The Metamorphosis

Article written by Emma Baldwin

B.A. in English, B.F.A. in Fine Art, and B.A. in Art Histories from East Carolina University.

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka is a disturbing and thrilling book that leaves a reader with more questions than answers. It follows Gregor Samsa, a traveling salesman who wakes up one day to discover that he’s been transformed into a giant insect. Unfortunately, things only get worse from there and the last days of his life are filled with guilt, suffering, and fear. 

Key Facts about The Metamorphosis

• Title: The Metamorphosis 
• When/where written: In three weeks in 1912 in Prague, Czechoslovakia
• Published: 1915
• Literary Period: World War I
• Genre: Modernism
• Point-of-View: Third-person limited with exceptions
• Setting: Somewhere in Europe, in an apartment, mostly Gregor’s room
• Climax: When Gregor leaves his room during Grete’s concert
• Antagonist: The transformation that Gregor undergoes and his family members who turn against him

Franz Kafka and The Metamorphosis

Franz Kafka’s political beliefs were defined by the time period he grew up in. During his youth, the First World War broke out after Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in 1914. Despite this, he did not fight in the war. First, because his job was deemed essential and later because he contracted TB. He published The Metamorphosis when he was thirty-two years old. It had been written several years earlier over a brief period of three weeks. Kafka died ten years later after contracted tuberculosis. Today, little of Kafka’s full oeuvre remains. He burnt up to 90% of everything he published, even leaving a note for his friend to burn his remaining works (which included The Trial and The Castle) after he died.

Books Related to The Metamorphosis

When you think of The Metamorphosis it is likely that the first thing that comes to mind is the absurdity of Gregor’s situation. He wakes up one morning that is like every other morning, except for the fact that he’s been transformed into a giant bug, usually depicted as a cockroach. Kafka’s use of Gregor’s situation embodies many of the fundamental elements of Existentialism. This is a philosophical and artistic movement that was at its peak in the late 1900s. It was based on the idea that human beings are responsible for creating the meaning of their life. There is no meaning in the world except for that which we create. Works of this period are usually filled with the same confusion and strangeness that readers have come to love in The Metamorphosis. Other important books of this movement include Kafka’s The Trial, which follows the arrest of an innocent and confused man who never finds out what crime he’s committed. Readers will also find similar witing in THe Stranger by Albert Camus, On Being and Nothingness by Jean-Paul Sarte, Either/Or by Søren Kierkegaard, and Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche.

The Lasting Impact of The Metamorphosis

It was not until after his death that Kafka’s name became associated with some of the best absurdist and existentialist literature ever written. After its publication, the book was banned in Nazi Germany as well in the Soviet Union. For a period of time, after the Prague Spring, the book was banned in Czechoslovakia as well. The book resonates with readers today because of the way that Kafka was able to tap into the human condition, including emotions of fear, desperation, and guilt, while also critiquing the capitalist system and interpersonal relationships. Kafka asks the reader to consider the meaning of life and if there even is one. He brings in the elements of Existentialism to explore Gregor’s attempts to adjust to his new life. Most heartwrenching of all is Gregor’s desire, a deeply human one, to continue caring for his family even after he has become entirely incapable of doing so and has been shunned and abused by them. One of the most common questions that are asked about The Metamorphosis is why did this happen to Gregor? (Not to mention how). The answer lies at the heart of Existentialism, there is no reason. Life happens without rhyme or reason. In Kafka’s world view, there did not need to be a definable reason that Gregor was transformed. The fact of the transformation was enough.