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Shannon Evans

Joel Goldbach

English 201 P5

March 18, 2010

Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis: Indefinitely Up for Interpretation

“Metamorphosis” is defined as a profound change in form from one stage to another in

the history of an organism. When most people think of metamorphosis they think of a physical

transformation. Many also think of insects. In Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, the formal

definition is both confirmed and contradicted. The confirmation occurs in the first few lines of

the novella. At the beginning of the story Gregor Samsa finds himself transformed into an insect.

Besides the unusual fact that a person is transformed into a bug, all the physical characteristics of

an insect are present. Kafka contradicts the typical definition by showing the emotional

characteristics of this metamorphosis and the effect it ultimately has on Gregor’s family and on

their own metamorphoses. Showing the emotional aspects of the transformation gives the term a

more human sense. The novella challenges people’s beliefs, thoughts, and interpretations.

Kafka’s writing is open to interpretation (for instance, the reason for the metamorphosis, the

significance of Gregor’s picture of the women in furs, the family’s emotional changes, all of

these aspects of the story are left up for interpretation). He does this purposely so that the reader

will broaden his or her mind when doing so, particularly when it comes to redefining what is

already defined (for example the definition of metamorphosis). In order to progress one’s

intelligence, one must be able to think critically and have original interpretations. If every

person’s thoughts were the same, civilization would not advance. The Metamorphosis

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encourages one to view situations with more creativity by purposely providing vague

explanations. It is imperative to read this story the way Kafka would have wanted one to too

(with their own analysis) to get the full effect.

Walter H. Sokel and Nina Pelikan Straus’s take different stances on some of the main

points of Kafka’s text, but they both acknowledge that the sense of mystery, is important to the

story and that it will ultimately benefit the reader not to solve its mysteries. As Straus

acknowledges, “No single interpretation invalidates or finally delivers the story's significance. Its

quality of multivalency (Vieldeutigkeit) keeps us talking to each other, against each other, and to

ourselves” (126). Although Kafka has his critics, it is clear that making inferences and

interpreting the text can help broaden views and assist in developing a more creative approach to

critical thinking.

Sokel offers his own view on why Gregor undergoes a metamorphosis. As he suggests,

“The metamorphosis fulfills Gregor’s desire for revolt without implicating his conscious mind”

(208). The Metamorphosis makes it clear that Gregor is not a huge fan of his job, and that he

loathes his boss and the minions who carry out the boss’s orders. Sokel thinks that since Gregor

is under so much pressure to keep his job, in order to keep the family income he has to repress

his aggressive impulses towards his job thus resulting in his metamorphosis. He could revolt as a

bug (by not going to work) because there is no way he could keep his job anyway, but it would

not make him feel guilty because the resistance to go to work was out of his control. Therefore,

the metamorphosis technically gave him what he wanted, the rebellion without the liability.

Although this may not be the sole reason for Gregor’s transformation it is interesting to

think that a repression of emotions could result in a physical change. Sokel expands on this

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thought: “However, it is less faulty logic than a psychic compromise which lies at the basis of

Gregors self deception- a compromise of an aggressively rebellious impulse and a duty bound

conscience that demands submission. The function of the metamorphosis is to allow the

compromise” (209).When one feels the need to change one’s thoughts or not to act on anything,

one begins to become dehumanized, because some egotistical thoughts and actions are inevitable

in all humans. To never be able to live for one’s self can be damaging, changing one’s emotional

thought-processes so much that it almost seems understandable that the human body would also

be altered. Gregor is submissive not only in his job; he also acts similarly in almost all areas of

his life. As the provider for the family he sacrifices his social life and his own needs so that his

family can have the luxuries they want (an apartment, a cleaning women, food, and so on).

It is easy to blame Gregor for letting people take advantage of him, but it is clear he

wants the acceptance of his family more than anything and that when one wants something badly

they will continue to do almost anything to achieve it. Even in Gregor’s case, he wants the

appreciation and love of his family so badly that he eventually succumbs to death. When

Gregor’s sister Grete confirms that “it” is no longer their Gregor, the mother and father are all

too willing to accept the fact that Gregor is never coming back. Even though Gregor is still much

more human than any of his family would realize (many of his thoughts and actions are as

humane as they were prior to his transformation). He needs the metamorphosis to finally come to

the conclusion that he has always been replaceable. Before Gregor dies he understands that there

is nothing more left he can do for them. He has no will to live; if all he is to the family is a

burden, “His conviction that he would have to disappear was, if possible, even firmer than his

sister’s. He remained in this state of empty and peaceful reflection until the tower clock struck

three in the morning” (39). Even at the end Gregor does not become bitter or resentful.

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Had the metamorphosis not occur it seems that Gregor would have been a monotonous

workhorse his whole life. Not that dying as a neglected insect is much better, but it proves that

narcissism may be something imbedded in humans and to try to ignore our instincts can only

result in unpleasant results. Without hearing Sokel’s views on Gregor’s transformation, one

might not even consider some of those possibilities. Expanding on Sokel’s views can help us to

think critically about all the possible meanings of Gregor’s metamorphosis.

Straus has a different reading of Gregor’s metamorphosis; she seems to think that Kafka’s

intent was to show that the switching of gender roles can easily be accomplished through the

demise of one gender. She endorses this by saying “Metamorphosis is about invalidation, our

self-invalidations, and our invalidations of others” (127). It is not only Gregor who changes,

Grete also changes. The loving, carefree Grete that Gregor once knew begins to go through her

own transformation. After Gregor became useless, Grete is hardened by having to take over

Gregor’s duties in caring for the family, and soon she resents the insect Gregor for giving her this

responsibility. It can be assumed that Grete is more selfish than Gregor and that, this could be

due to many different things. It could be because she has more freedom growing up than Gregor,

so she has a sense of self, and her own hobbies (she plays the violin). Or it could be the stress of

becoming the family’s new dependent.

The one thing that shows that Gregor has male characteristics is the photograph in his

room that he tries to protect. Gregor acknowledges his gender and sexuality by trying to protect

the picture. It could show his desire for women, which is generally one of the main

characteristics that males usually possess. The scene in which Grete tries desperately to take the

picture from Gregor could show the switch of power between the two. As Straus writes, “He

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wishes to rest somewhere else; namely, in another body, in a women’s body. Such a wish also

indicates Gregor’s wish to rest in Grete. She is an image of an alternative and possible self”

(135). Grete’s success in taking the picture effectively takes away Gregor’s male characteristics

and deprives him of his sexuality. This is a major action that makes them one and the same. They

are now the same because there only point is to be providers and things like sexuality do not

matter. Although the meaning is never explained for who the women in the furs is, it could be an

object of sexual desire for Gregor. Gregor seems to find pleasure in sacrificing his needs for

other people, but trying to protect the picture is the last action of having something for him, and

indeed, he may feel ashamed to actually want something for himself. By losing the picture

Gregor also loses all personal possessions. Gregor is more of an object than something that was

once human.

The shift from patriarch to matriarch seems smoother than one would assume, and it

could be inferred that Kafka is saying that the roles Gregor and Grete play are almost

interchangeable, that gender is not as significant a difference as it is made out to be. Straus

acknowledges this by noting “Women become as men are, Kafka seems to be saying, there is no

progress, merely the exchange of one delusive solution for another” (139). The demise of Gregor

and the rise of Grete suggest that the whole story represents a vicious circle. Straus believes “She

has been transformed at another’s expense, and she will carry within her the marketplace value

that has ultimately destroyed Gregor ”(132). Perhaps the metamorphoses occur to represent the

transition between male and female roles and how they might not be so different. It also shows

humans cannot be truly selfless.

Both Straus’s and Sokel’s views seem to be valid, but it is ultimately up to the reader to

arrive at his or her own conclusion. It seems that this is what Kafka would have wanted, by the

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way he wrote The Metamorphosis. It is beneficial to make connections and to read critically

when a story leaves room for deciphering. A metamorphosis is not just a physical change from

one form to another; it can also have many other sides, too. A transformation could have

physical, emotional, or sexual aspects, and it is important to take this into account when thinking

critically, so that one’s own thoughts can intelligently contribute to an interpretation. Kafka has

given a good story to help humans develop their own complex and creative solutions. The

metamorphosis becomes much more interesting if one takes the time to try and understand the

meaning behind the work.

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Works Cited

Kafka, Franz. The Metamorphosis. Ed.Trans. Stanley Corngold. New York: Norton, 1996.

Sokel, Walter H. "Kafka's "Metamorphosis": Rebellion and Punishment." Monatshefte 48.4

(1956): 203-14.

Straus, Nina Pelikan. "Transforming Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis." Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 14.3 (1994): 651-57.