The Metamorphosis, the Unrealistic Truth
By Matthew Cox

Franz Kafka writes the unrealistic story, The Metamorphosis, in a realistic way. The plot shows what happens when the protagonist, Gregor Samsa, turns into a cockroach. His family is shocked and tried to keep the condition a secret. However they must find work and take in lodgers to support themselves. The story ends when Gregor dies. Their charwoman finds him dead. Gregor’s family get rid of the rude lodgers. After that, they take a train trip and encourage Grete, Gregor’s sister, to get married. Despite the story being unrealistic, Kafka writes it in a direct and factual way. This let him show readers how we must find enjoyable work. Franz Kafka tells a realistic lesson through unrealistic means.

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka focuses on the way Gregor Samsa turns into a roach. Grete, his sister, tries to feed and take care of her brother (Summary Central). Herr and Frau Samsa, Gregor’s parents, return to work because they needed money. Minor characters revolve around the main ones. There include rude and distrustful lodgers who rent rooms in Samsa’s apartment. Another one is the cleaning woman who finds Gregor dead. Most of the action takes place in the flat. Gregor gets locked in his room and is not allowed to wander in other parts of the house. The family spends most of their time talking and eating in the dining room.
The plot involves the way the protagonist wakes up one day and finds out that he is a roach. Despite his new form, Gregor still feels that he can do everyday things including go to work. However, Samsa sadly realizes that he cannot do these things because of his state. Although his family finds out (but they aren’t sure) that Gregor is a roach, nobody else believes them. For example, The main character’s boss comes to their door to look for Gregor. The employer leaves very frustrated and Samsa worried about losing his job. The family is still not sure that Gregor is the roach, so they push him back into his room. He gets badly bruised.

Samsa’s family loses money because Gregor brings home the income. Luckily, Herr has saved money that will last a year. Each one in the family goes back to work. Herr finds a job at a bank. Grete works as a store clerk. And Frau goes back to knitting lingerie. Grete is the only ones who enters Gregor’s room; she feeds him twice a day. After a while, the family fires the maid and hires a charwoman to do the cleaning. They also rent out a room to three lodgers to help pay for the rent. They do not know about Gregor as a roach. One night he leaves the room after hearing one of the lodgers play music on the violin. Herr pushes them into their room so they would not see his son. The lodgers threaten to leave without paying. The father also pushes Gregor back into his room as well. Early the next morning, the charwoman cleans the house and finds the main character dead. After she tells the rest of the family, they order the three lodgers out of the flat. All of the family members take the day off to relax. They take a train trip where the family realizes that Grete should remarry.

The story elements have symbols. For example, the hospital represents help for Gregor that is both near and far away. Music is the universal language that the main character has with his sister. The lodgers show how the Samsa family has no control over their son’s situation. The symbols also include various concepts as well. For example, the family is financially stable before Gregor turns a roach. This contrasts with the family’s condition afterwards when they lose money. Herr, Frau, and Grete must find their own work to support themselves. Kafka suggests with this philosophy that we do not need to work like bugs with jobs that we do not enjoy. Gregor takes pride in his work and does a good job. The family finds this out at the end of the story.

The author uses a simple and direct writing style. For example, Gregor does not feel shocked by turning into a roach. However, his family is quite surprised. Kafka uses third person omniscient to help readers stay factual. They also understand how different people in the story respond to Gregor’s condition.

There are several famous quotes from the story. For example, page 538 says “As Gregor Samsa awake one morning from a troubled dream, he found himself changed in his bed to some monstrous kind of vermin.” Kafka depicts how Gregor finds out that he is a bug. “The next train went at seven; to catch it he must hurry madly, and his collection of samples was not packed” on page 539 shows how Gregor want to go to work even though he is a bug. “He’s lying there, absolutely dead as a doornail” on page 577 depicts how the charwoman reports Gregor’s death to his family. However, Herr Samsa responds to his son’s death with “We can thank God for that!” on page 577. Herr Samsa says this in response to the news that his son just died

Franz Kafka tells a realistic lesson through unrealistic means. He takes an ordinary family with financial issues and turns their money earner into a cockroach. Although Gregor, the main character, tries to live a normal life, his family keeps his condition a secret. They find to work to earn money, hire a cleaning woman, and take in three lodgers. After Gregor dies, his family gets rid of the lodgers, and take a trip. Herr and Frau try to get their daughter, Grete, to marry. Kafka’s surreal, but factual writing method lets readers see how we must fine enjoyable work.











Work Cited

“The Metamorphasis by Franz Kafka.” Summary Central 2008. 27 March 2008
http://members.tripod.com/~SummaryCentral/themetamorphosis.htm