Kafka's View of Society in The Metamorphosis
Kafka's View of Society in The Metamorphosis The point of this paper is to expose Kafka's view of society as revealed in his Metamorphosis. Namely, it suggests that man (as represented by Gregor Samsa) is reduced to an insect by the modern world and his family, and human nature is completely self absorbed. Kafka reflects a belief that the more generous and selfless one is, the worse one is treated. This view is in direct conflict with the way things should be; man (specifically Gregor) should be treated in accordance to his actions. Gregor should be greatly beloved by his family regardless of his state because of his great love of them. This idea is displayed in three separate themes. First, Gregor's family is only concerned with the effect Gregor's change will have on them, specifically the effect it will have on their finances and reputation. They are more than willing to take completely gratuitous advantage of Gregor; he works to pay their debt and they are happy to indulge themselves with luxury. Gregor is the soul employed member of his family and this is their primary interest when Gregor is transformed. Secondly, Gregor is penalized for his efforts to be a good son, and a good worker; his toils are completely taken for granted by both family and employer. The Samsa family is not interested in Gregor beyond their own needs, outsiders are reverentially treated. Thirdly, by the positive changes that occur in the Samsa family as Gregor descends into tragedy and insignificance. As Gregor's life becomes more painful, isolated, and worthless the Samsa family becomes more functional and self-reliant. Metamorphosis is completely self sustained as a novella, however it takes on a deeper meaning when one is aware of its relation to the author; for this reason I am providing some biographical information on Franz Kafka. Franz Kafka lived from 1883 to 1924. According to A Nightmare of Reason: A Life of Franz Kafka by Ernst Pawel, Kafka was the child of an upper-middle class German speaking Jewish family. His father was a domineering tyrant, both emotionally and physically abusive, and his mother was loving but distant; Kafka and his siblings were most often left in the
care of domestic servants. Kafka's father married into Growing up Franz Kafka not only felt unloved and undesired at home, but was an outsider in his native Austria-Hungary; as a German speaker he was considered a German by Czechs and a Jew and a Czech by Germans. He was plagued by guilt throughout his life because of his hate for, fear, and jealousy of his father; this was compounded when his two brothers died within a year of each other leaving Franz the only son. He saw the elder Kafka as a "giant of a man, my father, the ultimate ...
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care of domestic servants. Kafka's father married into Growing up Franz Kafka not only felt unloved and undesired at home, but was an outsider in his native Austria-Hungary; as a German speaker he was considered a German by Czechs and a Jew and a Czech by Germans. He was plagued by guilt throughout his life because of his hate for, fear, and jealousy of his father; this was compounded when his two brothers died within a year of each other leaving Franz the only son. He saw the elder Kafka as a "giant of a man, my father, the ultimate judge, coming to get me in the middle of the night?." (Quoted in Pawel, 18) The Adult Franz Kafka led a double life: by day he was a hardworking legal clerk (a job he despised) by night he was an obsessive writer of surreal fiction. Kafka's preoccupation with writing was met with disapproval loathing by his father and further inflamed their already painful relationship. Kafka never married or had children, he lived with his parents and his sister Ottla as an adult. He suffered from hypochondria, phobias, obsessive compulsion, and acute depression. In The Metamorphosis Gregor Samsa seems to be a human form of currency; all he does is travel and produce money for his family. They are mostly concerned with him in regards to money and are more than willing to take advantage of his sense of obligation. When Gregor inexplicably becomes an insect his family is primarily worried about how this will effect them, and their financial security. The morning Gregor wakes up as a giant bug is the first day he has missed work in five years; his family's immediate concern is for Gregor's job. In the hostile world Gregor inhabits his first day off in five years is a reason for distrust and suspicion. His father begins to admonish him before he can even drag himself out of bed. When Gregor hears his sister crying at his door he thinks, "why was she crying?? Because he was in danger of losing his job and? then his boss would [again] dun their parents for his old claims?" (17) Which is very significant to their relationship; he considers himself close to his sister, but feels her emotion spent on him is related to money. Gregor has been the sole breadwinner for years, working at a job he abhors to pay his fathers debts. The family leads an extremely comfortable life of leisure; the father sits at the kitchen table and reads all day, the sister wears the best clothes and amuses herself by playing the violin, they all take a mid-day nap, and even have a maid and a cook. Gregor is extremely pleased and proud to provide them with this lifestyle, but his generosity is met with resentment by his father and indifference by his sister and mother. Once the family was accustomed to this lifestyle they no longer felt the need to be grateful, "they had grown used to it? they accepted the money? but no particularly warm feelings were generated any longer." (29) Once they discover the nature of Gregor's ailment no doctor is allowed to see him and they immediately begin to fret about the state of their finances and reputation. We learn Gregor's father had saved a fair amount of money that could have gone towards paying his debts; Gregor does not feel anger at this, but relief. He feels only the deepest shame and sorrow that he can no longer shoulder the family's debt. At one point insect Gregor is deeply distressed that the times of, "peace, prosperity, and contentment" (25) are ending because of this change. The family should feel the deepest gratitude and love towards Gregor, but they never express any grand emotion for him. There is a hospital across the street, but Gregor will not receive medical treatment lest the neighbors discover the fate of the Samsa's son. The Samsa family should be in a state of terror and mourning for their kindred; not terror and disgust of him and mourning for themselves. They should be deeply concerned and upset for Gregor because they have lost the son they dearly love; not because they have lost an ATM. The family should at least feel a sense of duty to provide Gregor with the best care possible, but they lock him in a small room they begin to fill with garbage. Kafka represents Gregor as worthless to the family outside his ability to make money. Gregor feels worthless, and the family feels he is worthless when he is unable to financially support them. In his book Problematic Rebel - Melville, Dostoievsky, Kafka, Camus, Maurice Friedman points out the more independent the Samsas become the more they neglect Gregor, and the more anxious they are to get rid of him.(270-71) Gregor is penalized for his efforts to be a good son, and a good worker; his toils are completely taken for granted by both family and employer. Gregor is completely isolated by his job; he has no friends, and no chance to make friends. He hates his job, and fantasizes about quitting as soon as he has paid off his father's debt. As much as he hates his job, his only thoughts are of work when he wakes up an insect. Gregor is virtually a slave to his job; he is an insect scampering about trying to please others, he has lost his humanity in his pursuit of material possessions. His dedication is not appreciated by his family or his employer, in fact, his dedication is so taken for granted it has not earned him praise or reward of any type, but has made any slightly selfish act on his part unacceptable to those around him. His boss shows up at the house before Gregor is even an hour late and tells Gregor his job is in jeopardy. He accuses Gregor of costing the company money by his absence, and directly accuses him of stealing from the company. Gregor's Family does not defend Gregor, nor are they angered at the clerk for coming to their house, insulting, and upsetting their possibly very ill son. The Samsa's only thoughts are of placating and appeasing the clerk. Gregor makes equal efforts at pacification and includes his family in his attempts to calm the situation. Gregor begs the clerk to give a good word for him to the owner of the company, and is desperate for the chief clerk to validate him, he does not realize his words are unintelligible. Gregor's side is in severe pain, but he ignores it and works diligently to open his door and please his family and the clerk. When the Samsa's take on three boarders they are treated like kings, while Gregor becomes more and more shameful to them. According to Walter H. Sokel in his book The Writer in Extremis, Expressionism in Twentieth-Century German Literature Gregor's change into an insect, is ironically, his first taste of freedom in his adult life. He is free from his hated job, and he is free from the pressure to support his family (265). Gregor should be respected by his family and employers for his diligence, but the harder he works for them, the more he is treated like a beast or an insect. Gregor literally becomes and insect and the true nature of his relationship with his family and employers is revealed; he is without value to them beyond his ability to make money. Gregor's family never appreciates what he does for them, and he is never very well treated while outsiders are venerated. These outsiders treat the Samsa family terribly, which reflects Gregor's attitude in a sense; live to please those who do not care about you. The respect and love of the Samsa's should be directed at Gregor and not strangers who pass in and out of their lives. As Gregor's life becomes more painful, isolated, and worthless the Samsa family becomes more functional and self-reliant. The father, considered an invalid before, gets a job and takes his place as the head of the household. The sister gets a job, becomes more physically beautiful, and earns the respect of her parents. The mother becomes stronger, works more around the house, and is less prone to fainting. The family's new found financial pressures should lead to a new respect for Gregor and his selfless endeavors through the years, instead they become more and more convinced of his uselessness. Gregor has nothing to offer them, and has nothing left to do but die. Maurice Friedman suggests Gregor had to die for the Samsa family to be reborn (271). Kafka criticized many common tendencies of society in his Metamorphosis. He is very critical of the common habit of treating those willing to do the most for you like doormats while being almost worshipful to those who are indifferent to your existence or even scornful. People should love and respect those who make sacrifices for them, but it is usually the opposite. Kafka is also critical of the way the modern world and pursuit of financial security turns people into metaphorical insects; we scamper about performing resented tasks for pieces of paper. At the end of the day we are left with no meaningful bonds, nothing to say to each other, and the desire for more wealth. Money should be something that happens to enrich our lives, and work should ideally be satisfying. Gregor's life turns him into a figurative insect, then a literal one. As Theodore Arno is quoted as saying in Critical Theory and the Novel: Mass Society and Cultural Criticism in Dickens, Melville and Kafka by David Suchoff, "The crucial moment? towards which everything in Kafka is directed? is that in which men become aware they are not themselves." (136)