The Metamorphosis

According to Dictionary.com - a metamorphosis is, "a profound change in form from one stage to the next in the life history of an organism--a complete change of form, structure, or substance--a form resulting from any such change."  In considering this definition, what was Gregor's life like before and after his metamorphosis--do you believe his change was literal or metaphoric and why?

According to the definition, I believe that Gregor’s change was literal. He went from being your average male human, to being a literal bug. If you look at Gregor’s form, structure, and substance, you can see that all three of these things changed. He describes waking up and finding himself “transformed into a monstrous vermin. He lay on his hard armor like back, and when lifting his head slightly, he could view his brown, vaulted belly partitioned by arching ridges,” (1999 NA). His whole entire body and shape has been completely transformed into that of a bug. Even his speech has been changed. When he is speaking to his parents and the office manager from the other side of the door, they can no longer understand what he is saying, “Did you understand a single word of that? He’s not trying to make fools of us, is he?!” (2005 NA). Throughout the rest of the story you can see how Gregor’s metamorphic change is literal.

Kafka includes many references to hunger and food--what is the significance of these references?

The significance of hunger and food in the story represents Gregor’s hunger for his family’s love and acceptance. In the beginning of the story, Gregor’s sister leaves him food at his door neatly laid out with a variety of options. As the story progresses, Gregor’s relationship to food mirrors his relationship to his family. I think that the turning point of Gregor’s relationship to food is when his father throws the apple at him. This is the first true act of hostility that we see from Gregor’s family. After this incident, his family no longer gives him his food in a humane matter, but instead, they just kick it in his room and expect him to eat it. Also, Gregor becomes less and less hungry, and starts to starve to death. I think that this correlates to his relationship with his family, because at the beginning they still fed him some sort of love and acceptance, but in the end he was starved of all humanity from his family.

Identify and discuss some of the themes of "The Metamorphosis" - be sure to refer to your notes about what a theme is and in your discussion identify key passages of the text that support the themes you've identified.

I think that a major theme of metamorphosis is trying to attain freedom. In the beginning of the story Gregor talks about his job and stress it brings him saying things like, “Getting up so early all the time, makes you totally stupid. A man has to have his sleep,” and he goes on to say, “IF I weren’t holding back because of my parents, I would have given notice long ago, I would have marched straight up to the boss and told him off from the bottom of my heart. He would have toppled from his desk!” (2000 NA). I believe that this, and the rest of the passage show how Gregor is imprisoned not only at his job, but at home as well. Although he changes into a bug and no long has to work, he is still prisoner in his own life. He is not able to leave the house or even his bedroom. Throughout the story, it is a constant struggle for Gregor to attain freedom. In the end, he is only free through death.