Kafkaesque

In the opening chapter, Gregor Samsa is portrayed as a very busy man leading a hectic life as a travelling salesman. He puts up with a rigid schedule and unfulfilling life so that his family may be supported. 

He is the only earning member of his family of four and barely ever gets to spend time with them. However, his parents and sister are incredibly grateful and appreciative of his sacrifice for them and think highly of him. 

The plot starts off when one day, Gregor wakes up in his room transformed into an insect. He struggles to move and barely manages to get off his bed. His parents are suspicious of his delay to get ready for work and the surprising change in his voice unsettles his mother. Before he struggles to reach the door, his manager has already reached his home and threatens him with the consequences of missing work. 

Already, we are shown the miserable life Gregor leads and gain a feel for the weight of the pressures on him and expectations he carries from his own blood. 

When Gregor finally manages to unlock his room's door, his family is horrified at his appearance and his manager runs away in disgust. 

His father picks up a broom and shoves the creature (Gregor) back into the room rudely with a cane and while doing so hurts him.

The aspect of feelings is not emphasised in the prose but when one looks at it from Gregor's perspective, this is the first wound to his dignity and the disillusionment faced by Gregor at losing in a snap, the life he lived only a day ago.

In the following days, he stays shut in his room and hides under the bed each time his sister daringly enters his room to leave behind scraps of rotting food for him which have transformed into delicacies for the humanoid bug. No one ever calls out his name or dares to speak to him.

Since is no longer in his normal human form, the family finds itself in state of sudden poverty. His mother and sister begin to sell furniture from his room and this depresses Gregor very much. He tries to climb on to a painting in his room so as to safeguard it. But this meant having to creep out of his hiding spot and show himself.

His mother passes out at seeing in broad daylight, the grotesque creature his son had morphed into and when a misunderstanding breaks out, his own father launches an assault on Gregor and deeply injures him. Again.

The book subtly portrays the depressing environment and the burdens of guilt and self-loathing on Gregor as he watches his family struggle to make ends meet. His father, an old and tired man, is forced to look for work and the family buckles down in front of Gregor's eyes. 

They choose to let their house out for lease for extra income and the men who begin living with the Samsa family, further complicate the grave situation at home by being annoying pests themselves.

One fine day, they demand to listen to Gregor's sister play the violin for them and Gregor, devoid of any entertainment for days on end, takes a risk and leaves his room to listen closer. Gregor remains transfixed by his sister's performance but alas, he is spotted by one of the renters and they all grow alarmed and threaten to leave without paying any rent. 

Gregor's father, having had enough of the chaos kicks the boarders out himself and the family sits down in deep contemplation and sadness at having to reckon with their miserable lives. After deep thought, Gregor's own sister wishes that they must get rid of him at once or they will all perish in poverty. His father agrees and hopes Gregor would understand this and leave on his own.

Gregor who is now miserable, depressed and greatly saddened, does understand this. He quietly limps back to his room and dies silently. 

His family rejoices upon hearing of his death and they all take a trip down the countryside as rejuvenation. They also notice that the young daughter of the family had regained her beauty and energy and plan to get her married.

While this story is an exaggerated portrayal, it perfectly captures some of the questions plaguing society and human attachment and morality. This 'Kafkaesque' world strikingly resembles the lives led by elders and the crippled of our society and shows the fleeting nature of emotions of compassion for such people which we humans pride ourselves to hold for lifetimes.

Gregor Samsa had worked all his life and provided for his family but within a span of a few months, went from being a respectable bread-winner to the likes of the insect which must be squished at once. Even if it was really him, a brother and son who was trapped into this new form, his family showed no compassion for the fact and to them, he was already dead.

This raises a question to which every answer never falls short of being cruel. "How true are our feelings of respect and the dignity with which we look at a fellow being? What if that person exhausts their ability to prove useful to us and society, let alone turn detrimental to those around?"

"How long does it take for love to turn to loathing, in the face of adverse conditions that question ones own survival and betterment?"

In the end, it isn't fully convincing to blame the family either for having wished such a fate for Gregor. After all, they were heading no further away from dying in any better conditions than an insect on the street. When we put aside the blame game for a moment and think of Gregor himself, "What was he to do in such dire situations?"

After all, his sacrifices to his family were not nearly paid back in kind. Was he to accept his fate and sacrifice his own life just so they could live theirs?

To these questions I still cannot produce a convincing moral answer. But surely it can't only be a win-lose scenario. But can it?

Franz Kafka

The story-line of the book flows with no dull moments whatsoever. Metamorphosis- By Franz Kafka is a beautiful work of classic literature that still shakes up unanswered questions of society and in my eyes, that of the faltering nature of emotions of endearment, compassion, respect and dignity which are so strong when created. 

But just as easily lost when people prove burdensome to those around.