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Jennifer Mercado

Professor Jon Beadle

English 115

09 November 2021

Human To Monster

Monsters come in different shapes and sizes and in every story, these monsters are

immediately alienated from society at first sight. In The Metamorphosis, written by Franz Kafka,

the protagonist experiences that alienation first hand. Gregor Samsa, a once hardworking young

man providing for his family, wakes up, from night to morning, as a giant beetle like insect.

Gregor Samsa has three family members, mother, father, and sister, who become repulsed and

terrified at the mere sight of him. The word metamorphosis translates to transformation and

Gregor’s metamorphosis is the family’s motivation towards constraining him to his room, like

the monster he is and the son he no longer was. Although physically constrained with no

environmental freedom, Gregor’s transformation into a beetle like monster provided freedom

from economic responsibilities, although it was ultimately an undesirable freedom that Gregor

watched, as it slowly dismantled his family.

Gregor experiences so many mixed emotions that come with becoming a monster. These

mixed emotions are very understandable as a monster in itself is a very contradictory subject. As

Cohen mentions in his article, Fear of the Monster Is Really a Kind of Desire, “ The same

creatures who terrify and interdict can evoke potent escapist fantasies; the linking of monstrosity

with the forbidden makes the monster all that more appealing as a temporary egress from

constraint” (Cohen 190). Cohen’s statement, although clearly describing how a monster’s flaws

become perfections in the eye of individuals, is not enough for many to believe that Gregor
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experienced freedom with his transformation. Numerous people would argue that Gregor did not

have freedom but instead felt helpless being stuck in his room. For example, many can arrive to

the same idea presented in the journal called Franz Kafka's « The Metamorphosis » : A case

study, that “Gregor moves on the floor like a baby on all fours, and this may help to explain the

numerous passages where the narrator reports Gregor's complaints about the weakness of his

little legs, hilflos, « struggling legs » (3) which « he could not control in the least” (Silhol 1). An

argument would be made that Gregor felt impotent with such simple tasks as standing up, which

only serves to further illustrate how severely helpless he feels when it comes to doing what he

did routinely, being the action of going to work. An individual's life can feel catastrophic when a

routine such as Gregor’s habit of going to work everyday is interrupted. This argument could not

be so far off because rather than feeling upset, Gregor felt a sense of relief knowing he did not

have to attend to such a responsibility.

Gregor has been working for years now and was the one and only member of the family

providing economic stability. Both his parents seemed to be too old and tired to effectively work

in addition to his sister not working as she is younger and had other plans. It is easy to imagine

how laborious it can be to work everyday knowing that your family depends on it and through all

this work, Gregor says that “the money was received with thanks and given with pleasure, but no

special feeling of warmth went with it anymore” (Kafka 26). Gregor’s identity revolved around

work so all his time was devoted to doing just that. Having little time living as a monster,

Gregor experienced the feeling of having no responsibilities but that of staying in bed all day.

Gregor felt a sense of freedom when he “ he thought that the next time the door opened he would

take charge of the family’s affairs again, just as he had done in the old days; after this long while

there again appeared in his thoughts the boss and the manager, the salesmen [...] they all
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appeared; but instead of helping him and his family, they were all inaccessible, and he was glad

when they faded away” (Kafka 41). To Gregor, the idea that he no longer had to have any

encounters with people related to work came as such a relief. Gregor was no longer burdened by

waking up earlier for work and putting money on the table for his family every time it was

necessary. He clearly disregarded worrying about his family all the time and focused on his own

current situation instead of thinking back to his past.

Gregor can have the biggest sense of freedom in the world and yet that does not

automatically indicate that he enjoyed such freedom. The freedom that the transformation

provided was immensely undesirable for Gregor as he felt as though he could no longer fulfill

what his sense-of-self meant to him. In The World of Gregor Samsa: A Daseinsanalytic

Interpretation of Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, written by Khashayar Boroomandjazi, it is clearly

highlighted that “The most notable characteristic of the world of Gregor Samsa can be seen in

the manner in which he relates to himself through his relationships with other human beings''

(Boroomandjazi 3). The entirety of the book portrays the story of Gregor having no relationship

with his family on account of being a monster. You can definitely say that he had a set

relationship as son of his parents and brother of his sister but his relationship with them was

defined by what he provided for them. With that being said, “whenever the conversation turned

to the necessity of earning money, Gregor would let go of the door and throw himself down on

the cool leather sofa which stood beside it, for he felt hot with shame and grief” (Kafka 27).

Gregor’s sole purpose in the family had been as financial provider so when he could no longer

serve this purpose, Gregor could not grasp who he was anymore besides being a monster that

brings terror to his own family. As a son, the last thing Gregor wanted to do was hurt his family

after having aided them for such a long part of his life.
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Hurting his family further made having this freedom undesirable for Gregor. Gregor

already had little to no connection with his family except that of being a provider so having

freedom became a burden when his transformation to monster, the reason for his freedom in the

first place, brought distress onto his loved ones. Listening to his family's conversations, he heard

his sister say “‘It will be the death of you two, I can see it coming. People who already have to

work as hard as we do can’t put up with this constant torture at home, too. I can’t stand it

anymore either’” (Kafka 49). Hearing how much his family was struggling from his own sister's

mouth was the last straw for Gregor. All that he had been doing to keep the family healthy and

stable, he was also jeopardizing and putting to waste by being in their lives as a monster. Gregor

“thought back on his family with deep emotion and love. His conviction that he would have to

disappear was, if possible, even firmer than his sister’s. He remained in this state of empty and

peaceful reflection [...] Then, without his consent, his head sank down to the floor, and from his

nostrils streamed his last weak breath” (Kafka 51). Gregor wanted to take away this distress so

much that when the family finally decided it was time, he did not even think to argue against or

defend himself but rather agreed. Hearing that his family was finally going to take action in

getting rid of him should have brought him feelings of despair but instead he felt a sense of

tranquility knowing that his family would continue living and honoring his memory without his

being there constantly as a reminder that the Gregor they know was gone.

In The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, Gregor enjoyed the luxury that came with being a

monster being that of isolation specifically from the responsibility of work. It is looked down

upon to be a lazy young man at home with no work however as a monster, doing what was

forbidden or looked down upon, Gregor was doing alright for the time being. He soon realized

with little time that although his transformation to a giant beetle like insect monster brought him
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a new sense of freedom, he also came to realize that his new sense of found freedom led to

feelings of confusion and guilt for neglecting who he was and disregarding his family.
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Works Cited

Kafka, Franz, The Metamorphosis. Translated by Stanley Corngold, 2013 ed., Modern Library,

1915

Cohen, Jerome, Jeffrey. Fear of the Monster Is Really a

Kind of Desire. Edited by Andrew J. Hoffman, Bedford St. Martins, 2016, pp. 190-195

Robert Silhol. “Franz Kafka’s « The Metamorphosis » : A Case Study.” PSYART (Gainesville,

Fla.), University of Florida, 2008, p. N_A–.

Boroomandjazi, Khashayar. “The World of Gregor Samsa: A Daseinsanalytic Interpretation of

Kafka’s The Metamorphosis.” The Humanistic Psychologist, vol. 48, no. 1, Educational

Publishing Foundation, 2020, pp. 74–83, https://doi.org/10.1037/hum0000137.