Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    The Metamorphosis
    The Metamorphosis
    The Metamorphosis
    Ebook127 pages2 hours

    The Metamorphosis

    By Franz Kafka

    4/5

    ()

    Switch to audiobook
    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Enriched Classics offer readers accessible editions of great works of literature enhanced by helpful notes and commentary. Each book includes educational tools alongside the text, enabling students and readers alike to gain a deeper and more developed understanding of the writer and their work.

    When Gregor Samsa woke up one morning from unsettling dreams, he found himself changed in his bed into a monstrous vermin.

    So begins The Metamorphosis, one of the most recognizable opening lines in literature. The story of Gregor Samsa, a young man who, after transforming overnight into a giant, beetle-like insect, becomes an object of disgrace to his family, an outsider in his own home, and a quintessentially alienated man. One of the most widely read and influential works of twentieth-century fiction, The Metamorphosis is a harrowing yet absurdly comic meditation on inadequacy, guilt, and isolation. A work in which, in the words of Vladimir Nabokov, “contrast and unity, style and matter, manner and plot are most perfectly integrated.”

    Enriched Classics enhance your engagement by introducing and explaining the historical and cultural significance of the work, the author’s personal history, and what impact this book had on subsequent scholarship. Each book includes discussion questions that help clarify and reinforce major themes and reading recommendations for further research.

    Read with confidence.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster
    Release dateJul 21, 2014
    ISBN9781451686104
    Author

    Franz Kafka

    Franz Kafka (Praga, Imperio austrohúngaro, 3 de julio de 1883 - Kierling, Austria, 3 de junio de 1924) fue un escritor de origen judío nacido en Bohemia que escribió en alemán. Su obra está considerada una de las más influyentes de la literatura universal y está llena de temas y arquetipos sobre la alienación, la brutalidad física y psicológica, los conflictos entre padres e hijos, personajes en aventuras terroríficas, laberintos de burocracia, y transformaciones místicas.Fue autor de tres novelas, El proceso (Der Prozeß), El castillo (Das Schloß) y El desaparecido (Amerika o Der Verschollene), la novela corta La metamorfosis (Die Verwandlung) y un gran número de relatos cortos. Además, dejó una abundante correspondencia y escritos autobiográficos. Su peculiar estilo literario ha sido comúnmente asociado con la filosofía artística del existencialismo --al que influenció-- y el expresionismo. Estudiosos de Kafka discuten sobre cómo interpretar al autor, algunos hablan de la posible influencia de alguna ideología política antiburocrática, de una religiosidad mística o de una reivindicación de su minoría etnocultural, mientras otros se fijan en el contenido psicológico de sus obras. Sus relaciones personales también tuvieron gran impacto en su escritura, particularmente su padre (Carta al padre), su prometida Felice Bauer (Cartas a Felice) y su hermana (Cartas a Ottla).El término kafkiano se usa en el idioma español para describir situaciones surrealistas como las que se encuentran en sus libros y tiene sus equivalentes en otros idiomas. Solo unas pocas de sus obras fueron publicadas durante su vida. La mayor parte, incluyendo trabajos incompletos, fueron publicados por su amigo Max Brod, quien ignoró los deseos del autor de que los manuscritos fueran destruidos.

    Read more from Franz Kafka

    Related to The Metamorphosis

    Related ebooks

    General Fiction For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      The Myth Of Sisyphus

      Aug 10, 2020

      The Myth Of Sisyphus
      10 min read

    • Article

      Who Gets to Claim Kafka?

      Aug 9, 2018

      Who Gets to Claim Kafka?
      7 min read

    • Article

      Forgotten Authors

      Sep 21, 2022

      Forty years ago, Hermann Hesse was everywhere. A winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, translated into 60 languages, his timeless stories were popular all around the world. And then he disappeared. I read him avidly in my teens and then forgot al

      3 min read

    • Article

      The Late Bloomer

      Sep 1, 2023

      “An eccentric woman deserves an eccentric biography.” So writes Willard Spiegelman in this first biography of the poet Amy Clampitt. If there was anything eccentric about the genteel bohemian Amy Clampitt, it was that she was extremely private about

      5 min read

    • Article

      Why Read Literary Biography?

      Dec 14, 2022

      Why Read Literary Biography?
      8 min read

    • Article

      A Lost Piece of Trans History

      Jan 15, 2019

      A Lost Piece of Trans History
      7 min read

    • Article

      The Autopoietic World of Franz Kafka

      Nov 1, 2020

      This essay is about the implications of Franz Kafka’s work for those of us interested in classical liberalism in relation to politics, law, and economics; it is not an exercise in literary criticism in any conventional sense. The quest aims to unpick

      24 min read

    • Article

      Patricia Highsmith: The ‘Jew-hater’ Who Took Jewish Women As Lovers

      Jan 17, 2021

      She espoused vile antisemitic views, telling people she was a “Jew hater” and calling the deaths of six million Jews “the semicaust” because she was disappointed more had not been murdered in the camps. Yet Patricia Highsmith, born 100 years ago on 1

      3 min read

    • Article

      The Ascent Of Mann

      Sep 24, 2021

      The Ascent Of Mann
      4 min read

    • Article

      Hidden Histories

      Nov 25, 2021

      Edgar Mittelholzer was a Guyanese novelist who should be remembered not just for the quality of his writing, but as the earliest recorded writer from the Caribbean to make his living from the profession. I studied Caribbean literature at university,

      3 min read

    • Article

      Dissident Lit

      Sep 1, 2022

      My sophomore year in college, I took a class on the Russian novel. I remember our goodlooking young professor striding across campus in a long black coat, heads turning in his wake. It was said he looked like Lenin. His eyes burned like coals, his ch

      9 min read

    • Article

      The Nobel Prize Winner You’ve Never Heard Of

      Apr 6, 2018

      Agnon dedicated the last two decades of his life to writing about his hometown as a symbol of the world of eastern European Jewry destroyed in the Holocaust. Asked by a literary critic what he was trying to accomplish, he answered simply: “I am build

      4 min read

    • Article

      The Strange Invention Of Late Antiquity

      Jul 26, 2023

      What makes a good historian? A new book, Journeys of the Mind, by one of the best of the past 50 years, Peter Brown, promises some answers. Brown is the pioneer of a whole way of looking at a historical period, ‘late antiquity’, between the fall of R

      3 min read

    • Article

      Twin Totems Of Teutonic Angst

      Jun 29, 2023

      Twin Totems Of Teutonic Angst
      8 min read

    • Article

      Tall Tales

      Jul 9, 2019

      Tall Tales
      19 min read

    • Article

      A Time Of Miracles

      Oct 16, 2023

      A Time Of Miracles
      3 min read

    • Article

      A Forgotten Writer Brought To Life

      Nov 24, 2022

      IT IS LESS THAN 20 YEARS since Shirley Hazzard won the National Book Award for Fiction, yet if she retains a reputation at all, it is more for how little she wrote — four novels, two short story collections — than what she wrote. Now comes her chance

      3 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for The Metamorphosis

    4/5

    3,196 ratings38 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      This was a dark little fable. The genius of the author is to totally leave it to the reader as to whether Gregor has become a vile animal or is suffering mentally and as a consequence is shunned by his family. The tale has its funny moments, but its overall a dark story.
    • 4/5
      I came across this book by accident, having learned that it was considered classic, and having missed it during my schooling days, and on whim finding it free on Project Gutenberg, and realizing that it's small story worth reading in few sittings.Opening premise in first line sends a shock wave. It's strange, mildly amusing, and not yet clear where the story will go. However, story is captivating from get-go. For once, this classic lives up to its such designation. For another, despite my surprise at myself, I wasn't bothered about reason of this metamorphosis nor did absence of that took anything away from the story. Usually, ridiculous hypothetical premise of story which is not resolved till end is buzz-kill for me, but Kafka's work transcends that feeling, perhaps by not pretending to be anywhere close to science fiction and by tugging heart at right places. It is science fiction in its premise, but it is not, otherwise.Of course, somethings in story bother you. I am amazed that rest of world wasn't throbbing Samsas' house to see the transformation, and that they could keep it as mildly horrifying novelty, despite their maid, Gregor's senior clerk, and their tenants having observed themselves. How could neighbors, police, scientists, and crowd be kept at abeyance from such rare happenstance? Another convenient coincidence was Gregor's end, brought out without much premonition.What's most amazing is that while story isn't really fast paced, it just seems to keep you on hook. Story from perspective of vermin, of course, helps a lot. Challenges of adjusting to new life, phases of grief displayed by family in handling him, poignancy of whole situation tugs your heart and brought tear drops in my eyes near the end. I am tempted to be angry at his family, but I cannot be seeing what they did under such extraordinary circumstances. I cannot be unsympathetic to Gregor though, for he is such a gentle soul, struggling himself yet always keeping his virtues and noble character to guide his actions.It's simple story, with multiple interpretations, all likely wrong, but which will keep you haunting long after you have read it.
    • 5/5
      A very realistic story about a completely unrealistic event. I love how Kafka describes an absurd occurrence like it's a very natural thing and nothing to be surprised at, and how he gives a completely realistic account of the consequences and behaviour of the people involved.
    • 3/5
      Not the kind of story I usually read, but it kept my interest. I found this story to be funny in places, and a little sad.Gregor Samsa "woke up one morning from unsettling dreams" and "found himself changed in his bed into a monstrous vermin". This is how the story starts, with its climax. The rest of the story goes on to tell about Gregor's new life as a bug, and how he and his family react.I am glad I read this story.
    • 4/5
      A classic read - I really didn't know what to expect, but I'm glad I read it. Clever and unique.
    • 5/5
      This is a hard book to nail down. That despite the fact that the basic (infamous) premise is revealed in the first sentence. It was about all I knew about Kafka or The Metamorphosis when I started the book--that the "hero" wakes up as a cockroach: As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect. He was lying on his hard, as it were armor-plated, back and when he lifted his head a little he could see his domelike brown belly divided into stiff arched segments on top of which the bed quilt could hardly stay in place and was about to slide off completely. His numerous legs, which were pitifully thin compared to the rest of his bulk, waved helplessly before his eyes.I'd read this work published in 1915 was a seminal work of the early 20th century. I'd read it was important to the Existentialist movement, surreal and absurdest and despairing. So what surprised me about this short novella--it's only about 22 thousand words--is how funny it is. I just found this all pretty hilarious. Is that bad, and wrong? It has been described as horror--but I mean, just the way Kafka describes poor Gregor trying to get around on his little legs--or trying to squeak out explanations to his supervisor or his family... I found nothing very heavy in this--or anything all that philosophical--at least not in any ponderous or pedantic way. It felt more light humor than anything--and really, an engaging introduction for me to this writer who'd I'd definitely read again.
    • 4/5
      Project Gutenberg ebook
    • 5/5
      “This was my first time reading Franz Kafka’s ‘The Metamorphosis’. My particular course of study did not encompass works of a philosophical nature, so this is new to me. For those of you that have not read The Metamorphosis, I don’t want to get into too much detail, as I think it would spoil the impact that the book would have on you from the get go. Further to that, try not to Google it or read too much about it prior to picking it up- I promise you, the result will definitely be thought provoking, at the very least. In fact, I read that Kafka insisted that the main subject matter not be printed on the cover of the book- so as not to spoil the effect.After I finished reading it I wasn’t really sure what I thought about it but after having a couple of days to ponder it- I’ve decided that I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed Kafka’s writing style; it was very simplistic and straight forward. Another aspect of the story that I liked was that the climax was at the beginning of the novel and the story develops from there. The protagonist’s reaction to ‘the metamorphosis’ itself was interesting to me, in the sense that there was no apparent alarm there and ‘the metamorphosis’ was seen in the most pragmatic terms, all things considering. I think ‘Metamorphosis’ was Kafka’s view of human nature, how we tend to deny or bury unpleasantness and excuse our bad behaviour, especially with the support of others within our group or circle that happen to be guilty of the same bad behaviour and how society will come to terms, and even to accept injustices done to others. I think also, it could be symbolic of Kafka’s own family experience? It’s a quick little novella that would take you no time at all to read
    • 4/5
      A perennial favorite. Frustrating, sad, and fascinating. It begs to be dissected and analyzed, while at the same time, it just needs to be accepted as is.
    • 5/5
      Strange, not quite what I expected. I felt so sorry for poor Gregor - so selfless and yet, unappreciated by his family as a person. Then despised and seen as a burden once he can't support them all. I was disappointed that his parents and sister could so quickly forget that he was their son and brother and sole provider for years. Especially since he was beholden to the company he worked for only because of his parents' debt. Although Gregor didn't grasp how little his family thought of him through most of the story, I was glad he didn't or his feelings would have been even more hurt.I don't like bugs, especially roaches, so parts of the story grossed me out. But is was well worth the read!
    • 5/5
      At first, I can't bear reading this book. It was about a person who turned into a bug. It was disgusting. I hate bugs. But towards the middle and end part you begin to feel sympathy for Gregor. Who wants to be a bug? It was something he did not choose. i just felt bad for him and how his family treated him. It actually made me cry in the end. This one classic book everyone should read.
    • 5/5
      We all undergo transformations throughout our lives which changes our perspective, our behavior and the way we see others. It can also radically change the ways in which our friends, family and acquaintances see us. This Kafka novella takes this premise to the extreme, and asks what would happen if one were to transform into the most hideous thing possible- a giant repulsive bug. One could substitute almost anything for the bug analogy and the story would seem just as relevant. This is a remarkable experiment in creative fiction that has not aged one bit.
    • 4/5
      I’ve spent the last couple of years catching up on famous pieces of literature that, for whatever reason, I never got around to before, especially those that are ubiquitous cultural touchstones. A lifetime of making casual references to Sherlock Holmes, Jekyll and Hyde, The Last of the Mohicans, and so forth, without actually having read the works in question, always left me feeling like a bit of a poser each time I caught myself doing so. And for some reason, that guilty feeling was never stronger than when I would refer to something as "Kafka-esque," knowing I had never read any Kafka. It made me feel like such a huge poser that I actually crossed over into being a poseur, which, as everyone knows, is far worse.

      So I finally sat down to read Kafka’s most famous work, the short novel Metamorphosis, and it’s everything I had ever meant to express by invoking the man's name: absurd, dark, grotesque, and humorous only in the blackest possible sense of the word.

      I was, of course, already familiar with the very famous first line of the book, translated in my edition as, "One morning, when Gregor Samsa woke from troubled dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a horrible vermin." I think I had imagined, before reading, that the book would jump from that absurd beginning immediately in some other direction, but it doesn’t. It’s a good 10% of the way into the book (I read it on the Kindle; no page numbers) before Brundle-fly - sorry, Gregor-roach - even manages to flip over and get out of his bed, and it sets the tone for the rest of the book: unflinching, matter-of-fact in its depiction of surreal things, and compulsively readable at the same time that it’s psychologically uncomfortable and viscerally repelling.

      I won’t spoil the ending for anyone reading this who is as big a poseur as I was, but I will say this: if Dan Savage woke from troubled dreams one morning to find himself transformed in his bed into Franz Kafka, he’d have started a viral video campaign called "It Gets Worse."
    • 4/5
      the family of Gregor provide a morbid, yet griping view of the human souls' capacity for compassion.
    • 3/5
      Such a weird story. It's completely unclear, he's changed into another creature and he's still absorbed in his day to day.
    • 5/5
      A man wakes up one day to find he has been changed into a large insect/beetle. The story follows his efforts to deal with this, and his family's reaction to the change. But it's not just a story about a man turning into a beetle, it's a clever way of writing about how a family would deal with the main breadwinner in the house becoming unable to work, and also on a wider scope, the way a family (and the world at large) reacts to someone who is disabled, or terminally ill. It could also be an analogy for how a family treats a member of the family who is now old and needs to be cared for. The man who is now a beetle, is forced to live in his room, shut away from the world, for fear that he will frighten anyone who enters the house. The man who once provided for the family, and thought of them above himself, has now become a burden on them, as they are now short of money, and have to find employment. The once able and hard-working man, transformed into a beetle, is now rejected, and his family blame him for their financial situation and the fact that they cannot move to a smaller house, because they need to have a room to keep him in.The descriptive quality of the writing is excellent, and although it is a sad and gruesome tale, it is also very funny in parts; I couldn't help laughing out loud a couple of times.The main thing that struck me, was that even though this story is nearly 100 years old, it is still totally relevant to today's world (and I'm not sure that's something we should be proud of).
    • 5/5
      When Gregor Samsa woke one morning from uneasy dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a monstrous insect.This is one of the most famous opening lines in literature, and the general concept of The Metamorphosis, which hovers on the borderline of being a short story or a novella, is one of literature’s most famous and fascinating stories. No explanation is given for Gregor Samsa’s terrible fate; he and his family must simply endure it. Almost the entire novella takes place within the Samsa family’s apartment, and over a mere 61 pages Kafka develops an overwhelming sense of claustrophobia, alienation and sheer misery at the unjustness of the world.This is a book many students are forced to read in high school, probably because of its short length, like The Great Gatsby, with no consideration for the fact that high school students probably aren’t yet equipped to appreciate the themes it explores (again like The Great Gatsby). There are dozens if not hundreds of scholarly interpretations as to what The Metamorphosis is allegorising; mental illness and depression are popular ideas. If I had to throw my hat into the ring I’d suggest it’s about the struggles of adulthood, the sometimes crushing sense of responsibility, the loss of innocence; much is made of the fact that Gregor, in his early twenties, has been working as a salesman to support his recently impoverished family, and following his transformation his inability to work and provide for them leaves him with a terrible sense of guilt. On the very morning of the metamorphosis the head clerk arrives from his office, demanding to know why he has not turned up for work, and it’s almost a scene of black comedy as Gregor attempts to leave the bed and open the door, to reassure his superior that he is fit and able and enthusiastic. The fact that he has turned into a monster is of secondary concern to his job security.This particular edition has a couple of Kafka’s other short stories at the back, presumably because the publisher wanted to pad the length out. None of them struck me as particularly memorable. The Metamorphosis, on the other hand, deserves its status as a literary classic – an enduring symbol of alienation in human society.
    • 5/5
      One of the most famous opening lines in literature: "As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect." Well, this will certainly be a day unlike all others.A classic work of expressionism. A metaphor for what happens to an individual when he lives a life he loathes, for extreme alienation and rebellion. What the reader brings to the text will inform his or her interpretation, and that makes the work all the more extraordinary.
    • 3/5
      "Die Verwandlung" ist wohl eines der meistinterpretierten Bücher im deutschsprachigen, als auch im englischsprachigen Schulwesen. Hier entführt uns Kafka in eine Geschichte, in der der Handelsreisende Gregor Samsa, der alleine für seine Familie sorgen muss, sich plötzlich in einen Riesenkäfer verwandelt, sodass die Familie auf sich selbst gestellt ist. Von allen Interpretationen gefällt mir immer noch die am besten, dass sich Gregors "Inneres" nach "außen" gekehrt habe. Kafka hat gerne lange Sätze geschrieben, sodass es für ungeübte Leser am Anfang schwierig erscheint, der Geschichte zu folgen. Man kann über "Die Verwandlung" denken, was man möchte, aber diese Geschichte lässt einem aufgrund ihrer Surrealität äußerst viel Raum für Interpretationen und das allein zeugt von einer gewissen Qualität.
    • 5/5
      We have all been up stuck up on the ceiling and had an apple lodged in our back. Kafka writes one of the most important stories ever written.
    • 5/5
      Metamorphosis is a novella written by Franz Kafka. It's a tragic parable about a man who wakes up as an insect and the subsequent exclusion from society and eventually, his family.
      This is so wonderfully written and paced and the message, so strong in its dark tones, is very balanced with the narrative, making it a pleasure to read.
      In trying to find a similar work, I can think only of Orwell's "Animal Farm", with its strong message also perfectly intertwined with it's narrative. The difference is I find Kafka's writing style more alluring, more poignant.

      I opened it, planning to read only a bit of the beginning and ended up reading all of it without getting up from the chair.
      I suspect I'll be reading this many more times.
    • 4/5
      Like all great books there's something for everyone - in that I mean the many layers that exist can be pentrated (or not) depending upon your entry point, perspective or state of mind at the time of reading the novel. A bad dream, a schizophrenic nightmare you cant wake up from, the viscereal reaction of the community to a misunderstood or feared disease or the simply the sense that most people suck. The fact that the "the great one's" are thought to have found inspiration in this novel should tell you everything.
    • 4/5
      I generally dislike reading translations, but I decided after some deliberation that learning German just to read Kafka was more work than I was willing to put in. This short story seemed like a good entry into this famous writer’s world. From the first sentence, I was surprised, not by the fact that Gregor Samsa, a traveling salesman, wakes up to find himself transformed into a bug—something I already knew about—but rather by Michael Hofmann’s (the translator of this Penguin edition) choice of words: “When Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from troubled dreams, he found himself changed into a monstrous cockroach in his bed.” As I understand it from the research I’ve done, Kafka used a German word that was much more vague and certainly did not specify what kind of bug Gregor had become. As it happens, cockroaches happen to be the most despicable type of bug while beetles are much more benign to me, this description therefore coloured my entire reading of the story.Before reading the story I thought that the storyline was that Samsa discovers himself transformed into a bug and is completely horrified but then his family, coworkers and strangers aren't the least bit perturbed by his monstrous appearance and he carries on his life “as usual” except he’s a giant bug. I suppose this too would have made a good story—if it hasn’t already—but one quite different from Kafka’s original tale. My erroneous expectations took nothing away from the experience for me and in fact, I found this story could be read on many different levels. For instance, one could easily conclude that this book was a commentary on antisemitism, which was rife in 1915, the year this book was first published, and/or that Kafka was perhaps working out issues of self-hatred or that it was an omen of things to come with the rise of Nazism in the 1930’s when the depiction of Jews as monstrous vermin became ubiquitous in Nazi propaganda. Then again, maybe Kafka didn’t mean to convey anything else than the story itself at face value, which still leaves us with plenty to ponder.An entertaining story with profound impact.
    • 4/5
      Gregor Samsa lives with his parents and younger sister and lives a perfectly normal life until one morning when he wakes up and finds he is now a human-sized roach. The story is an examination of how a family might react to such an event and how one might feel if this happened to him. I loved trying to imagine life as a roach.
    • 4/5
      perfect read for late at night creepy and a great allegory for those in 12-step recovery (AA, NA, Alanon, etc.).
    • 3/5
      Pretty crazy book. Guy turns into giant cockroach, nearly tears his family apart, grosses out readers across the world.
    • 4/5
      I've had nightmares because of work, but I''ve never had Gregor's out of body exxperience where he wakes up one morning and finds that he's become a giant beetle. Kafka's surreal novel - perhaps the first to employ magical realism - .is a tour du force. Gregor, who has been supporting his family (why is left unclear), now must remain locked in his room because his appearance is too unsettling to everyone. Faced with the necessity of survival, his parents and sister now find employment and gradually become more self-suffcient. As this happens, Gregor finds his life draining away. When he finally dies, his family becomes fully actualized.
    • 4/5
      I was inspired to read Kafka by listening to and unexpectedly enjoying 'Kafka the Musical' on BBC Radio 4. I downloaded the David Wyllie translation of 'The Metamorphosis' onto my Kindle for free from Project Gutenberg, and I'm very glad I did. The situation - man wakes up to find himself transformed into a giant beetle - must have seemed even more bizarre one hundred years ago than in these strange times; but from this unlikely premise, and in the space of a modest novella, Kafka provides a wealth of satirical comedy and pathos. The selfless and ultimately tragic hero Gregor Samsa leaves an indelible impression on the reader. The great sadness of the story lies in the fact that his family seem more concerned with the indelible stains left by his spoor on the bedroom wall. If, like me, you are late in coming to this great story I recommend you put it at the top of your to-read pile.
    • 2/5
      A great classic.
    • 4/5
      Fo me, 3.5 stars, but I liked his work in general.

    Book preview

    The Metamorphosis - Franz Kafka

    Cover: The Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka

    Simon & Schuster

    Enriched Classic

    The Metamorphosis

    Franz Kafka

    Includes detailed explanatory notes, an overview of key themes, and more

    CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP

    The Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka, Simon & Schuster

    INTRODUCTION

    The Metamorphosis:

    THE MONSTROSITY OF ALIENATION

    In The Metamorphosis (1915), Franz Kafka created Gregor Samsa, a young, unhappy salesman who overnight is transformed into a monstrous-looking insect. Gregor is barely understood when he speaks, his vision quickly deteriorates, and no one seems to take his feelings into account. Disgusted and burdened by what Gregor has become, his self-absorbed family sentences him to life alone in his room.

    Originally written and published in German, The Metamorphosis was read by few people in Kafka’s lifetime. Only after it was translated into English in 1937 and published in the United States in 1946 did the strangely compelling book begin to reach a larger audience. Early critics read The Metamorphosis as Kafka’s autobiography, citing parallels between Kafka’s overbearing father and the coldhearted Samsa patriarch, as well as between the neurotic Franz Kafka and Gregor. Although the Samsas appear to be Catholic, critics have also suggested that Gregor’s alienation mirrored Kafka’s feelings of marginalization as a member of a Jewish minority and as someone who, further, felt like an outsider among Jews.

    Critics and readers alike also offer various opinions of the central premise of the story: Gregor’s transformation. Some approach the bug at face value and read The Metamorphosis as a surreal, fantastical tale in which Gregor actually becomes a bug. Others suggest the transformation is merely symbolic, arguing that the metamorphosis is a metaphor for the loathsome nature of modern life, of middle-class life, of a traveling salesman’s life, or of Gregor’s failure as a businessman.

    Though The Metamorphosis is set in Kafka’s native Prague in the lead-up to World War I, Gregor’s alienation, despair, frustration, and even hope remain familiar—nearly a century later—to everyone who has ever felt like an outsider, or anyone who has felt that there must be more to life than what they have been offered. Not surprisingly, Gregor Samsa is now one of twentieth-century literature’s best-known characters. Dozens of movies, television shows, songs, comics, and video games—from The Simpsons to The Producers—have mentioned The Metamorphosis and Gregor Samsa. Clearly, there is something of the bug in all of us.

    The Life and Work of Franz Kafka

    Franz Kafka was born on July 3, 1883, to Hermann and Julie Kafka in Prague, today located in the Czech Republic. Julie gave birth to two more sons, Georg and Heinrich, but both died as infants. Kafka also had three sisters, Gabriele, Valerie, and Ottilie, who was his favorite sister.

    The Kafkas’ circumstances of being middle-class Jews who spoke German in a Czech-speaking country at a time when anti-Semitism was rampant in Prague made Franz feel like an outcast throughout his life. His family built two successful businesses, first as retailers of luxury goods and accessories, then—like many Jews of the time—as wholesalers for sewing goods such as buttons, ribbons, and zippers. His parents often worked twelve hours a day, leaving governesses and servants to raise him and his sisters.

    In 1901, after attending German boys’ primary and secondary schools alongside other middle-class Jews, Kafka entered law school at Charles-Ferdinand University, the German university in Prague. While there, he took a few German literature courses and became part of Prague’s increasingly popular German-language literary scene, attending readings and participating in reading groups. It was during this time that he met Max Brod, who would become his lifelong friend and editor.

    Despite receiving his law degree in 1906, Kafka worked in the legal field for only one year, as an intern in Prague’s civil and criminal courts. However, that year appears to have influenced him greatly: Many of his works concern bureaucracy and the legal system.

    He considered writing his true profession but worried it would not provide him with sufficient money to live. He sought a reliable job with a steady income and found his niche in the insurance industry, working briefly for a small private company, then for the Workmen’s Accident Insurance Institute for the Kingdom of Bohemia in Prague. Kafka rose to a position of authority and continued working for the insurance company there until he retired in 1922.

    Because his brothers had died as infants and his sisters were born when he was already in school, Kafka had borne the brunt of his overbearing father’s temper and stubbornness. Even as an adult, he remained bitter about his childhood. In a now-famous 1919 letter that he wrote to his father but never sent, he claimed he was a timid, hesitant, restless person because he feared his father. Writing, despite his father’s objections, became his one escape, albeit an imperfect one: His relationship with his father found its way into everything he wrote.

    Despite his claim that Judaism was alienating and that he had nothing in common with synagogue-going Jews like his father, Kafka developed a keen interest in Jewish culture and spirituality as an adult. Not only did he read a lot of Yiddish literature and enjoy Yiddish theater; he studied Hebrew and dreamed of moving to Palestine in the Land of Israel, which during his lifetime was not an independent nation. However, he almost never mentioned Judaism in his writing.

    Kafka suffered from social anxiety and depression and often battled stress-induced ailments like migraines, insomnia, constipation, and boils. He would probably not be considered a fully functional adult by today’s standards. Only in 1915—the year The Metamorphosis was published—did he finally begin to live on his own in Prague. By then, he was thirty-two years old and had already broken off his first engagement to Felice Bauer, a Jewish woman he’d met through Max Brod. The couple became engaged again in 1917, but their relationship fizzled after Kafka was diagnosed with tuberculosis in September of that same year. He had three more serious relationships, including a second engagement to Julie Wohryzek, but he never married.

    The year before his death, Kafka moved to Berlin to live with kindergarten teacher Dora Diamant. She burned several of his manuscripts at his request, an order that reflected Kafka’s dissatisfaction with his writing. The Metamorphosis, however, was among the handful of works he considered worthy, though he told friends he was unhappy with the ending.

    When Kafka’s tuberculosis made him too sick to care for himself, he moved back to Prague to live with his parents. As his condition deteriorated, Diamant traveled with him to seek treatment at a series of sanatoriums. Unable to eat for days, he died of starvation on June 3, 1924, while seeking treatment near Vienna. Kafka was buried at the New Jewish Cemetery in Prague, just one month shy of his forty-first birthday. The Hunger Artist, which had gone to press one year earlier, was published later that year.

    Following Kafka’s death, his friend Max Brod discovered a letter instructing him to burn all of his stories, letters, journals, and sketches. Brod ignored his friend’s wishes, however, and saw to it that The Trial (1925), The Castle (1926), and Amerika (1927)—the first two of which were incomplete—were published. More than a decade after his death, Kafka’s works were first translated and published in English, and they continue to be retranslated, published, and discussed throughout the world today.

    Historical and Literary Context of The Metamorphosis

    The Rise of Socialism and Workers’ Rights Movements

    Gregor Samsa was not the first person to hate his job. Between 1880 and 1914, Prague was undergoing rapid urbanization and industrialization, and workers’ rights movements were gaining ground throughout Europe thanks, in part, to German philosopher Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto (1848), which criticized capitalism for oppressing working-class people. The ideas in The Communist Manifesto spurred the rise of the Social Democratic Workers’ Party of Germany (1869, later called the Social Democratic Party), which fought for trade unions to support workers’ rights. Similar workers’ rights movements took hold in Britain, Russia, and even Austria-Hungary, which gave workers a day off when the country celebrated its first May Day in 1890. After the Social Democratic Party prevailed in Germany’s 1912 general election, German socialists called for international working-class solidarity.

    The Place of Minorities in the Austro-Hungarian Empire

    Kafka’s native Prague—presumably the setting of The Metamorphosis—was located in the Kingdom of Bohemia in the Austro-Hungarian Empire (1867–1918), which underwent constant turmoil and expansion throughout the second half of the 1800s until it was dissolved at the end of World War I. Like other empires, Austria-Hungary, which annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908, sought to expand its dominion. But expanded territory came with several problems. Religious and ethnic minorities within newly annexed lands were treated as outsiders in their own homelands. A large, militant group of Czech nationalists was especially resistant to Austro-Hungarian rule. Because they spoke German rather than Czech, the majority language, Prague Jews like the Kafkas were both persecuted and alienated, since they were neither Christian nor pure Czech. For several decades, the Czech majority refused to recognize German speakers and, in 1897, passed the Gautsch language decrees, which permitted

    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1