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Bailey Turner

Professor John Beadle

English 115

30 October 2018

A Simple Transformation and Everything that happened after.

It is out of the ordinary when someone wakes up as a large creature, only to worry about

their career rather than to care about what has just happened to them. In Kafka’s defining novella

The Metamorphosis​ it explores the concept of developing into one’s distinct self and the

repercussions of how it affects our lives and the people that are in it. His narrative relies heavily

on this concept, with characters all going through a drastic transformation due to the

circumstance that happens to the main character, Gregor Samsa.

Transformation is a factor of life we might not even notice, such as expressing oneself

more authentically or also just changing one’s hair color. Except, sometimes a simple change in

lifestyle might manifest into an entirely new perspective or merely a metamorphosis. For

instance, a prime example in the novella, Gregor Samsa’s transformation could easily be an

allegory for a job that started as a way to help his family and how it eventually took over his life,

causing him to eventually self-destruct and much to his family members disinterest. It sounds

irrational but by analyzing the first few information shared about Gregor it explains, “Oh God,”

he thought, “what a grueling job I've have picked! Day in, day out-on-the road. The upset of

doing business is much worse than the actual business in the home office, and, besides, I’ve got

the torture of traveling, worrying about changing trains, eating miserable food at all hours,
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constantly seeing new faces, no relationships that last or get more intimate. To the devil with it

all!” (Kafka 3) Meaning right after he awakens and before he even registers what has happened

to him, he is already upset over his as well as a day of work that has yet to begin. It is normal to

gain anxiety about the small things that come from having a job. Except, when somebody like

Gregor Samsa wakes up, their first thought should not be their anxieties of a grueling career but

instead getting ready for the day while focusing on the job after. This quote shows that his career

is something that has taken over his life instead of just having it be a piece of it. A similar

example to this would be someone taking a medication for an illness but developing a reliance

for the drug. The person will start to gain a habit of needing more and more of it. After the

person is done taking the required amount, they will still feel the need to congest more.

Eventually, it starts to tick at their minds and causing stress to build up, they feel this is good for

them since it was a necessity not long before. So why should they stop? His career has turned

into an addiction that has manifested into an unhealthy relationship with himself believing that

all of his struggles will be gone if he just gets that next paycheck. In Micah Sidigh’s article “The

Nightmare of Becoming Human: Metaphors and Reflections For Individuals In Search of

Authentic Self” he explains the concept of transformation and metamorphosis being two

different occurrences, “The word transformation often suggests a reversible change, a change

that can be best described as noticeable but impermanent. However, the word metamorphosis

suggests a change that is permanent, irreversible, such as the change we may experience as we

become self-conscious, as we start to ask the type of questions that alter the way we view

ourselves, our actions, our being-in-the-world,” (Sidigh 362) This line can be used to explain for

the timeline brought up beforehand about Gregor’s career and eventual stress since it started as
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the job he took up for his family until it eventually takes over his life. A transformation, in

reality, could easily be trying out new hobbies, diets, or even just different styles of clothing, and

while one is allowed to experiment, their family members might become curious, questioning

and possibly even concerned. Also, it is possible that these “transformations” might lead to one

aspiring to become a more authentic self and because of these transformations, causing a

metamorphosis. An example can be somebody trying out a healthier diet to stay fit, but the

person becomes more and more obsessed with their image, and it snowballs into an eating

disorder. This whole idea comes at ahead with the book in the form of an allegory when his life

is changed forever when he turns into a giant creature indistinguishable from who he was before.

After glancing at the person going through a change in perspective, what happens to

loved ones in this situation? For the most part, nothing changes and people in life are not

affected. Except sometimes there can be an outcry, a reaction, or some form of uproar.

Originating from all sorts of reasons: fear, ignorance, skepticism, prejudice, misconception,

rumors, or anything in between. These reactions rely heavily on one factor, they wish for their

loved ones to be happy and safe but ignorance gets in the way. Eventually, when something like

this does occur, they too will also transform as an effect of what is happening. However, what

happens to them, is entirely up to the loved one's perception of the situation. For instance, if one

were to examine Gregor Samsa’s family, they go through a negative transformation as a

symptom of the change they cannot control causing them to become bitter and frustrated while

other families might not react so coldly and strive for acceptance. In Kim Jeong-Soo's critical

essay, “Reading reality into the fantasy of Kafka's Metamorphosis” it elaborates on how the

loved ones of someone who have changed will not necessarily have a positive opinion. “Gregor's
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death is thus described with expressions such as "elimination," "disappearance," "leaving of his

own free will," and the impossibility of living together. Grete's word choice when she persuades

her parents that "[I] it has to go" clearly exhibits her determination to no longer see him as

family.” (Jeong-Soo 17) Showing that Grete is reaching her limit and wishes to abolish the

creature she no longer sees as her brother. Grete's feeling toward the situation is a typical

reaction to families who go through loved ones suffering from addiction or even coming out. By

allowing themselves to disconnect from the current state or the perception of their sibling and

strictly latching on to the idea they had of their loved one beforehand. Of course, not every

person who goes through, this will automatically have a set opinion. Since most instances when

it first happens are emotionally filled and not in a state to make a clear judgment. After an

amount of time, though one can stand by their opinion after witnessing the person more

explicitly. So, this is a fair reaction to how Gregor Samsa’s family to feel, after trying their

hardest to care for their loved one with the hopes of changing back.

Now some may feel that all of this, is a very negative perspective of someone finding

their self-authenticity or changing their lifestyles. However, this is because it is honest about the

situation since it is not easy to go through such a change in self-realization and lifestyle. When

someone takes on a career, diet, or even coming out as transgender or queer, there will be some

form of adverse reaction. Not every drug addiction or grueling career is going to have a wave of

support. We should expect that our loved ones will transform into a positive perception of our

choices, in fact, most of it might be harmful. Loved ones are valid to their opinions or actions, of

course, it might not necessarily be valid or fair, but they are still being honest with how they feel

just like someone being honest about how he or she chooses to live their life.
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Frans Kafka’s novella “The Metamorphosis,” is a pristine allegory of one changing into a

new person indistinguishable from who he was before. While considering what the allegory is

saying about the drastic change in one’s life in a real sense rather than the absurdist aesthetic the

authors uses. Allowing themselves them to authentically establish themselves as an individual

and allowing the audience to understand the repercussion of how the loved ones in they react to

the situation and their emotional reasoning and the opinions that will come from it.
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Works Cited

Kafka, Franz, and Stanley Corngold, “The Metamorphosis” Bantam classic ed. Toronto; New

York, N.Y.: Bantam Books, May 2004, Print

Jeong-Soo, Kim, “Reading reality into the fantasy of Kafka's Metamorphosis” ​Trans-Humanities

Journal.​ 9.1, Feb. 2016, p.17, Print

Sidigh, Micah, “The Nightmare of Becoming Human: Metaphors and Reflections For

Individuals In Search of Authentic Self”, ​Existential Analysis,​ 2017, Vol.28, p.362, Print