The Non-Human Transformation In The Metamorphosis
The Metamorphosis is a novel published by Franz Kafka in 1915. Kafka is the founder of modernist literature, and metamorphosis is one of his representative works. In The Metamorphosis Kafka describes the clerk Gregor Sam suddenly becomes a insect then his family begin to hate him, so as to reveal the interpersonal - including ethics, love each other on the surface, in their inside of the heart is very lonely and strange nature, vivid and profound recreates the indifference between people in the capitalist society. The novel talked about the main character Gregor Samsa who woke up once in the morning found himself became a big insect and his insect life. In his metamorphosis his relation with his family also has transformations. Franz Kafka shows people are extremely concerned money, only care about personal interests and lack of love in the family because Kafka wants to show distortion of capitalism on family life.
The true direction of 'deformation' in 'Metamorphosis' is a perspective of the distortion of human life attitude, moral values, values, and existentialism. On the surface, the deformation is from Gregory, who turns from man to worm. However, Gerry’s spiritual world, his sense of responsibility, respect for his family, especially his sister’s love, are determined from beginning to end. Changeless. Instead, the other three members of the family experienced ups and downs of 'thoughts' throughout the process. 'Metamorphosis' uses the superficial absurdity to tell the author's own inner life ideals, which contains rich and profound content. The symbol of Kafka not only has the profound meaning of profound text art but also contains the metaphor of reason.
The protagonist Gregory Samsa is a travelling salesman in a company. He has been running around for years and has worked hard to support the entire family. When Samsa was able to support his ill-fated family with a modest salary, he was the respected eldest son at home, his parents praised him, and his sister loved him. When one day he became a beetle, lost his labour force, and no longer made any material contribution to this family, his family’s respect for him was gradually showing his face of indifference, disgust, and hatred. The father beat him with apples, his mother fainted, and his sister turned against him. Gradually, Samsa was far from society and finally died alone and painfully in hunger. In Gregor’s transformations, Franz Kafka showed even though Gregor has a lot of physiological transformations, he is the most human person in the Samsa family. Kafka shows the reader this by comparing his insect habits and he is still keeping the human mind. The most absurd thing is the family never cared how Gregor had changed or how he could have changed back.
At the beginning of his insect life, he began to try to control his insect body. When Gregor just change to insect, his thoughts are still rational human thoughts. “What’s happened to me he thought. It was no dream. His room, a regular human room, only a little on the small side. ” (Kafka, 3) Gregor first reaction was to analyze the surrounding situation. Although he changed to an insect, he is still keeping his human mind and his mind is clear to know that he is not dreaming. Gregor is a person always thinking his family “If I didn’t hold back for my parents’sake, I would have quit long ago, I would have marched up to the boss and spoken my piece from the bottom of my heart.”(4) Gregor Samsa complains his boss but his family rely on his job to support their livelihoods. Gregor is the only one in this family really care about this family. In this metamorphosis Gregor’s body has some physiological changes, he still could speak like a human but voice changed strange “Gregor was shocked to hear his own voice answering, unmistakably his own voice, true but in which, as if from below, an insistent distressed chirping intruded, which left the clarity of his words intact only for a moment really, before so badly garbing them as they carried that no one could be sure if he had heard right ” (5) In his physiological changes, Kafka wants to show that although Gregor has some physiological transformations, he is mental has not changed, he kept his human being.
After he could control his body, his adjustment to his new body and live as real insect life. Gregor’s body has a lot of changes include his preference of food. “he devoured the cheese, the vegetables, and the sauce; the fresh foods, on the other hand, he did not care for; he couldn’t even stand their smell and even dragged the things he wanted to eat a bit farther away. ” his food preferences became more like an insect, he begins to eat like a real insect. Even Gregor became more insect his mind is still clear and thinking about his sister “If she were not going to do it of her own free will, he would rather starve than call it to her attention,”(22) At this moment, Kafka wants to show in Gregor’s heart, he loves his family, he changed to a insect but he is the one love the family most. In this family, Gregory is the victim of this deformed society. Although he has the physiological transformation, he is actually the most human character in this novel.
Gregor’s sister Grete is a girl loves music, during Gregor’s metamorphosis, she also has changed after his brother's metamorphosis. There is also sister Grete, she has the closest relationship with her brother, and her brother likes him the most, always thinking about her happiness and future. During the initial transformation of his brother Gregory, his sister, Gret, showed concern and compassion for his brother. When Gregor just metamorphosis, she is the only one to take care of Gregor daily life and Gregor’s feeling. In the beginning, she loves her brother and cares about her family. “ She was visiting someone seriously ill or perhaps even a stranger. ”(22) Kafka showed Grete treat Gregor carefully but “perhaps even a stranger” showed Gregor became unfamiliar for Grete, he became a stranger for him. “ seriously ill”(22) After Gregor’s transformation, his thought became like someone is seriously ill. He does not want his family to pay a lot of attention to him. Kafka creates this metaphor to shows Gregor’s love for his family.
At the beginning of the novel Grete taking care of Gregor carefully “To find out his likes and dislikes, she brought him a wide assorment of things, all spread out on an old newspaper: old , half-rotten vegetable; bones left over from the evening meal, caked with congealed white sauce; some raisins and almonds; a piece of cheese which two days before Gregor had declared inedible; a plain slice of bread and butter, and one with butter and salt” (23) From this plot, it can be seen that Grete's relationship with Gregor is more intimate than other family members. She is extremely considerate and caring in the life of Gregor. So Kafka made her transformation more obvious and promoted the development of the whole novel. “She picked it up immediately-not with her bare hands, of course, but with a rag-and carried it out”(22). Kafka mentioned Grete picked the milk up with a “rag” showed that in Grete’s heart she is actually disgusted Gregor as a insect.This also was showed “not only his leaving but even the foods which Gregor had left completely untouched-as if they too were no longer usable and dumping everything hastily into a pail”(23). Kafka showed Grete no longer feel like Gregor is a human her changing already begins from here. “It would not have surprised Gregor if she had not opened the window, but not only did she come in, she even sprang back and locked the door; a stranger might easily have thought that Gregor had been lying in wait for her, wanting to bite her.”(29)Not only was Grete surprised by Gregory, but he was scared by him. Kafka chooses the verb “sprang” to show that Grete was scared and her action is quick.
The protagonist Gregory provoked the burden of family life in a situation where the whole family was in a difficult situation. He is respected and loved at home. But Gregory became a big beetle, and the father-son relationship, mother-child relationship, and brother-sister relationship suddenly changed 180 degrees, showing a terrible picture of extreme selfishness, indifference, cruelty, and inability to communicate. Family, ethics Love is gone.The company in Samsa went bankrupt five years ago. After the company went bankrupt, it left a property. Although the number is not large, the interest has never been moved. This money is reserved for the family. The body of 'Father' began to bless. The father bought the staff in the bank early, and needed to go to work at 6 in the morning. 'Father' is brutal, rude, cruel, cold, selfish, and authoritarian.When Gregory’s father saw Gregory after becoming a beetle for the first time, he did not consider how his son’s body was inconvenient to move. “He ruthlessly rushed him back and shouted. It is like a wild man.' He desperately urged Gregory to return to his room. Gregory didn't want to make his father angry, and he squeezed it to the door. As a result, he was injured on the door, and his father pushed hard behind him. He fainted at once.
Later, when his father just returned home and saw his wife fainting, he was indiscriminate and picked up a bag of apples and smashed his son to one of his sons. One of them 'just hit his back and got stuck in it.' It became a fatal wound to the death of Gregor. In the two months after Gregory became a beetle, his father never stepped into his room to visit him. Finally, when the father knew the news of Gregor's death, he said: 'We want to thank God.' Not a little sad, some are just the pleasure of liberation. The love of the Father has disappeared in him, and the extreme egocentricity is exposed. The old Samsa was ruined by bankruptcy, and his son’s 'deformation' made him feel great. 'The black eyes shot a full of enthusiasm and aggressive light.' 'This is not his father.' When the son who had been transformed into a beetle finally opened the door and climbed out, he did not show any sorrow, not only did not understand the pain of his son but also used violence against his son recklessly. 'The left hand grabbed a large newspaper on the table, squatting on one side, waving a cane and a newspaper to drive Gregor back into the room. Gregor's pleading was useless, and his pleading was not Understand that it is useless to turn his head humbly again... The father rushed to him without hesitation, making a screaming voice, like a wild man... The father gave him a liberating one from behind. Feet, he fell into the middle of the room, blood was flowing on his body. The door was closed with a cane...' The old father became extremely strong in an instant, but Gregory became a night without any attack. Force beetle. In the face of a powerful father, Gregory was extraordinarily small and helpless. He could only escape to the West under the chase of his father.
The unfortunate Gregory always has a life shackle. 'He is worried that this time-consuming turn will make his father impatient. The cane in his father will always give him a fatal blow on his back or head. 'The rude father is afraid of ugliness and anger, and keeps Gregory in the room and does not let it out.' The second conflict was when the mother and sister wanted to remove some furniture and planned to make room for him to crawl. In order to keep the beloved desk and the homemade lady paintings, he desperately defended the poor ones.
A little something, but the shape of the worm once again fainted the mother, causing his father to be furious, and his father used his all-powerful anger to smash the apple's back, causing his son's deadly wounds. When a confrontation between 'strong people' and 'small worms' is formed, it is doomed that 'people' will achieve the ultimate victory. In both conflicts, the father played the role of an oppressor, using violence. He never explored the reason why Gregory became a beetle, nor did he show the pity that a father should have. In the face of his inhuman treatment, Gregory simply endured and retreated, without a positive resistance. Although the father did not appear many times in the novel, the existence of 'father' played a decisive role in destroying the fate of the protagonist in the novel.
The mother is tall and thin, full of white hair, long-term asthma, and walking around at home is a problem. The “mother” has taken all the housework. The mother sews underwear for those who have never met. The mother’s feelings for her son seemed to be deeper. She sympathized with the son’s misfortune. She could not accept the fact that her son became a beetle. Therefore, she was grieved, but her mother’s love for Gree was not firm, and she was very vulnerable. Gregory’s mother had disagreed with her daughter’s removal of the furniture in her son’s room, including the toolbox and desk, because she hoped that the original healthy Gregory would return to health again, and the room would remain as it was, so that the beloved son could Forget about this unpleasant experience; she also tried to go to his room to see the son's condition, but this thought disappeared when he didn't come to his son's room. Because she is afraid to see the appearance of her own child. If there is a maternal love in her heart, what can be done in the world to stop the mother's care for her children? Even if his own flesh and blood become a big beetle or something else, a mother with a great motherly spirit will do her best to care for and care for her children, because that is her own child. The protagonist's mother fears more than sorrow and is often scared to faint. Because of fear, she can't give her beloved and unfortunate son any care in life; because of fear, she can't stop the harm of her sons and outsiders. The torrent of maternal love that rushed deep inside her heart was completely lost by the fear of the natural form of Gregor. Grieg's life encounter is a ruthless flogging and criticism of money worship. Through the narrative of the various encounters after the transformation of Gregor, the novel shows the supremacy of money that permeates the whole society. People regard money and wealth as the highest pursuit. This promotes the constant alienation of society, ruthlessly distorts people's souls, and makes the original beautiful feelings of the world disappear, and is shrouded in a negative emotion of disgust, helplessness and even helplessness. Kafka's 'The Metamorphosis' focuses on Gregory's encounters in a family with apathy and affection. This kind of life situation is Kafka's own personal experience, bringing him a series of real emotional experiences. In modern society, the average person can't master his own destiny.
The innocent disasters like unemployment and war will somehow fall on his head inexplicably and can no longer be rid of. It is precisely because of the disaster that there is no reason for it, and it can show that the depth of the disaster is wide and wide, and it cannot escape. Moreover, Kafka expounds the extreme loneliness of modern society by distorting the protagonist through the silent, inhuman mind and language of the beetle, and the expression of grievances and pains that are ununderstood, unspeakable, and unjustifiable. Loneliness, especially the contempt and dislike of loved ones, shows the cold and indifference of its human feelings. At the same time, Kafka also used extremely delicate ink to express the protagonist's deformation and brought his family's incalculable pain, attacking the society at that time. Only because of the incompetence of society, the life of the beetle of the protagonist became a 'family ugly', which affected the social status of the family and became the psychological burden that they could not get rid of. The protagonist, with his affection for family love, ethical love and human love, treats his family's weaknesses with generous warmth and goodwill, and ultimately sacrifices himself, even if he ends this unbearable painful life. He also relieved his family and was completely reborn.
Conclusion
Although Gregory became a beetle, his shape has not changed, and his family has not changed his mind. His relationship with his family was a reflection of the desperate situation of the people at that time, and it also reflected from the side that people at that time were humanoid and 'worm' hearts. Gregory’s death did not affect the lives of others. As Engels said in the article 'The Situation of the British Proletariat', 'the bond that sustains the family is not the love of the family, but the private interest hidden behind the property relationship.' This is the relationship between people in the capitalist world. Everyone is egocentric. The maintenance of interpersonal relationships is money and interests. Once this kind of maintenance is broken, there is only confrontation and conflict between people. , diaphragm, suspicion, killing. The transformation of Gregor into a beetle is a sharp expression of the relationship between this alienated person. The encounter of Samsa in The Metamorphosis is a symbol of the fate of the little people at the bottom of the era in which the material is extremely rich and the human condition is weak. The absurd story of the novel turning into a beetle in the novel reflects the reality that the world is profitable, pays homage to money, dismisses the true human nature, and is finally squeezed by society. It reflects the real social life under the capitalist system.
