Critical Analysis Of The Metamorphosis

Franz Kafka’s novella The Metamorphosis is the tragic story of young travelling salesman Gregor Samsa who becomes alienated by his family after he transforms overnight into a giant insect. The Metamorphosis, while open to various interpretations, clearly depicts Kafka’s own views of the suffocating capitalist socio-economic structure and the struggles for power that occur within one. In The Metamorphosis, Kafka illustrates the incessant oppression that occurs as a result of a rigidly capitalist society. First, Kafka illustrates the expendability of workers in a capitalist society with the role of Gregor at his workplace and within his family. Gregor is a traveling salesman, utterly unimportant to the company to which he dedicates his life.

Otherwise how would Gregor have missed a train? That boy has nothing on his mind but the business’” (Kafka 10). Evidently, in normal circumstances, Gregor is a diligent and punctual employee; however, his boss claims the opposite. He threatens and berates Gregor in front of his entire family saying that Gregor’s “job is not the most secure” (Kafka 11) and his “performance of the late has been very unsatisfactory” (Kafka 12). To management, workers like Gregor become disposable at the slightest infraction. Indeed, Gregor is dispensable to even his own family. When Gregor first found success at work and brought money to his family, they had been “astonished and delighted” (Kafka 27). However, their wonderment soon fades as “they had just gotten used to it” and “the money was received with thanks and given with pleasure, but no special feeling of warmth

Particularly, in The Metamorphosis, the power simply shifts from one person to another. As previously discussed, Gregor became the breadwinner of the family after his father’s business crashed, illustrating the transfer of power from Mr. Samsa to Gregor. After Gregor’s incapacitating transformation, Grete begins to gain authority in the house. She takes on the job of feeding Gregor, a task that even his mother is afraid to do. Additionally, Grete removes furniture from Gregor’s room, which on the surface may seem like a benevolent gesture to allow Gregor to move more freely. Yet, she is actually exercising her authority over both her mother and Gregor. As Gregor’s mother reasons as to why not to remove Gregor’s furniture, Grete “did not let herself be swerved from her decision by her mother” (Kafka 34). Her conviction to deprive Gregor of the pieces that represent his life as a human reveals the process of her own transformation into a figure of power. Finally, Grete’s most significant show of power is her convincing of the family that the insect is not Gregor. She announces to her family that they “have to try to get rid of it” (Kafka 51), and upon hearing this Gregor retreats to his room and dies. Grete’s words alone hold so much power that it even leads to Gregor’s death. However, the power that Grete holds is not of her own. She only