Scuttle along and read it! (The Metamorphosis - Franz Kafka)

Name: Nolly

Hello doyoo user, You have to be logged in to use these functions... Login or register Close window

Send message to member

Product:	The Metamorphosis - Franz Kafka
Date:	19/04/01 (250 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: great story, thought provoking

Disadvantages: may need to read it twice to get all the ideas from it

Picture yourself in the middle of an examination room at school or college. You open the paper in front of you and are confronted by the following exam question:

'To know what it is to be human, one only has to become a beetle- discuss'

That is what happened to me in 1988 as I was taking my First year university exam in 20th Century German Literature, and I was fortunate that it was just about the only question I could really get my teeth into, mainly because Franz Kafka's novel 'Metamorphosis' (Die Verwandlung') was one of the few books I had really enjoyed.

Gregor Samsa is a successful and work-driven man. He is the only bread-winner in his family, as his father is unemployed. He devotes his time to his work and to keeping his family going. One morning he wakes up and finds that he has turned into a large insect. Suddenly the tables are turned. He is helpless. He cannot do anything for himself or for anyone else. His family are revolted by the sight of him and hide him away in his room. He survives on whatever scraps they give him, and puts up with the abuse and things that are thrown at him by his family and the other peopel in the household. Eventually Gregor dies, but his decline does have a positive effect on his father. He finds a job as a commissionaire and wears his uniform all the time- indeed he even falls alseep wearing it. When Gregor dies the family sweep up his remains and put them out with the rubbish. He is no longer human in any respect whatsoever and any trace of him is just thrown away.

So what is it about this story that is remarkable. Firstly there is the Freudian 'Oedipus Complex'. Gregor has taken all power away from his father by being the breadwinner and looking after the household. When Gregor changes his father has the opportunity to regain psychological control in the household. The family are revolted by what he looks like. He is de-humanised to that extent. He is no lo
nger Gregor, he is a hideous insect. The family truly go by exterior appearances- they cannot bring themselves to remember that somewhere inside that grotesque shape is someone they once loved, and when he dies they just want to forget about him as quickly as possible.

There is a lot more in the story, but I hope I have given you a flavour and the incentive to read it.

As my college lecturer once said:

'If your sleep position's foetal, and you wake up as a beetle,

Then read Kafka and you'll know just what to do!'

Summary: