Metamorphosis Citations

In Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis, has sparked much critical interest during the past century because it is indefinable, complex, and undeniably unique. Casual Kafka readers and scholars alike find themselves in a state of suspended disbelief, even after a tenth read. "Can this really be happening?" they ask with more surprise than the transformed protagonist Gregor Samsa, who seems to accept his fate more readily than real-life critics or the world that surrounds him. The transformation of the character Gregor from a man to one of the most repellent insects, a cockroach, may seem exaggerated and ridiculous, becoming more so over the course of the story as the action builds and emotions become more charged. Kafka's intention, however, is to expose the explore the impoverishment of human psychology with respect to the ways in which changes in one's circumstances and conditions reshape notions of justice and mercy. While it is the subject of this character analysis, Gregor who has been mysteriously and inexplicably reduced to one of the lowest forms of animal life in this story by Kafka representing the absurd, it is Gregor's family in the "The Metamorphosis" whose psychological development is least human and humane. Gregor comes to accept, as he must, the irreversibility of his new condition. Though unwanted, there is nothing that Gregor can do to change his situation. The only action that he can, and does take, is to adjust his attitude about this unbelievable change. His family members, however, are apparently incapable of making the same kind of psychological adapation. Gregor has changed physical form, but Kafka clearly indicates that his essential being has not changed in any fundamental way. Gregor still has human feelings and needs, he still wishes to relate with his family and other members of society, and he still wishes to be responsible. Gregor belongs to the absurd world around him but, pathetically and tragically, attempts to struggle out of it into the world of humans--and dies in despair.