The Metamorphosis Reflection

Kafka's The Metamorphosis embodies many themes, one being isolation. Throughout the writing, the reader watches Gregor Samsa become more isolated the longer he stays a bug. At the beginning of the story when the reader is introduced to Gregor, it is clear that Gregor is separated from everyone, isolated by first his bed, then his bedroom walls. "His room, a proper room for a human being, only somewhat too small,  lay quietly between the four well-known walls"(Kafka 1). Gregor is trapped and is detached from his family and society. As the story progresses, the way Gregor was isolated before doesn't even compare to how he is treated in part three. Gregor is confined in his room because his family can't bare the sight of him. "She slammed the door shut with her foot. Gregor was now shut off from his mother, who was perhaps near death, thanks to him. He could not open the door; he did not want to chase away his sister, who has to remain with her mother"(Kafka 17). Gregor's family keep Gregor stuck in his room, isolating him from everyone. Gregor's sister, Grete, has become so frightened of him that she quickly opens and shuts his door to throw him food. Close to the end of the story, his sister and parents want Gregor gone from the apartment and from their lives. They have given up on him and want to fully alienate and isolate him. "He was only just inside his room when the door was pushed shut very quickly, bolted fast, and barred... it was his sister who had been in such a hurry... she cried out "Finally!" to her parents as she turned the key in the lock"(Kafka 24). Gregor's last breathes are when he is completely alienated and confined in his room. His family wants nothing to do with him so they cut off all interactions with him. Gregor's physical isolation from the outside world in his room really speaks to his general alienation from modern society, which expects him to work continuously and very hard.

Something that I really tracked throughout The Metamorphosis was dehumanization. Gregor Samsa's self-hood diminished as the story progressed. When Gregor was first turned into a bug, his family, excluding his father, believes that a part of him is still in the bug and that he is still apart of their family. His sister, Grete, leaves milk for Gregor because she assumes that his preference for milk while he was human continues now that he's a bug.  "...a bowl stood there, filled with sweetened milk, in which swam tiny pieces of white bread. He almost laughed with joy, for he had an even greater hunger than in the morning, and he immediately dipped his head almost up to and over his eyes down into the milk.. the milk, which otherwise was his favorite drink and which his sister had certainly placed there for that reason..."(Kafka 9). This shows that Grete believes that some of Gregor remains the same. But as she recognizes that Gregor's preference of foods have changed, Grete gradually begins to think of Gregor just as an insect. An action Grete takes of removing all of Gregor's possession out of his room also further dehumanizes Gregor. "...and so she got the idea of making the area where Gregor could creep around as large as possible and this of removing the furniture which got in the way, especially the chest of drawers and the writing desk"(Kafka 14). Taking all of Gregor's belongings from him strips his old identity from him. His family is not thinking of him as Gregor Samsa, their son and brother whom they love. They see him as a giant bug who doesn't need any furniture at all. During the story, the father gives no indication that he regards Gregor as the same, and he treats him very poorly and in a mean manner. The father attacks Gregor as though he were a wild animal when he escapes his room. "From the fruit bowl on the side board his father had filled his pockets, and now, without for the moment taking accurate aim, he was throwing apple after apple.. a weakly thrown apple grazed Gregor's back but skidded off harmlessly. However, another thrown immediately after that one drove into Gregor's back really hard"(Kafka 18). Gregor is indeed treated as a wild animal, and his father does not consider that Gregor really is the bug. All of Gregor's human identity has vanished and he is becoming more and more inhuman. When humans are made to give up individuality and become categorized, labeled and stereotyped that is when human start to become inhuman and are dehumanized. This is what Gregor is showing as he got dehumanized; it is the ideas that modern society portray that dehumanize humanity.