MY REVIEW OF METAMORPHOSIS BY FRANZ KAFKA
The word Metamorphosis brings the image of a lifecycle of a butterfly, where the beautiful butterfly emerges from a not so pretty larva and a pupa. In this book, Gregor Samsa turns into an ugly creepy crawly one fine morning. The whole story revolves around the fact as to how he feels and how his family treats him in this form.
The question that popped in my mind the moment I read the first line was how the family would know that this was Gregor Samsa? Why didn’t it occur to them that this insect could have eaten Gregor up? Why didn’t they try to shoo the insect away or call others so that they could take the insect to some forest? All these questions arise when we take this situation at its face value, but Kafka had a deeper message to convey. He wanted to portray how people change when there is a change in their life. Gregor was the bread earner of the family, and everybody had got used to it, a set lifestyle. When Gregor was rendered useless due to his transformation, the mom, the dad, and the sister took up various jobs. The pressure of the family otherwise was completely on Gregor.
Gregor’s life as a vermin was piteous. Nobody understood him or appreciated him earlier also for all the hard work he put in for the family. We don’t know much about Gregor’s life when he was a human other than he was an industrious travelling salesman.
It’s a fantasy, absurd fiction novella. It's interesting and a must-read!