The Metamorphosis Essays

Why “The Metamorphosis” is Not Dehumanizing

Dehumanized art strays away from reality by portraying its subjects with little resemblance to reality as possible and is thus very “waggish” and in no way serious. Those who perceive dehumanized art are unable to make more meaningful connections or have“intercourse” with it, because the concepts are presented in a way that are very abstract and difficult to imagine happening in real life. On the other hand, art that is not dehumanized often depicts reality for what it is, and in doing so, it incorporates many elements of human morals, pathos, and other traditional elements that reflects the human experience. “The Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka is not dehumanizing, because even though the entire concept of turning into a vermin is hard to imagine actually happening in real life, the deeper meanings present in the story reflect real human morals, family dynamics and the difficulties of life.

Morals, particularly selflessness and sacrifice, have a strong influence over the plot and Gregor’s actions throughout Kafka’s story. After a series of events which causes the lodgers to refuse to pay and leave Gregor’s home in a fit of anger, Gregor’s sister and father immediately direct all of their blame towards Gregor as they release all their pent up frustrations. They show immense disgust towards Gregor, as they demand that he must be rid at once. Rather than responding with anger, Gregor demonstrates his selflessness as he chooses to die in order to no longer be a burden to his family. He is able to look past his family’s attitude towards his vermin state, and instead remember the memories from his past and the love he had for them. Since Gregor chooses to be selfless at the very climax of the story, his final thoughts hold a lot of presence and therefore, his selflessness is essential to the story. This important moment clearly not dehumanizing, as it paints a very serious picture of Gregor to choosing to let go of his life even right after his family treats him like he is not human. There is nothing “waggish” about this central part of the story, and Gregor’s final decision is one he makes as a result of the love and selflessness that he has. There is a lot of emotion involved in Gregor’s situation as well as morality, which is the essence of what dehumanization is not. Although Gregor meets his end, his overall transformation into a vermin and what followed appears to be a sacrifice for his family to live a better life by first and foremost, overcoming their stagnant ways. Before Gregor’s metamorphosis, his family stayed home and had the same routine every day. Only after Gregor turns into a vermin does the family get back up on their feet and work hard to improve their circumstances. The ending of the story focuses on the family instead of Gregor, and sounds hopeful, as they finally are able to move into a new home and even look forward to Grete’s womanhood. The family is finally able to live a happy life and that Gregor’s sacrifice was the key to doing so. Thus, sacrifice is another moral that is present in the story and one that is often present in reality. Not only is the importance of morals emphasized, but the author also illustrates that the lack of morals can have very negative consequences, as Gregor gets a very sad ending after his family neglects him and no longer treats him like their son. Since the book places a lot of value on morals such as selflessness and sacrifice, it is not a dehumanizing work.

The way that Gregor’s family changes over the course of the story is reflective of many other families in the world, so most people would be able to understand and possibly even relate to their family dynamics. Kafka demonstrates how families may become dysfunctional or on the other hand, strengthened through their shared experiences. At first, Gregor is the only money maker in the family, but after he becomes a vermin, he loses his importance in the family and the roles shifts. His father becomes more commanding and his sister gains a lot of responsibility, as she becomes in charge of feeding Gregor and cleaning his room. Due to their circumstances and poverty, Gregor’s family chooses to neglect him in the end and let him die. To them, Gregor has suddenly become an entirely new person overnight. In the real world, families may have encountered similar situations of not knowing how to handle a sudden, drastic change to one of their members. For example, if a family member suddenly falls extremely sick or becomes disabled, they may also share similar struggles as Gregor’s family when Gregor turns into a vermin. Some families will remain emotionally strong and support each other, but others, like Gregor’s, will lose hope and eventually lose to will to care for the individual. In the end, the three remaining family members are supportive of one another after going through the life changing experience of Gregor’s metamorphosis together. Instead, it depicts how a family could react to a huge change within their lives, become dysfunctional as they face hardships, or bond as the result of a shared experience. These are all things any family could go through, indicating that “The Metamorphosis” is not dehumanizing as it depicts reality.

Through each family member’s experiences after Gregor turns into a vermin, Kafka highlights several difficulties of life that people universally go through, such as poverty, tragedy and alienation. Although Gregor is the main character, the family also plays an important part in the story and their overall struggles in their day to day life reflects the harsh sides of reality. From the start of the book, Gregor is portrayed as very hardworking as the rest of his family is seemingly too weak or unable to work. After he turns into a vermin, his family struggles to find jobs and the jobs that they do find are not most favorable. Despite his father being too old, his mother frail from asthma, and his sister quite young, they suddenly find themselves fighting much harder than before to make enough money to keep themselves going. Their sudden changes in attitudes and lifestyle highlights how poverty pushes people to work harder in order to keep themselves going. Despite things that previously held them back, they have no choice but to face life to the best of their abilities and that is something that most humans have to do. Most people would relate to fighting hard even in the face of adversity, thus making these aspects of the story in no way dehumanizing. Instead, the story portrays human struggles for what it is, even if it is not pretty. Not only does Gregor’s family have to overcome a sudden change in financial responsibilities, but they also have to adjust to Gregor’s new form. They are unable to even communicate with Gregor, and are unaware that he still can understand them and think like a human. Thus, many of their reactions, despite being hurtful to Gregor, are understandable as a result of their confusion and inability to cope with Gregor’s sudden transformation. The father’s anger and the mother’s pain are reflective of human emotions when encountering situations that are hard to deal with. Gregor himself has it even worse than his family, as he not only has to bear the pain of seeing his family struggle, but he also becomes alienated, which is a feeling that many individuals will feel in their life. Whether it is poverty or alienation, all of these struggles are very serious and can affect the lives of not individuals, but also entire families. The story portrays real human struggles which any human could experience. It is easy to have “intercourse” with the story, making it not dehumanizing. Problems like those faced by Gregor and his family exist in the real world and are demonstrated in “The Metamorphosis”.

Many people think at surface level that “The Metamorphosis” is dehumanizing simply because of the main plot point is so bizarre-the idea of turning into a vermin is nearly impossible to imagine actually happening. However, when putting the “vermin” part aside, there is truly a lot of aspects present in the book that reflect reality and human beings, which makes the book, for the most part, not dehumanizing. Thus, although turning a human into a vermin makes for a very engaging story, it actually serves a bigger purpose to portray human experiences through the difficulties of life and harsh side of reality.