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Jennifer Mercado

Professor Jon Beadle

English 115

09 November 2021

Human To Monster

Monsters come in different shapes and sizes and in every story, these monsters are

immediately alienated from society at first sight. In The Metamorphosis, written by Franz Kafka,

the protagonist experiences that alienation first hand. Gregor Samsa, a once hardworking young

man providing for his family, wakes up, from night to morning, as a giant beetle like insect.

Gregor Samsa has three family members, mother, father, and sister, who become repulsed and

terrified at the mere sight of him. The word metamorphosis translates to transformation and

Gregor’s metamorphosis is the family’s motivation towards constraining him to his room, like

the monster he is and the son he no longer was. Although physically constrained with no

environmental freedom, Gregor’s transformation into a beetle like monster provided freedom

from economic responsibilities, although it was ultimately an undesirable freedom that Gregor

watched, as it slowly dismantled his family.

Gregor experiences so many mixed emotions that surface when becoming a monster.

These mixed emotions are very understandable as a monster in itself is a very contradictory

subject. As Cohen mentions in his article, Fear of the Monster Is Really a Kind of Desire, “The

same creatures who terrify and interdict can evoke potent escapist fantasies; the linking of

monstrosity with the forbidden makes the monster all that more appealing as a temporary egress

from constraint” (Cohen 190). The “forbidden” becomes attainable and accepted as a monster

therefore contributing to the freedom that Gregor felt as one. A majority of individuals want
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what they can not and should not have based on the ideas that have been placed down by society.

There is no reason for the want other than the fact that it is looked down upon and the idea that

one has done or is doing what is thought to be wrong without care for judgement, can be and

feel very liberating. Cohen’s statement, although clearly describing how a monster’s flaws

become perfections in the eye of individuals who are constantly constrained for sticking to

societal expectations, it is not enough for many to believe that Gregor experienced freedom with

his transformation.

Arguing against the idea that becoming a monster provided freedom for Gregeor,

numerous people would contend that Gregor did not have freedom but instead felt helpless being

stuck in his room. For example, many can arrive to the same idea presented in the journal called

Franz Kafka's « The Metamorphosis » : A case study, that “Gregor moves on the floor like a

baby on all fours, and this may help to explain the numerous passages where the narrator reports

Gregor's complaints about the weakness of his little legs, hilflos, « struggling legs » (3) which «

he could not control in the least” (Silhol 1). An argument would be made that Gregor felt

impotent with such simple tasks as standing up, which only serves to further illustrate how

severely helpless he feels when it comes to doing what he did routinely, being the action of going

to work. An individual's life can feel catastrophic when a routine such as Gregor’s habit of going

to work everyday is interrupted. This argument could not be so far off because rather than feeling

upset, Gregor felt a sense of relief knowing he did not have to attend to such a responsibility. It

can become very exhausting attending to the same routine your whole life knowing nothing

different will happen the next day. For Gregor and for a majority, having a change of

environment, even if for a moment, can be a relief from boredom that in many cases leads to
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greater concerning events than that of taking a break from work, such as completely quitting

work and dropping all responsibilities.

Gregor has been working for years now and was the one and only member of the family

providing economic stability. Both his parents seemed to be too old and tired to effectively work

in addition to his sister not working as she is younger and had other life career plans. It is easy to

imagine how laborious it can be to work everyday knowing that your family depends on it.

Throughout all of his working life, Gregor says that the financial support he provided “was

received with thanks and given with pleasure, but no special feeling of warmth went with it

anymore” (Kafka 26). Gregor’s identity revolved around work so all of his time was devoted to

doing just that. Gregor did not know anything outside of the world of labor that not only was

already hard when done everyday for so many years, but it was also work that was not done for

his benefit but for his family. Having little time living as a monster, Gregor experienced the

feeling of having no responsibilities but that of staying in bed all day. For the first time, he was

doing something that benefited his own wellbeing and comfort rather than everyone else’s.

Gregor felt a sense of freedom when he “ he thought that the next time the door opened he would

take charge of the family’s affairs again, just as he had done in the old days; after this long while

there again appeared in his thoughts the boss and the manager, the salesmen [...] they all

appeared; but instead of helping him and his family, they were all inaccessible, and he was glad

when they faded away” (Kafka 41). To Gregor, the idea that he no longer had to have any

encounters with people related to work came as such a relief. Gregor was no longer burdened by

waking up earlier for work and putting money on the table for his family every time it was

necessary. He clearly disregarded worrying about his family all the time and focused on his own

current situation instead of thinking back to his past.

Gregor can have the biggest sense of freedom in the world and yet that does not

automatically indicate that he enjoyed such freedom. The freedom that the transformation

provided was immensely undesirable for Gregor as he felt as though he could no longer fulfill

what his sense-of-self meant to him. In The World of Gregor Samsa: A Daseinsanalytic

Interpretation of Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, written by Khashayar Boroomandjazi, it is clearly

highlighted that “The most notable characteristic of the world of Gregor Samsa can be seen in

the manner in which he relates to himself through his relationships with other human beings''

(Boroomandjazi 3). The entirety of the book portrays the story of Gregor having no relationship

with his family on account of being a monster. You can definitely say that he had a set

relationship as son of his parents and brother of his sister but his relationship with them was

defined by what he provided for them rather than by the connection they had with each other

from the usual family bond. With that being said, “whenever the conversation turned to the

necessity of earning money, Gregor would let go of the door and throw himself down on the cool

leather sofa which stood beside it, for he felt hot with shame and grief” (Kafka 27). Gregor’s sole

purpose in the family had been as financial provider so when he could no longer serve this

purpose, Gregor could not grasp who he was anymore besides being a monster that brings terror

to his own family. Gregor obtained freedom but the freedom came with the unwanted

consequence of no longer being able to put his family forward. As a son, the last thing Gregor

wanted to do was hurt his family after having aided them for such a long part of his life. Gaining

this freedom was no longer only interrupting his routine and responsibility but also who he was

as a person, who he was as a son with great family morals.

Hurting his family further made having this freedom undesirable for Gregor. Gregor

already had little to no connection with his family except that of being a provider so having
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freedom became a burden when his transformation to monster, the reason for his freedom in the

first place, brought distress onto his loved ones. Listening to his family's conversations, he heard

his sister say “‘It will be the death of you two, I can see it coming. People who already have to

work as hard as we do can’t put up with this constant torture at home, too. I can’t stand it

anymore either’” (Kafka 49). Hearing how much his family was struggling from his own sister's

mouth was the last straw for Gregor. All that he had been doing to keep the family healthy and

stable, he was also jeopardizing and putting to waste by being in their lives as a monster. In his

mind, he was doing nothing but acting selfish at the risk of others happiness and wellbeing.

Gregor “thought back on his family with deep emotion and love. His conviction that he would

have to disappear was, if possible, even firmer than his sister’s. He remained in this state of

empty and peaceful reflection [...] Then, without his consent, his head sank down to the floor,

and from his nostrils streamed his last weak breath” (Kafka 51). Gregor wanted to take away this

distress so much that when the family finally decided it was time to get rid of him, he did not

even think to argue against or defend himself but rather agreed. Hearing that his family was

finally going to take action in getting rid of him should have brought him feelings of despair but

instead he felt a sense of tranquility knowing that his family would continue living and honoring

his memory without his being there constantly as a reminder that the Gregor they know was

gone. Gregor truly believed that the most selfless act he could commit to redeem himself from all

his selfishness was to simply stop trying to live and let his family move on from such a horrible

nightmare. A thought or decision as extraordinarily hard and extreme as this one only reinforces

how much Gregor detested the freedom he gained when becoming a monster.

In The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, Gregor enjoyed the luxury that came with being a

monster being that of isolation specifically from the responsibility of work. It is looked down
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upon to be a lazy young man at home with no work however as a monster, doing what was

forbidden or looked down upon, Gregor was doing alright for the time being. He soon realized

with little time that although his transformation to a giant beetle like insect monster brought him

a new sense of freedom, he also came to realize that his new sense of found freedom led to

feelings of confusion and guilt for neglecting who he was and disregarding his family.
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Works Cited

Kafka, Franz, The Metamorphosis. Translated by Stanley Corngold, 2013 ed., Modern Library,

1915

Cohen, Jerome, Jeffrey. Fear of the Monster Is Really a

Kind of Desire. Edited by Andrew J. Hoffman, Bedford St. Martins, 2016, pp. 190-195

Robert Silhol. “Franz Kafka’s « The Metamorphosis » : A Case Study.” PSYART (Gainesville,

Fla.), University of Florida, 2008, p. N_A–.

Boroomandjazi, Khashayar. “The World of Gregor Samsa: A Daseinsanalytic Interpretation of

Kafka’s The Metamorphosis.” The Humanistic Psychologist, vol. 48, no. 1, Educational

Publishing Foundation, 2020, pp. 74–83, https://doi.org/10.1037/hum0000137.