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Alex Martin

Jon Beadle

English 115

10 May 2019

To Kill a Cockroach

Franz Kafka author of The Metamorphosis, depicts struggle, depression, and neglection

all while giving hidden meaning in his work. Gregor Samsa, protagonist, in the story goes

through a sudden physical change and transforms into vermin. This physical transformation

serves as an allegory for negativity and misfortunate events. Some of these misfortunate events

include neglection, physical abuse, and failure. Adding on, Grete, Gregor’s sister, surely doesn’t

feel as if his brother is the only Samsa to go through a change due to transformation. With all

occurrences happening, only bad may protrude. Gregor Samsa’s physical transformation, as well

as Grete’s very own, symbolizes negativity and its products. With Gregor’s transformation into a

vermin, and Grete’s degrading affection, it is evident that negativity is the hidden theme of the

book. But, the transformation serves as one of the main allegorical viewpoints of the plotline.

Instead of reading along blankly at the text, I asked myself why. As in why vermin, and

what purpose does it serve in Kafka’s work? Kafka’s use of figurative language provides deeper

meaning in example, the use of the word vermin and its allegorical context. There are many

allegories in the text and finding out their deeper meanings is the true intention of Kafka.

Researching the methods we have learned in class, having very credible scholarly resources,

helped me find out the true meaning of the book. Having mentioned that, Gregor is taken care of

by Grete. She gives him meals throughout the story, but the quality of the food soon starts to
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change. She later starts feeding him scraps and anything that is to be found, probably rotten. This

change is very disheartening and very depressing in such a short amount of time. Backtracking to

finding the core analysis, one author having credibility in research is Peter Beicken. The title of

this work is Transformation of Criticism: The Impact of Kafka's Metamorphosis. His book is

named, The Dove and the Mole: Kafka's Journey Into Darkness and Creativity. Diving in,

Beicken’s statement about allegories serving a purpose in the book was, “...criticism as a combat

zone, symbol and allegory as the allegory principles.” (Beicken 260). From my interpretation,

this simply means the people have different opinions and they are not the same. Relating to The

Metamorphosis, people form contrasting ideas on topics such as: physical transformation, mental

transformation, and factors as such. One allegory from the text I’ve come across, as I’ve

discussed before, was the sudden change of Grete taking care of Gregor. At first glance, it just

seems as if Grete was just feeding him and got bored of doing so, but after analyzing the text,

this is definitely more than sudden tiredness of doing the same chore everyday. I see the lack of

interest in maintaining Gregor fed by Grete as an allegory to mental exhaustion. In the text,

Gregor does get neglected from his sister Grete and his family, and this causes Gregor to finally

become tired of being a burden and obtaining that mental exhaustion. Of course, as Beiken has

stated to everyone being entitled to their own interpretation, I feel like this is the “jackpot” of

that plot. The significance to this reference is the effects one change may affect those around you

in ways you would not feel it would.

Moreover to analyzing the allegorical side of Kafka’s work, a second author I have

researched is Rudolph Binion. His essay title is, What the Metamorphosis Means. Binion is a

multi published author, who has won awards for his writing by Columbia University. In addition,

Binion is well known for his interpretations on Franz Kafka's’ Metamorphosis. Having said that,
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one quote that grabbed my attention was “[The] narrative respects the manner as well as the

content of Gregor’s delusion.” (Binion 217). In regards to this quote grabbing my attention,

Gregor may seem like he is at the lowest point in his life, due to his ability to help the financial

burden the Samsa’s are going through. In addition, Gregor is not in a very favorable state of

mind as he soon loses his view of reality as he is trapped in his room. Mentioning that, the

“delusion” Binion mentions in his statement serves as an allegory to the loss of reality Gregor

goes throughout his time in being a vermin. This is very significant due to the fact that the

physical transformation Gregor goes through is the foundation for the start of the deterioration of

the family. Once Gregor transforms into the vermin, and is still aware of his responsibilities, he

has an urge to go to work earn money to sustain and aid his middle class family. Slowly but

surely, from being a financial asset, he turns into a financial burden. His family starts selling

their jewelry to be able to pay for bills. With this being said, Gregor turns into a liability and

needs someone to care for him. From having a strong healthy relationship with his sister, the

sudden need for care quickly changes that relationship.

Going against the references, some readers may disagree with some of the ideas about the

transformations and allegories that have been mentioned before. One idea that I have read about,

is Gregor being delusional and believes all the changes that have occurred to him are real life,

when they are simply just his imagination. Digging deeper, he feels that he does not have an

important role in his family and these thoughts make him depressed and irresponsible causing

him to have suicidal thoughts and imagine what his life would be if he turned into something that

is looked down upon and have no good impact in modern society. Vermin are infectious and

troublesome, which is what Gregor might have felt when he possibly could not aid with the
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money he earned from his job. One of the plotlines of the story is Grete playing the violin, which

caught the attention of Gregor. He then pays close attention and enjoys the music that Grete is

playing. In the process, he holds Grete captive and he wants her to play her soothing music for as

long as she can. This scene brings up the possible neglection he feels from Grete and kidnap

would be one of his “solutions” to spend time with her . Forcing Grete into doing a common

interest they both have, music. This idea is very significant from the fact that Gregor feels left

out and feels like a burden to his family. Having no real benefit in the success of his family

makes Gregor feel down and depressed. With all those factors in play, Gregor feels as if he is a

burden to his family, with his inability to aid his family in any way, shape, or form. With all

these occurrences happening, it overwhelms Gregor causing him to think of a life where he

wouldn’t have a single worry or stress. All these ideas tie together in a way where is may seem

credible, but would it be Kafka’s intention to really give his audience these impressions?

Though these ideas may seem quite realistic, Kafka’s intentions in the novel is actually

what goes on in the book, meaning he actually turns into vermin and goes through all the

negativity. One thing to keep in mind is Gregor’s job which he actually went right after he turned

what he turned into. In addition, the plot did go by without any mentioning of hallucinations or a

thought of Gregor believing these thoughts. The idea of Gregor “living” in a dream where these

occurrences happen, is not the intention of Kafka and certainly isn’t what he envisioned his

audience to interpret. This is more towards an argumentative aspect for the audience that feels

Gregor goes through everything he went through. The fact is Gregor does in fact transform and

lose everything that he has. The sadness and sorrow the Samsa goes through is true and sincere,

which is what makes this story “Kafkaesque”, the style of which Kafka writes. One reason that I
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say that the dream was not real was because Gregor passes away from infection from an apple

thrown at him by his father when trying to save Grete from the harshness of Gregor's will to have

full control of Grete.

Unsure of his actions, Gregor felt as if were normal to take Grete and force her to play the violin.

I see a clear use of an allegory, because I see the violin as the fact that Gregor is trapped inside of

the body of vermin and can’t do anything about it. That plot sums up the allegorical use of this

musical instrument.

Having mentioned all this, the uses of allegories made my Kafka are very strong and

make his audience feel on edge and wondering what some of the meaning of certain things are.

The allegories used by Kafka really exemplify how Gregor went through all these changed in his

life. From the violin to the apple and everything in between, there is clear context of what should

be interpreted. The way Gregor changed had an effect to his family, thus causing his family to go

through changes. Such as a domino effect. The significance of the allegories make the novel very

understandable in a way some other texts can not compare. There are many ways of

transformations and this novel clearly proves that statement, in example the mental socio

economic transformation. In addition, the way Kafka serves his audience to interpret his style of

writing, and in this case, allegories. To add on, the despair one goes through may seem never

ending and like the end of the world is right about to happen, but sacrifices must be done, and

knowing your responsibilities in maintaining success is crucial in your survival. Moreover, some

people may never see a happy ending, and that is the way that life works. One of the factors that

distinguishes Franz Kafka from other well known authors is the type of writing, as I’ve

mentioned before. Very grim and dark, which makes these works “Kafkaesque”. Unfortunately,
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for Gregor, the turnout did not go as he expected, causing death in his physical metamorphosis

state.

Works Cited
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Binion, Rudolph. "What the Metamorphosis Means." Short Story Criticism, edited by Thomas

Votteler, vol. 5, Gale, 1990. Literature Criticism Online,

http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/QMGHKU561401474/LCO?u=csunorthridge&sid=L

CO&xid=9015840d. Accessed 11 Mar. 2019. Originally published in Symposium, vol.

15, no. 3, Fall 1961, pp. 214-220.

Beicken, Peter. "Transformation of Criticism: The Impact of Kafka's Metamorphosis." Short

Story Criticism, edited by Anna Sheets-Nesbitt, vol. 35, Gale, 2000. Literature Criticism

Online,

http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/QZHKHZ083970455/LCO?u=csunorthridge&sid=LC

O&xid=beb25fb6. Accessed 11 Mar. 2019. Originally published in The Dove and the

Mole: Kafka's Journey Into Darkness and Creativity, edited by Moshe Lazar and Ronald

Gottesman, Undena Publications, 1987, pp. 13-34.

Kafka, Franz, and Stanley Corngold. The Metamorphosis. Toronto: Bantam Books, 1981. Print.