Re- Psychoanalytic "The Metamorphosis"

The story The Metamorphosis was written by Franz Kafka in 1912, first published in 1915. (“The Metamorphosis Background”) The hero, Gregor, transforms into an insect. The story describes his life and the relationships between him and his family after he transformed. From the story, we can see that the money is an important element of the human relationships, and in the author’s opinion, people usually abandon the affection if it conflict with their money.

            In the story, the relationships have been changed two times. The first time is when Gregor lost his job, and the second time is after his family members can earn money by themselves. At beginning of the story, Gregor is the most important person in the family because he is the only one who earned money in the family. After he transformed, he became their liabilities. “Grete tells her parents that they must get rid of Gregor or they will all be ruined. Her father agrees, wishing Gregor could understand them and would leave of his own accord.”(“The Metamorphosis”) They leave Gregor alone and look for new life only because they can earn a lot of money from that. We can’t find affection between Gregor and other people in his family. “Upon discovering that Gregor is dead, the family feels a great sense of relief.”(“The Metamorphosis”) They did not feel sad or regret anything when Gregor die.

            Gregor also represents the author, Franz Kafka himself. We can find many elements from the story, and they are same as author in the real world. He did not have the concern from his family. His father was always strict with him. “His father, Hermann Kafka, was described as a ‘huge, selfish, overbearing businessman’.” And when Kafka changed his job, he did not get encouragement from his father because his father was not pleased. “His father often referred to his son's job as insurance officer as a "Brotberuf", literally "bread job", a job done only to pay the bills. “(“Franz Kafka”) Kafka feels loneliness. He feels like Gregor transformed to an insect. He feels like his family did not treat him like a human. His parents were too busy worrying about money.

            When I read The Metamorphosis, Gregor’s father agreed to abandon his son because it can save the family money. The father thinks his life was more important than his son. What will be happen if Gregor still can earn money, even if he transforms into an insect? Do they still leave him alone? The metamorphosis is not the reason why Gregor lost his family’s affection. It is better to understand like conversely, everyone transforms into an insect without Gregor. They transformed when they pay most attention to the money, so they lost their human heart. That is the reason why Gregor feel he transformed. That is what Kafka wants to express.

Work Cited

“The Metamorphosis Background” GradeSaver LLC. Not affiliated with Harvard College. Web. June 20 2012.

“The Metamorphosis” Wikipadia, The free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.. June 20 2012. Web. June 20 2012.

“Franz Kafka”  Wikipadia, The free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.. June 18 2012. Web. June 20 2012.