Literature

He woke up in the morning and instead of being a human being, he had morphed into a giant verminus bug. Metamorphosis was written by Franz Kafka in 1915.  Kafka was an existentialist at the time and it affected much of the writing that he did . Existentialism was popular during the 19th century.  His book, Metamorphosis is a literary classic. The term literary classic means that the author had something important to say about life that spoke to them when it was written and continues to speak to us now. In Metamorphosis Kafka uses symbolism and some humor to tell us that life is what we make it, it is not a destiny, it is self determined. When we spend it as others expect, we often end up confused as to who we are. This paper will discuss Metamorphosis and serve this writers opinion that this story is about this existentialist belief

Kafka was an existentialist, a philosophy that was very popular during the 19th century. In general the belief is that we choose our destiny, it is not chosen for us and how we manage our lifetime is up to us. In other words, we self determine. In doing that we sometimes make decisions that are for others and not ourselves and we may find ourselves in the end, feeling as if nothing we have done was worthwhile (Jacovidus, 2010).  Existentialism admits that stark individualism and self determination will lead to a personal anxiety . Complete and total choice can often overwhelm a person who is unhindered by any consideration for the past, for other people, or for the good of society as a whole.  This belief in Existentialism may help us to understand the kind of isolation and despair that Gregor feels throughout Metamorphosis.

Existentialist beliefs have ideas that the universe is indifferent and often hostile to all human being, that our existence on this planet are not really explainable, and that isolation, anxiety, and despair are a part of life. Gregors transformation to a new physical form is a way to develop the story and plot in a such as way that Kafka an express his ideas. He uses the way that Gregor deals with his family and the choices that he makes as well as the symbols in the book to tell the reader the important things about existentialism. The belief is centered upon the analysis of human existence and how humans find themselves existing in the world (Ray, 2010).

Each individual in life spends a lifetime changing and that change will bring them to the essence of nature. Finding ones has great meaning and the human has free will to do that, his choices are always his own. There is also the belief that all humans are at their best when they are struggling against their own individual nature (philosophy.org). Experiences always leave physical traces, so we can expect a change (metamorphosis) as we get older. All experiences have a meaning and affect our choices.

The theme of this story is about human beings and their nature, using an existentialists philosophy to tell the story. The story itself, draws you in right away.  The very first sentence, Gregor Samsa awakens one morning after having anxious dreams, he discovered that in bed he had changed into a monstrous verminous bug. You have to read on, to try to determine what would cause such a thing to happen. This is symbolism at its best, not only is he representing how a human might see themselves but he has used something everyone understands.  In fact, this story has much symbolism throughout. Other more complicated ideas are represented by symbols that we can understand such as being locked in our room alone and not being able to get to the door.  The one symbol that is not dealt with by the end of the story is how or why did Gregor become a bug.  You are left to determine for yourself why that might have happened.

Gregor hated what he did for a living but he supported his whole family and felt that  he was stuck doing what he was doing.  He believed that others had a better life doing other things but had only thought about breaking free and doing something else.  In the morning when he wakes up as a bug, he says, Oh God What a demanding job I have chosen. Day to day out on the road, the stresses of trade made much greater than the work in the head office, and in addition to that I have to deal with the problems of traveling, the worries about train connections, irregular bad food, temporary and constant human relations. (Kafka, 1915). Why did he not change his job and do something else He felt a duty to his family, including his parents that he was supporting. However, should he not have chosen to doing something else anyway By not doing that he has accepted this boring innocuous life that he dislikes so much. Could this be the reason he woke up as a bug  Would it be easier for him to live life that way or did he dislike himself so much that he needed to see himself as a bug  Another possibility here is that he felt so alone in life that he saw himself as being locked in that room for a lifetime.

Gregor also saw himself as the bosses slave of sorts and often throughout the book, there are examples that make you think he is right. Not only has he never before this day missed a day of work, but today his boss actually comes to his house to find out why he is so lazy that he is not out on the road like always. His further need to stop doing this job is shown in his inability to get out of bed.  He tries over and over again.  He decides he will get up at 6 then at 630, 645, 7, and then 715.  He does not get up at any of these.  At 715 his boss arrives just like he expects that he will. He also understands that if he were not suddenly transformed, he would not have the backbone to stand up to all of this and get a different job.  He uses such symbolism as the soft backbone of the bug.

There is also the dependence of his family.  There is fear projected from his family for the possibility of his illness but not because he is ill, but because he is not going to work.  This is a family that is depending on him for support.  The mother says to everyone who comes to the door, including the father, boss, and lawyer, he is not well Mr. Attorney, he is not well sir, believe me good attorney, or how would Gregor miss a train (Kafka, 1915). She wants to know how could he not go to work for any reason except he was ill. It is to be noted that during the exchange with the attorney, Gregor mentions that the attorney was a bug once. Does this mean that all people who have troubles become insects Again, it is difficult to see what he might be saying here.

The story is told in first person by Gregor who makes many small comments to himself, many of which are meant to be humorous but because of how serious the whole situation seems to the reader, it is difficult to appreciate the humor.  Gregor understands that every single thing in his life is now unimportant as he is a bug and cannot go on about life the way he always has.  He is trapped in his room because he cannot open the door.  He feels he is virtually imprisoned in this room. For the existentialist beliefs, being trapped in his room like this is a symbol of the realization that man is insignificant. He tells us that also in the beginning of the book when he is unable to get out of bed and He saw the alarm clock over there, ticking on the chest of drawers, Good God he thought. It is half past six and the hands were going quietly on.(Kafka, 1915). Life is just ticking away.

Gregor, during all of his working life has continued to get older. Many people in life feel they have wasted much of their lives, in the sense that they spent for other people instead of themselves and now they do not understand who they are. Cancer patients who are threatened with their lives often have these same feelings. They feel they should have done what they wanted to do instead of what they did because of duty. Does this transform them  This writer believes the answer is yes, not into a bug certainly, but maybe to someone who feels locked in their room. Gregor describes his transformed body as rounded, he is unable to use it the way he always has.  He might be telling the reader that he is suddenly older and all of this reevaluation is because of becoming older and not fulfilling any of his own dreams.

In essence the story is one about a man who has always been ill at ease.  One who has never found his way in life and is very disappointed as to where he has ended up. Franz Kafka believed that man was what he made himself but he had to make choices to do that. He believed there is not destiny and anxiety from making decisions was part of life.  He used symbolism to tell a story of life and at the same time the story of his beliefs.  The story was really quite interesting to read just for itself, if the reader is not trying to figure out what he said.

In conclusion, Kafkas book is full of deep symbolism as noted by the shocking opening of the story in which the main character is a bug. Each person who reads the story will understand it somewhat different based on their own life choices but based on the research done by this writer, the writer believes that Kafka is saying life is what we make it, it is not a destiny but self determined. When we spend it as others expect, we often end up confused as to who we are. This writer believes that all of the main passages in the book are saying just this.