Tyler Lund
Pd. 1
4/21/14
Death by Isolation
Throughout The Metamorphosis there are many lessons.
A lesson that is shown clearly throughout the story is that one always has the opportunity
to leave their circumstances and change their life in order to make it better. One
can choose to be happy and fulfilled or isolated and taken advantage of. In this story Kafka introduces Gregor who has
many chances and opportunities to see that his life is not where he wants it to
be but he proceeds to ignore the truth, blind himself to reality and do nothing
about it. This results in Gregor becoming isolated from his family through his
own choices and ultimately results in his death. When looking at the many literary
techniques Kafka uses such as vampirism, modernism, communion and more, one
will clearly see how Kafka conveys this moral lesson in his writing.
As the story unfolds,
one can see that Gregor’s choices lead him to becoming more isolated. When Gregor first wakes up he thinks about his
job and how depressing it is. He thinks about why he is working and how he hates
it. Gregor comes to the conclusion that he works to pay for his family’s
expenses. “‘It’s already seven o’clock’ he told himself at the latest striking
of the alarm clock, ‘already seven o’clock and still such a fog.’ And for a
little while longer he lay quietly with weak breathing, as if perhaps waiting for
normal and natural conditions to re-emerge out of the complete stillness” (Kafka
9). Here, Gregor is in bed and is procrastinating
getting out of bed because he hates his job. This shows that he is feeling
depressed about his life right now but is continuing to work to support his
family. In addition, this state of loneliness
and depression shows how Kafka was a modernist writer. Many people in the modernist
era where depressed from the war and the theme of depression throughout the
book shows Kafka’s modernist thinking. One can also see clearly that Gregor is
trying his hardest to provide for his family even though they do nothing for
him. They are sucking the life out of him and using him. Gregor does not see
this because he wishes not to see it. He has the choice to make alternate
decisions and stop helping his blood sucking family and start helping himself
but he chooses not to. As the story goes on one can see how Kafka incorporates
vampirism into the story of Gregor. Vampirism is seen throughout literature as
when characters suck the life out of each other and use ones resources to
benefit themselves. “He wakes up in the morning – actually the evening, now
that I think about it – and says something like, 'In order to remain unread, I
must steal the life force of someone whose fate matters less to me than my own”
(Foster 21). When thinking about Vampirism a character that comes to mind is
the Father. When Gregor turns into a bug and his Father realizes he can no
longer work he disregards him because he no longer provides any value. The Father
was only using Gregor to get the money Gregor worked so hard to earn. Because
he wished not to see his Father as a vampire Gregor becomes continually
isolated. Gregor always had the chance to leave his family but instead he
stayed and was subjected to more isolation from his family. Gregor’s inability
to see what is really happening is one of Kafka’s uses of humor in the story.
Kafka’s joke is on the reader. If one reads the story and dismisses it as
stupid, they are not getting the message in the same way that it is lost on
Gregor. Kafka is saying that if the cannot understand
then they are what is wrong with society and humans as a whole. This relates to
how children are raised and how society has taught them to see humor and why they
are not able to grasp Kafka’s humor. “And it is this, I think, that makes
Kafka's wit inaccessible to children whom our culture has trained to see jokes
as entertainment and entertainment as reassurance” (Wallace 3). Here, Wallace is saying that kids used to seeing
humor as entertainment rather than also having a message. They don’t see Kafka’s
humor because it is shown in a different way than they are used to. The humor
of Gregor is that the reader is not seeing the choice Gregor has to leave his
family and is therefor not seeing his own opportunities
to change his life and make it better for himself. Kafka’s lesson is that people always have the
choice to leave their situation and that one must always be open to the truth
because it can hurt you in the end when you ignore it. This is what Gregor
experienced, he blinded himself from the truth and in turn died from his choice.
As
the story continues one can see many more instances where Gregor is subjecting himself
to isolation. As Gregor wakes up and finally opens the door for the others he
sees a picture of himself from when he was in the military. “Directly across on
the opposite wall hung a photograph of Gregor from the time of his military
service; it was a picture of him as a lieutenant, as he, smiling and worry
free, with his hand on his sword, demanded respect for his bearing and uniform”
(Kafka 20). The picture reminds Gregor
or how happy he was then. This reference to the war is also another example of
modernism in Kafka’s writing. Even though Gregor can go back to the military
and possibly be happy like he was, he continues to stay to help his family
after they have done nothing for him. If he didn’t blind himself from the truth
about his family he would go and have a happier life but instead he isolates
himself even more. This Isolation from Gregor shows the exact opposite of some
of the Existentialism ideas. Gregor chooses to isolate himself from his family.
By doing this he is not acting as one with his family. One of the ideas of
existentialism is that we as people act as one. Gregor is doing the exact
opposite and is subjecting himself to isolation which is hurting himself in the
long run. Later in the story Gregor finds out things that should upset him but
because of his blindness they do not. One example is when Gregor find out that he
has already paid off the debt his Father owed “True, with this excess money, he
could have paid off more of his Father’s debt to his employer and the day on
which he could be rid of this position would have been a lot closer, but now
things were doubtless better the way his Father had arranged them” (Kafka 37). The
fact that the Father has not told Gregor that his debt has been paid off relates
to the idea of vampirism again. The Father has not told Gregor because Gregor
then might stop working for the family and follow his own dreams. One can see
that the Father does not care for Gregor and is only using him for his money.
Gregor, upon hearing this news blinds himself from the truth and says that it
all happened for the best. He still believes his Father to be a good man and in
turn is more isolated even though he has the chance to leave his situation. The
Father and family portray other ideas in the story as well. One is communion. Foster
talks about how communion is shown through literature and usually represented
by food or eating. “Whenever people eat or drink together, it’s communion. For
some reasons, this is often met with a slightly scandalized look, communion
having for many readers one and only one meaning. While that meaning is very
important, it is not the only one.” (Foster 9) One can see that in the Gregors
case he and his family never show an act of communion. This shows how isolated
Gregor has chosen to be from the family. He has put himself in a position where
he does not eat with them. This idea of communion is also very ironic in the
story. Gregor in the end dies from starvation and a deadly wound inflicted by
his Father throwing an apple. This is ironic because Gregor has felt that he is
part of the family when he has not shared one of the most personal experiences
with them the act of eating together. He ends up dying from the opposite of communion.
Gregor does not wish to see that the family is not willing to risk sharing
resources with him and yet Gregor has shared everything with them.
In the story there are many more
examples of Gregor attempting to excuse his family when in reality they are
just hurting him. In one passage Gregor watches his family through the crack
and thinks about what they will do if he can’t work. “But how would things go
if now all tranquility, all prosperity, all contentment should come to a
horrible end? In order not to lose himself in such thoughts, Gregor preferred
to set himself moving and crawled up and down in his room” (Kafka 28). Here,
Gregor is feeling scared for the family and what they will do without him. He
is failing to see that the family is simply not even worrying about him and is
disregarding him. As soon as Gregor is unable to work the family no longer
treats him well. Because Gregor has no value they simply do not care for him,
much like vampires. Gregor is trying to see them as good people when in reality
they are bad. This is another example of Gregor having the chance to leave and
live a better life but he stays and gets hurt even more. As Gregor keeps
isolating himself from his family he inflicts more pain on himself physically.
In the beginning of the story Gregor attempts to open the door and in turn
hurts his mouth. "Unfortunately it seemed that he had no real teeth. How
then was he to grab hold of the key? But to make up for that his jaws were
naturally very strong; with their help he managed to get the key really moving,
and he did not notice that he was obviously inflicting some damage on himself,
for a brown fluid came out of his mouth, flowed over the key, and dripped onto
the floor” (Kafka 18). Here, one can see that Gregor only cares for his family
and will risk his physical well-being to help them. This shows how Gregor is
isolating himself and is so focused on helping his family that he is willing to
go through enormous amounts of pain to do so. He keeps shielding himself from
the idea that the family will in fact not do the same for him. Even in the end
of Gregor’s life Gregor still proceeds to think of his family as good people
and when he is dying he thinks of the love they have given him. Gregor still
covers his eyes from the truth of his family which goes to show Kafka’s moral
lesson. “He remembered his family with deep feeling
and love. In this business, his own thought that he had to disappear was, if
possible, even more decisive than his sister’s. He remained in this state of
empty and peaceful reflection until the tower clock struck three o’clock in the
morning” (Kafka 71). Gregor, even in death, does not accept the fact that his
family treated him poorly. Even with all the opportunities for Gregor to leave
he does not. In the end Gregor is essentially the only one to blame for his
torture throughout his life and his untimely death. Because he refused to see
the bad in his family he was subjected to the horrible reality of isolation.
This is Kafka’s moral lesson that one always has the option to leave his
situation for a better one.
In the story The Metamorphosis Gregor is constantly shown by his family that
they do not care for him as a bug and would be better off if he was gone. They
take advantage of his work and life in order to better their own lives. They refuse to acknowledge his humanity and
yet he continues to forgive them and think about how good they are. Even though this is clear to the reader Gregor
constantly refuses to see the truth that is shown to him and he becomes more
and more isolated. His isolation from
his family finally kills him. Kafka story illustrates and shows the reader the
moral lesson that one always has the option to make their life better and is
not ever forced to do something in their life they wish not to. As Gregor cannot believe this truth and
refuses to change he pays the ultimate price.
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