Introduction
Kafka’s novella represents a tale of a traveling salesman who finds himself transformed into an insect after he wakes up one morning.
He brought out in this story many things about his life, including his father, his family and his future. He used metaphors to show his love for people in his life. So, his story is autobiographical.
Social Aspects of the Metamorphosis
The novella “The Metamorphosis” expresses the anxieties and alienation felt by many people in 20th-century Europe.
The Metamorphosis, in particular, was written during the time Kafka began working in an office while still living with his family. (Joshi, 2021).
Franz Kafka had trouble at home with his father. His father wanted him to become a lawyer, but he wanted to be a writer. In the story, the protagonist’s father had little respect for his son, and the protagonist had to work to pay off the family debts. Basically, the protagonist is the representation of Franz Kafka, who transforms into an insect in the story. This symbolizes Kafka’s depression and poor self-image.
Marxism is a quite old theory which is named after Karl Marx. It steps out from Karl Marx’s theories of the economy. It focuses on society, politics, and the economy, as well as the effect of capitalism on labor, productivity, and economic development.
The center of this theory is society and the classes within the society (Mir, 2019).
Class was a matter of hierarchy within society that can be described as ‘working-class culture.
Gregor is a perfect example of a working class. He hates his job, but he does it anyway in order to earn money and support his family.
Following the Marxist theory, Gregor’s inability to work makes him useless to his family, who wants to achieve a higher social class.
Samsa’s economic condition is the primary example of class conflict in “The Metamorphosis,” which represents Marxism. Samsa’s family is not a well-off family. Samsa has to pay his father’s debt and after his inability to work, his family pays off their debt. This makes the novella an example of a capitalist society (Mir, 2019).
However, by employing the Marxist approach, the novella unveils an overreaching metaphor that provides the farfetched story a proficient pertinence to the structure to the society that the Marxists aim to expound (Mir, 2019).
Gregor Samsa is the representation of proletariat class
He is using words “torture,” “worrying,” and “miserable” to represent his dissatisfaction with his work as a worker (Kafka, 2015).
Kafka’s portrayal of the bourgeoisie manager makes him unlikable. We are led to become more emotionally attached to the insect Gregor than to the human manager. So, it can be said that this scenario is the image of a capitalist society (Mir, 2019). Gregor works because society at the time makes him think that it is his responsibility.
Besides, Gregor’s metamorphosis into a “monstrous vermin” shows the insignificance of working-class people, especially when they are unable to work.
It also represents the materialization which spread rapidly after industrialization. Therefore, Gregor’s worth is only described by what he contributes to the family, leaving him worthless in the end.
When the family abandons Gregor, it shows how society at the time, treated the unemployed.
Cultural Aspects of the Metamorphosis
20th-century Europe cultural aspects involved character alienation, questions of self-identity and toxic masculine roles.
Alienation is a common theme in the 20th century in literature. This term has been given different interpretations over the ages, but it has kept its original definition as a separation between an individual and a group of people in a community (Alkhafaji, 2020).
The concept of alienation is attributed to the philosophies of Marxism and Existentialism. The Marxist approach examines the idea of alienation focusing and remaining critical to the social and economic condition in capitalist society (Prakash, 2018).
He defined “Alienation” as a kind of phenomenon in which “materials control humans; dead labor rules living laborers; product control producers.” Alienation in other words, basically is the dissimilated relationship between man and society and between people, involving the inner relationships between self and others (Prakash, 2018).
Once Gregor stopped working, being valuable and bringing money into his family, they alienated him in his room.
In the story, Gregor’s estranged, alienated and isolated by everyone (Kafka, 2015).
He has no good relationship with anybody. He is lonely without others’ love, care or affection (Anheng, 2022).
Kafka struggled with self-identification, having to work in a demeaning job, while he wanted to write. Being a minority did not help, and the author struggled with self image and self-worth (Saperstein, 1988). Similar to Kafka, who had difficult relationship with his father and took on a job that he disliked in order to fit in, Gregor also struggles with self-identification, especially once he could not work and lost his purpose.
Kafka had a distant and difficult relationship with his father, much as the main character in metamorphosis.
The father’s resentment towards Gregor arises from having been replaced by the son as the caretaker of the house. This is even more evident from the act of hiding money from the family, which he reveals only after Gregor is no longer the care-taker (Joshi, 2021).
Person in power, masculine role and traits
Kafka sees his father in Mr. Samsa, who uses physical force, as an exhibition of his manliness every time he drives Gregor back to his room in all three parts of The Metamorphosis (Joshi, 2021).
Like a non-masculine identity, he is faced with discrimination, marginalization, and degradation as he is put away from his previous state further and further. (Joshi, 2021).
Changes to his body move Gregor away from the masculine prototype.
His masculinity, in a way, is being neutered and even infantilized.
This demolition of masculinity reaches its completion when Gregor attains the state of gender neutrality. Upon his third visit outside his room, Grete’s frustration with Gregor’s unmanliness leads her to refer to him as a “thing”: an “it”.
This could also be an example of the dehumanization of Gregor because of his inability and acceptance of the fact that he is not a caretaker anymore.
Historical Aspects of the Metamorphosis
Kafka began writing at a time of significant and rapid cultural changes, amongst which one of the most pivotal ones was women’s liberation movements (Joshi, 2021).
The right to vote, working rights, and inclusion into universities for women started changing the world for them, and as a consequence, for men as well.
Grete becomes his caretaker, a reversal of what is shown in Gregor’s memories, where he took care of Grete’s needs (Joshi, 2021).
The titular “metamorphosis” is, in fact, Grete’s transformation from being the passive, submissive, and dormant girl to an active, independent, and assertive woman (Joshi, 2021).
The inspiration for Grete’s character comes from many women in Kafka’s life, particularly his sisters, who could stand up to his father.
Greta, moving towards and independent role, has to apply herself to several tasks of the household, her job, and even her musical interests.
From a young age, Kafka knew that he was interested in writing and the arts, something that did not please his father.
Metamorphosis shows the difficulties of living in a modern society and the struggle for acceptance of others when in a time of need.
It also demonstrates the struggles of the early capitalist society and the class division.
Conclusions
- The novella is a reflection of Kafka’s own life
- He shows his own struggles in the main character Gregor
- His difficult relationship with his father inspired the relationships in the novella
- His own sense of alienation and isolation was reflected
- The aspects of the 20th century Europe were also shown in the novella
- These aspects involve – social, cultural and historical
Social aspects of the Metamorphosis include:
- Marxism philosophy of the 20th century
- Worth is defined by the contribution
- Social class clashes
- Relationships were material based, reflecting the capitalist society.
Cultural aspects of the Metamorphosis include:
- Sense of alienation
- Questions of self-identification and Self-worth
- Development of masculinity
- Toxic masculinity of the father
- Demolished masculinity of Gregor
Historical aspects of the Metamorphosis include:
- Kafka’s own experience
- Aspects of 20th-century Europe that are reflected in the novella
- Women’s rights development and the social change
References
Alkhafaji, W. M. (2020). A study of alienation in Kafka’s The Metamorphosis as a moral guide for the new generation. PalArch’s Journal of Archaeology of Egypt/Egyptology, 17(6), 16027-16036. Web.
Anheng, L. (2022). The Interpretation of Gregor’s Transformation in The Metamorphosis from the Perspective of Existentialism. Bohemistyka, (2), 153-173. Web.
Joshi, S. (2021). A Gender Study of Franz Kafka and His Work The Metamorphosis. Contemporary Literary Review India, 8(2), 57-90. Web.
Kafka, F. (2015). The Metamorphosis.
Mir, S. A. (2019). Explicating Kafka’s Metamorphosis within the ambit of Marxism. International Journal of English Literature and Social Sciences, 4, 1. Web.
Prakash, D. (2018). The comparative study on the theme of alienation and self deception in “The Metamorphosis” and “I – Not I”. Assonance, 182. Web.
Saperstein, D. (1988). Metamorphosis: Book II: The Cocoon Story Continues. Talos.