Kafka employs absurdism to depict Gregor’s transformation, where it is a physical metamorphosis into a gigantic bug rather than a mental progression that Jonathan experienced in The Pigeon. Through the use of the family’s response and emotional reactions to Gregor’s transformation, Kafka effectively utilizes this as a tool to establish the novel’s mood. He portrays Gregor as understanding and submissive to his family’s wishes, despite the inability to directly communicate. Both authors make powerful use of the protagonist’s perception and reactions to their unique situation. Personal characteristics are revealed in the confrontation of their transformations; this is re-enforced by the use of vivid imagery.
Where Jonathan’s transformation was essentially mental and emotional, Gregor’s transformation takes place with a physical metamorphosis into a gigantic insect. His transformation is based on an extended metaphor; he secludes himself from society by creating a ‘shell’ that closed him off from the world and the responsibilities of supporting a family. Similarly, Jonathan’s shell was his room, his fortress of security and sanctuary, which he personified as a woman, “And then she would finally be his and nothing in the world would ever be able to separate them-him, Jonathan, and his beloved room-one from the other, until death did them part.”. His life was based upon a daily routine that he strictly adhered to, becoming an obsession loosely balanced between chaos and order. It was in his quest for an ideal lifestyle secure from pain and heartbreak that he isolated himself from society and withdrew, oblivious to outside events whilst comfortably assured that he was living a reasonable life. “And only now did fear jerk its way through Jonathan, his hair standing on end from pure terror”. The fear of Jonathan’s confrontation with the pigeon forces him into the retreat back to his sanctuary. When the final step in Jonathan’s transformation occurs: “He walked ahead, more or less fearlessly, stepped through the light, entered the shadows behind it.” To complete the transformation, Jonathan crosses over from his original lifestyle; symbolized by the reference to light and dark, stepping up from the order and routine; through a visible light, and stepping into the unknown and spontaneity, represented by the shadows and darkness. This use of symbolism constructs the bridge between Jonathan’s former life and his new life.
Kafka’s underlying message in the transformation is that life was chaotic and he portrayed this through family relationships and distinctly through Gregor; where his metamorphosis is symbolic of his isolation from society and the dehumanized life he led, lacking meaning, warmth and joy, “The only amusement he gets is working with his jigsaw – Gregor’s mother”. He had a home and family, though he still found his life to be unrewarding. Gregor was the dependent source of income for his family; however he isolated himself from society like Jonathan. Gregor literally acquired a shell to protect him from the world and escape from the life he resented re-living. He awakens one morning transformed into a gigantic insect: “he was lying on his hard, as it were armor-plated, back and when he lifted his head a little he could see his dome like brown belly divided into stiff arched segments”. Jonathan endures a transformation that ultimately refines his role in society, however in the case of Metamorphosis, Gregor’s transformation results in his fatalistic demise.
Jonathan’s disintegration begins when he is forced to face the pigeon, for the fragility of his ordered life crumbles with the unexpected arrival of a bird. Having emotionally decided that his peace is under threat due to the nearby presence of a pigeon, Jonathan ventures out beyond his apartment block. Notably, Jonathan’s encounter with the Clochard raises questions about his existence. He compares his own life to that of the Clochard, and finds a comforting reassurance that the life he chose was right. “The solid self-satisfaction and self-assurance, which until then he had attributed to the person of the Clochard, had flowed into him like molten metal, had hardened to an inner suit of armour, had given him specific gravity.” The imagery here is evocative; it establishes a newfound power within Jonathan. The ‘molten metal’ flowing into Jonathan represents a powerful force, as he states himself to be a ‘self-assurance’. It is powerful and indestructible, reinforced by the imagery of an ‘inner suit of armour’ to portray security and defense, qualities he lacked in his past.
Gregor becomes effectively exiled from his own home, due to his unbearable appearance. Gregor’s job provided for the family and he was depended upon for that reason. His chief-boss restates this dependency when he arrives to inspect the reasoning behind Gregor’s absence from work; he is abrupt and fails to tolerate Gregor’s behaviour, condemning him in doing so, “give me an immediate and precise explanation. You amaze me, you amaze me. I thought you were a quiet, dependable person, and now all at once you seem bent on making a disgraceful exhibition of yourself”. Overnight, Gregor is transformed from a ‘dependable’ person into somebody ‘bent on making a disgraceful exhibition’ of himself, in the eyes of those around him. He would prefer to quit his job given that income was not a problem, for he resented his work, “what a fate: to be condemned to work for a firm…where all the employees nothing but a bunch of scoundrels”. Forbidden to interact with the family, as his family could not handle the sight of him, his mother would faint at his repulsive appearance “…in a loud, hoarse voice, "Oh God, oh God!" fell with outspread arms over the sofa as if giving up, and did not move”. Gregor’s metamorphosis invoked a sense of resentment in his family “…that's the only solution, Father. You must just try to get rid of the idea that this is Gregor. The fact that we've believed it for so long is the root of all our misfortune”, Gregor feels he has become nothing but a burden upon the family; a nuisance and annoyance that must be tended to. Ultimately, when he draws this conclusion that his existence is no longer desired and can achieve no benefit to the family, Gregor slips away into a cupboard and dies “Come look at this, it's dead; it's lying there, dead as a doornail! – Cleaning Woman “.
The disintegration and struggle experienced by the protagonists in Metamorphosis and The Pigeon differs as Suskind’s portrayal of Jonathans’ struggle concerned him challenging his fears of society and obsessive application of structure to his life. In the context of Gregor, his disintegration is portrayed through his struggle to re-integrate into the world, and chiefly his inability to do so as his stature is transformed into a figure symbolic of disgust and repugnance; issues his society could not comprehend or accept.
Both the authors of The Pigeon and Metamorphosis aim to express their similar views on issues in society through the protagonists of their novels. This is effectively employed using transformations undergone by the protagonists to convey their underlying messages. Basically, their message is that life is not simple, in the case of The Pigeon Jonathan Noel tried for the entirety of his life to make it routine and orderly, but it collapsed with a little pressure. Life cannot be molded into a predictable structure, for it is unpredictable, and no matter how hard the efforts are to do this, in the end life will prevail as a force that can never be laid out so simply. Jonathan in the end of The Pigeon emerged from his shell to join society once again, whereas in Metamorphosis, Gregor Samza was alienated and outcast for his differences, and tragically met his demise.
Bibliography
The Pigeon
Suskind P, 1989 The Pigeon Penguin Books, London, Translated by John E. Woods.
Metamorphosis
- Kafka. F, translated by Muir, E. & W.,
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Page 2. The Metamorphosis
