Importance of The Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka

Also Known As The transformation by its title in German, Die Verwandlung, this work is a short novel in which the protagonist, Gregorio Samsa, wakes up turned into a huge beetle, an impossible fact in the reality, however, a perfect abstract way to argue and explore the difficulties and challenges of the individual to communicate, relate and function in the society of the 20th century. The phenomenon that Samsa experiences is a door to analyze, question and debate about his behavior and feelings and, particularly, those who make up his environment.

Considered one of the fundamental works in the history of the literature, was written by the Prague-born Franz Kafka at the end of 1912, although it was not published until 1915. It saw the light in October of that year, in the publication Die Weissen Blätter and, a month later, a publisher publishes it as an independent title of its collection.

As a central theme, we can highlight the misunderstanding of which Samsa, the protagonist, is a victim, as well as the rejection, frustration, loneliness... all of them, recurring themes in the artistic current of the times in which he was written. As a work marked by the expressionist spirit, it does not show a reality, but the emotion of the feeling that tries to transmit, although all these interpretative readings of the work were clarified by the same author, who said that

Metamorphosis it was not any kind of confession and that his work had followed a line of study different. However, Kafka did not reject the symbolic and expressionist readings that had been given to his work.

Structure of the work

The novel can be divided into three parts. The first would be when Gregorio Samsa wakes up transformed into an insect. In this contact, what is most reflected is the misunderstanding to which the man under the new aspect that he presents, as well as his own daze before everything that is happening.

The second shows the isolation to which he is subjected, as well as the rejection of his entire environment, who no longer only distances himself from him because of his appearance that he presents and the changes that he continues to undergo — although at first Samsa behaves like a human, his customs vary throughout the development of the story—but because because of his illness, all of them, who lived off him, must put themselves at ease. work.

The third part narrates the aggravation of the disease and the death of the protagonist, news that his family receives with relief.

The other three main characters that accompany Gregorio Samsa

– The father, Mr. Samsa, is a very important figure in the narration. She is the first to reject Gregorio and confronts him violently. It is understood that this could be a parallelism with the life of the author, who considered his father as an abusive being.

– Gregorio's mother, Mrs. Samsa, is forced to work due to her son's “illness” and she rejects him because she is so horrified by her that she makes it impossible for her to even look at him.

– The sister, Grete, is the character closest to the protagonist and the one who causes him the most damage with her contempt. At first she takes care of him, but ends up wishing him dead.

As secondary, several tenants appear who stay in the house when Gregorio, to whom falls the weight of the family economy, he is forced to stop working, three maids and the head of Gregory. Everyone ends up moving away from him due to the tremendous rejection he provokes.

With this, it is understood that Metamorphosis that occurs in the work is not only suffered by Gregorio Samsa. His is a physical transformation, but in his environment it occurs psychologically.

The entire work is characterized by the absurdity that it poses, from the outset, as something that should be assumed by the reader without asking any further questions, in addition to the suffocating atmosphere that settles in all the scenes. Everything takes place in the living room of the house and in Gregorio's room, he is oppressive and contributes to convey the characters' emotions of anguish, as well as claustrophobia and the need to escape from themselves. This is very typical of Kafka's style, as is the profusion of detail, slow pace, and exhaustive description. of the protagonist's anguish, thus inviting the reader to suffer with them all their disappointments, doubts and dilemmas vital.

Image: Matias del Carmine