Essay on Symbolism and Metaphors in Kafka's Metamorphosis

The perception of being isolated is a common feeling that many experience at some point in their lives. Whether the action of being isolated is intentional or not, it is sometimes the people closest to you that tend to be the contributors that result in this feeling. Kaska’s story “The Metamorphosis” does not use direct examples but rather uses symbolism and metaphors to really show us the idea of what isolation and depression, caused by family, looks like throughout the story. 

The Metamorphosis is a story about how a man, Gregor Samsa, feels under-appreciated from his family. Gregor, who is a traveling salesman, wakes up in his bed to find out that he has turned into a bug. He can see that his room is still normal, so he decides to go back to sleep to try to forget about what has just happened. As he attempts to roll over, he finds that he cannot, due to his body being so big. Scared by his appearance, Gregor’s office manager bolts from the apartment. Gregor runs after him and tries to catch up to try to explain what happened to the office manager, but his father intervenes and forces him back into the bedroom with a cane and a rolled newspaper. Gregor gets hurt trying to squeeze back through the doorway to his room. Once he was in, his father slammed the door shut. That’s where he stays for the rest of the story. 

At the beginning of the story it is made clear that Gregor wishes to quit his job to get away from his family and the obligations that he has towards them. This shows that Gregor wants to isolate himself from the stress in his life. A famous saying, “be careful what you wish for” really comes to light when Gregor is transformed into a bug. The author uses the transformation Gregor undergoes as a symbol towards his human life. This transformation brings to life just how much his family did appreciate him. Although Gegor has gotten what he wished for, he paid a major price. He not only was isolated from his family, but any social interaction that he could possibly have. Gregor starts to feel guilty for literally being a “parasite” to his family. However, his family had locked him away in his room, which brings out another version of isolation. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that “Social isolation significantly increases a person’s risk of premature death from all causes”. Gregor then becomes depressed and this eventually leads to his death.  

The Samsas dehumanize Gregor on multiple occasions and force him into seclusion because they no longer view him as a useful family member. Instead of gently and nicely attempting to get Gregor back into his room after his escape, his father treats him like a worthless animal or insect and throws apples at him in order to force Gregor to retreat to his room. Gregor had no choice but to just watch as fruit flew from his father throwing it at him: “He [Mr. Samsa] had filled his pockets with fruit from the dish on the sideboard and was now shying apple after apple, without taking a particularly good aim for the moment”. (Kafka, p. 122) Mr. Samsa forces Gregor back into his room, isolated from everyone, in the most violent way. He did it in a manner in which one would try to squash a bug. Gregor no longer exists as a human in his fathers eyes. He is only seen as the worthless beetle his family always treated him like, although it wasn’t noticeable until Gregor’s transformation. 

 Not only does the distortion of reality convey a sense of alienation, but the Samsas’ actions and attitudes toward Gregor further emphasize Kafka’s theme of rejection and isolation. Although Grete previously maintained a rather close relationship with Gregor, once he became a dung beetle, Grete’s feelings toward him slowly overturned. At first Grete is portrayed as the sibling that comes to her brother's rescue. Grete feels bad for Gregor because no one is taking care of him, and she loves her brother.  Immediately after Gregor’s transformation, she assists to his needs and takes care of him. An example in the story is when she tries to figure out what foods he likes to eat “she brought him a whole selection of food, all set out on an old newspaper.” (Kafka, p. 107) However, as time goes by she starts to see Gregor as a nuisance, and her care for him slowly fades to nothing. Ultimately this led Gregor to really shut down. After Gregor lost the support of the one person that he thought he could always count on, he eventually passed away due to neglect and no longer caring.

Kafka uses symbolism and metaphors to really show us the idea of what isolation, depression, and rejection caused by family looks like throughout the story . Gregor's family not only disregards his life in his insect form but also when he was a human as well. They reject his humanity and completely isolate him from what is real and the outside world by locking him away in a room that was once his, but has turned into a storage closet. Kafka uses the family by showing that they only cared about him when he had provided money for the family. Isolation affects people very deeply as seen in this short story. It only adds to thoughts and feelings that Gregor was already feeling and depression took over him. Through his story, Kafka allows everyone to realize that there may be a little Gregor Samsa in them that needs to be taken care of.