he lost his business? Gregor wished to send his sister to music school, but instead he was forced to labor and give it all to the family and their needs and not get help from anyone else.
I truly think the story ends with Gregor’s death because of the fact that the family is happy at the end and realize they can live on their own. The book puts a lot of emphasis on the sister’s change and how she grows a lot more and learns to become a worker, the father finally gets a job. It’s almost as Gregor was not the one to metamorphosis, but instead it was his family who truly grew, matured, and changed in nature. They realized that Gregor’s financial support was not a necessary factor in their lives, and they just needed to work harder. Even though it says in the book the relationship of the family taking the money and Gregor giving the money was mutually symbiotic, and neither party was frustrated or in concern about it. I think the way they treated him after becoming a bug truly represented how they lacked a gratitude for him over a long period of time. They may have tried to take care of him at first, but once he chased the money away along with the boarders, they made it quite clear he was useless to them now. This ultimately killed Gregor, made him sulk away, stop unable to move, and die.
The Metamorphosis was interesting, but definitely a strange book. I would not be quick to recommend it to anyone, just because I solely chose it for two reasons. First, because the title seemed interesting and seemed to have a creepy, dark connotation which usually correlates with book I enjoy reading. Yet, the metamorphosis represented in the book is more focused on the family and not the metamorphosis I thought it would be. The second is the plot is most definitely misleading, by no means is it interesting. The main issue is the main character is dry and boring. All in all This book was interesting to read because it was translated from German and written by an author from Czech Republic, it had no apparent theme.