What struck me while I was reading The Metamorphosis was the ease with which Gregor accepted his new form. Never once in the story does he lament his new form and desire for his transformation to be reversed. He seems to accept it, right from the start, and instead, begins to start adapting to his new form immediately. For instance, soon after he discovers the transformation, he begins experimenting with ways by which he can get out of bed, unhurt and get ready for work. This brings me to my second observation about Gregor Samsa - the prevalence of a human mental and emotional complex. That is, despite the overt un-human physical form, his mental and emotional state remains, surprisingly, human. For example, "his immediate intention was to get up quietly without being disturbed, to put on his clothes and above all eat his breakfast." When I read this I was amazed. Did Gregor really believe he could do all these things? Even though he has been changed into an "ungeheur Ungeziefer" he believes he can still perform all these human tasks. Presumably he also assumes that his family and other humans around him will respond to him ordinarily.
This is what makes The Metamorphosis poignant. Gregor, in his outwardly un-human form, is in fact, as the story proceeds, shown to be the most 'human' of the characters. His heart is for his family, but yet his outer form belies this 'human' within. And in an ironic reversal of roles, this "ungeheur Ungeziefer" is viewed by the humans as the parasite in the family, posing a constant nuisance to their social and financial advancement. Yet they have been the real parasites, feeding on Gregor's hard-earned pay, relying on him to settle their financial burdens.
It is also interesting how and why Kafka chooses to use the image and creature of a monstrous vermin or "gigantic insect". He might have chosen other animals, might he not? I believe it is perhaps because he aims to defamiliarise our common attitudes towards such creatures. Most humans respond with negative attitudes of disgust, horror, fear and contempt towards insects. Thus in using such an image for Gregor's transformation, he draws on familiar, pre-established notions within his readers, and emphasises the need to reassess our attitudes and responses. Are we like the Samsa family, or do we have the ability for empathy? Not for insects and other creepy crawlies, but for others which we treat with similar bias. That is my interpretation at least.
The use of a monstrous vermin, a creature with few endearing features, also heightens our sensitivity to the text. It problematizes our criticism of the Samsa family, because, definitely, some of their attitudes echo ours. Are we not equally culpable? Did we not, like Gregor's sister, fear the gigantic insect and slam the door in his face, so to speak, in our minds?
Finally, my reading of modernist writers in the "Twentieth Century" module has given me certain ideas. I wonder if they can be applied. I am reminded of Stephen's famous remark in James Joyce's "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man":
"the artist forging anew in his workshop out of the sluggish matter of the earth a new soaring impalpable imperishable being?"
In addition, it brings to mind Joyce's "Ulysses", where he deals with the "sluggish matter [s] of the earth", such as the lowly bodily functions of excretion, urinating, and sexual intercourse et cetera. Kafka, in my opinion, seems to be doing something similar. Is there a connection? That he is imbuing the commonly perceived notions of lowly, "sluggish matter[s]" (the parasite and pest, "ungeheur Ungeziefer") with an artistic and aesthetic significance?
I shall ponder.
posted by sarah @ 12:39 AM
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