Isolated From Society (Metamorphosis Essay)

Katie Lopes-Raftery
Ms. Clapp
AP Literature and Composition
13 November 2008

Isolated from Society

With what may be one of the most interesting opening lines in literature, Franz Kafka opens The Metamorphosis stating that the main character has turned into a gigantic insect. Gregor, the protagonist, becomes alienated from his family and society. Through the irony and the narrator’s third person limited omniscience point of view, Kafka extends the feeling of isolation to the readers where they, too, feel Gregor’s frustration of feeling useless in a society that values usefulness so much. In the end, Kafka suggests that if one isn’t useful, society will slowly but surely weave that individual out.

The narrator’s view of Gregor’s job shows the high value his family and society place on usefulness. Right after Gregor transforms into an insect, he ironically does not begin to speculate on why or how this happened. Instead, he “looked at the alarm clock ticking on the chest” (312). Even though he had just been transformed into a giant insect, he happened to be more concerned with what time it was than what had happened to him. He was planning on going to work, appearing human or not. Gregor’s family had such a dependence on him that it would take “another five or six years” for him to save enough money “to pay back [his parents’] debts” (312). After his family shows concern over Gregor in the morning, he thinks, “what’s the use of lying idle in bed” (314). He has been “conditioned” into being useful that not even going to work as an insect would stop him. Getting out of bed as a gigantic insect could hurt Gregor’s head which is why he took a while contemplating the strategies. However, “he must take the risk” as he knew the value his family put on him (315). The society in which Gregor lived put a high value on usefulness of a person’s life and he knew that.

What Gregor didn’t know is that he would become alienated from his family and society once “useful” no longer described him. The narrator’s point of view limits Gregor’s character, as an insect, to the confinement of his room where point of view becomes key. Kafka doesn’t allow the readers to see what his family or anyone else is thinking. They, too, are confined to Gregor’s room. The only time when we saw out of the room was when Gregor “could see through the crack of the door” (322). Attempting to gain information on what was happening outside his room, Gregor “leaned against the inside of the family shut wing of the door,” (319). Gregor never gained information directly but “overheard a lot from the neighboring rooms” (325). The point of view is so limited to us that we can go only as far as the keyhole in his room. But to keep Gregor from being lost in bad thoughts, “he took refuge in movement and crawled up and down the room” (323). Like an energetic child in one room, Gregor moves about, up and down. The readers, too, begin to feel the frustration of the situation. They are not allowed to go wander anywhere else in the house or know what anyone else is thinking; this feeling of uselessness is extended.

When Gregor’s family slowly treats him differently is where Kafka solidifies the point about what society thinks of usefulness. In the beginning, Grete, “out of the goodness of her heart” would bring Gregor different kinds of food to see which kind he would like (324). She didn’t have to kindly feed her brother; she volunteered because she loved him. However, in the end, “even the things he had not touched, as if these were now of no use to anyone” had been thrown away (324). Over time, Grete had become annoyed with the burden of feeding her brother. He was treated differently as to when he was making money for the family. Now that he isn’t useful to the family, he’s shunned.

After Gregor dies, his family feels they are living effectively. It was as if “a burden had been lifted from them” (344). They are happy that his son, an invalid human in their family, is gone. This weight of carrying a useless “insect” is now not a part of their lives. Gregor’s sister, Grete, “had bloomed into a pretty girl with a good figure” (345). The family now had “new dreams and excellent intentions” (345). It’s as if they are living again after Gregor has gone. This shows the value his family, and society, put on “usefulness.” After Gregor was no longer able to produce money, he was shunned from his family as there was no longer a benefit of having him around. In the end, the frustration and outcome of Gregor’s situation suggests that society values a person’s ability to produce rather than the ability to live.