Metamorphosis

Please see below a brief introduction to modernism and a video clip on Charlie Chaplin and Factory Work (about 3 min.). The video clip on Kafka’s biography is also helpful in understanding Kafka’s relationship with his father, which is reflected in the protagonist Gregor’s relationship with his father in The Metamorphosis.

Modernism – The Twentieth Century

Political upheaval–World War I (1914-1918) & World War II (1939-1945)

After World War II, there were skepticism toward unchecked technological innovation (i.e. atomic bombs), scientific progress, and dehumanization (the Holocaust).

Many philosophers and literary critics questioned the ideas of modern development and historical progress after World War II and argued to break from (move beyond) modern-progress centered ideas and developmental view of history, calling it the “postmodern” era (the period after WWII).

Modernization in the economic sphere– There were more technological innovations and scientific advancements during the modern industrialization of the 20th century – (e.g.) The mass production of cars, the invention of the telephone, the radio, television, and computers.

Pressures toward efficiency and standardization in industry imposed homogeneity and speed. Henry Ford introduced the assembly line to his car factory in 1913.

*Please watch a video clip, Charlie Chaplin and Factory Work (3 min.)

Links to an external site.

Franz Kafka (1883-1924)

Please watch a video clip on Kafka’s biography (about 5 min.)

Links to an external site.

Kafka was a lawyer, but he did not like the long hours and working atmosphere of the law firm. Later, he moved to the Workers’ Accident Insurance Institute and worked there until he died in 1924.

Kafka claims that alienation (“the estrangement of the individual from normal social bonds and activities”) is one of “the quintessentially modern conditions” (e.g. economic alienation, social alienation).

The word “kafkaesque” has become a new vocabulary that describes modern alienation.

Kafka’s The Metamorphosis (1915, translated by Stanley Corngold)

The Metamorphosis (1915) is a novella. Lengthwise, a novella is longer than a short novel but is shorter than a novel.

*Reading tip: Think of Gregor’s bodily change as a symptom of a factory worker (or a salesman), who has an occupation-related illness, becomes suddenly paralyzed, and is unable to work. (*Please note that Kafka worked for the Workers’ Accident Insurance Institute until he died.) The ensuing question is why Kafka made Gregor become a bug (not a disabled human being).

· What does Kafka try to convey by changing Gregor’s body into a beetle (into a subhuman form) rather than depicting a worker, who became permanently disabled due to an occupation-related illness?

· Why does Kafka think that alienation (e.g. economic alienation, social alienation, psychological alienation) is particularly a modern condition?

Discussion Question #1 for Kafka’s The Metamorphosis (1915, Ch. 1, pp. 750-762)

Please provide your in-depth interpretation and analysis on the questions (at least 100 words per Discussion question #1, #2, and #3). Please try to include textual evidence (direct quotes along with the Act and Scene #) in your answer.

1 Kafka’s The Metamorphosis can be read as a parable, “a story that describes concrete and everyday events in order to illustrate an abstract concept or condition” (751). Kafka does not explain what caused Gregor Samsa’s transformation into a beetle (a giant bug). In other words, The Metamorphosis requires the reader’s active interpretation of Gregor’s bodily change to a subhuman being. Why do you think Kafka changed Gregor to a beetle (rather than to an employee who became paralyzed or permanently ill and can no longer work)? What does Gregor, a traveling salesman, dislike about his job? How does Gregor describe his working conditions? Why does he say “Human beings [rather than saying “I”] have to have their sleep” (753)? What caused Gregor to be alienated from his normal life and social bonds with people? What is the role of the messenger, who waits at the train station at five o’clock in the morning? After his metamorphosis, Gregor’s boss visits his house. What do you make of the manager’s reaction to Gregor for not showing up for work on that day? Did Gregor miss a day of work during the past five years? Does the manager care about Gregor’s well-being? What does Gregor think of the roles of the messenger boy and the company’s health-insurance doctor? Are they serving employees, like Gregor?

2. Why has Gregor stayed in that job if he disliked the working conditions? Why is he saying that he “was only condemned to work for a firm” (756)? What does Gregor think of his duty as the son of the family? Why does he tell the manager “Spare my parents” (758)? Do Gregor’s parents know/understand how he feels about the job? Gregor can still hear what the manager says about Gregor, but the manager cannot understand the words Gregor speaks (after his transformation). Similarly, Gregor can still hear what his parents and sister say, but they cannot hear what he says: “No pleas of Gregor’s helped, no plea was even understood; however humbly he might turn his head his father merely stamped his feet more forcefully” (761). What do you think Kafka is trying to convey through this situation?

· 3. What is Gregor’s understanding of being treated as a human being? When does Gregor feel “integrated into human society” (759)? When does Gregor stop being treated as a human being? What worries Gregor most after his transformation, and what effect does his metamorphosis bring on his family? Why is he saying to himself, “just don’t stay in bed being useless” (755)? Why does Gregor worry about the loss of his job, rather than his well-being and his changed body? What does it say about Gregor? How does Gregor’s father react to Gregor’s transformation? Does his father worry about Gregor’s well-being? What does Gregor think of his father?