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Richard Gutierrez

Professor Beadle

English 115

11 April 2019

Stuck a bug

Isolation in common in today's society, one doesn't even need to leave their house to buy

groceries. While technology allows us to control our social environment it can become very easy

to use that technology to distance oneself. As seen in the present day, human have a tendency to

isolate themselves and others when dealing with depression. In The Metamorphosis Gregor

devoted his life to provide for his family by working a dead end job. Then one day wakes up as a

gigantic insect, this transformation causes dramatic change with Gregor and his relationship with

his family. The allegory to the book is how humans can isolate themself and or others when

introduced to something that is different. Kafka illustrates this in The Metamorphosis by having

Gregor’s relationship with his family change physically and emotionally. Over time Gregor starts

to lose his connection to humanity all together. Although people have argued for multiple

allegories from the book Kafka shows progressive stages of isolation through depression that

challenges Gregor’s ability to keep a connection.

As the main character, Gregor was the first victim of isolation. It impacted him the most

because he was the only one who changed physically and mentally. His transformation and sense

of unfamiliarity with his new body put him in a defensive state. He wanted to figure out what

was happening with him before he made contact with anyone else. When his parents were

knocking on the door Gregor refused to open, the unfamiliarity with his new insect body is what

stopped him from opening the door. He had no direct control of his body making it difficult to
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accomplish simple task. Gregor was experiencing this for the first time ever, striking him with

anxiety, fear, and to some extent pain. “Believe me, sir, there's something the matter with

him.”(Kafka 10) said Gregor's mother to the office manager. She knew that something had

changed with gregor without having to see him because Gregors schedule required him to get up

so early for the train. His mother knew something was different since he had still been in bed at

seven in the morning. The manager added stress to this whole situation and Gregor knew that his

job was on the line. “...Gregor’s sole desire was to do his utmost to help the family...”(Kafka 18)

If Gregor had the capability to get up and go to work he would have since the job was very strict

and he would not risk losing it or his family would have lost their home. With fear in his mind

Gregor wanted to open the door and relieve himself and his family from this stressful situation.

“He was eager to find out what the others would say at the sight of him”(Kafka 12). Gregor with

high hopes wanted to see if this change was apparent to others or if it was only a change he had

noticed. He was curious about this because if it was not noticeable to others gregor would have

gone straight to work relieved.

When Gregor presented himself there was a change in emotion with everyone, it was

obvious that the manager was in fear due to the fact that “without letting gregor out his sight, he

backed towards the door”(Kafka 15) and eventually ran away down the stairs in such a rush that

he even leaped down the last few steps. His mother ran for her life after Gregor accidentally

snapped his jaws at her and fainted into his dad's arms. Thinking that Gregor meant harm, his

dad used the managers cane that had been left behind and newspaper to chase Gregor back into

his room. “The door was slammed shut with the cane”(Kafka 19) This established the first sign

of physical isolation between Gregor and his family, turning Gregor’s room into a sort of cage.

Gregor had little clue of what was happening and was too caught up in catching the manager to
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realize the horrors he struck upon others. Starting the second chapter of the book, where gregor

awakens in his room and runs through his thoughts to try and figure out what is happening.

“Gregor's disunity with the human world, on the other hand, expresses itself in

dissonance”(Ben-Ephraim). Before the transformation we knew that Gregor was a full time

traveling salesman who hardly had any time for leisure. Anytime he spent not working he would

give to his family. Kafka mentions no friends or significant other that Gregor might have had at

the time so we are left to assume his family was the only relationship he had cherished.

“Restricted to his quarters throughout his brief lifespan”(Ben-Ephraim) Which ties back to

isolation, which Gregor was use too since he was working full time, he would have no chance to

socialize with anyone besides his family and that would have been minimal as well. The

transformation takes away the ability for him to connect with his family inevitably leading to

total isolation from human contact. “In an ironic Typology, the insect brings to fruition Gregor's

earlier roles”(Ben-Ephraim). Stating that while Gregor may have transformed physically, his

characteristic traits of isolation and loneliness remain the same if not amplified. Making the

connection between Gregor before the transformation and after, the article is stating that he is

inevitably the same.

Arguments over the allegory for the metamorphosis have caused a spark for deeper

analyzation of the reading. Though it may seem like a simple story about a man turned into a

bug, Kafka was a major figure of twentieth century writing. Many argue that Kafka used this

story to portray an insight to the horrors of the Holocaust. Anne Roiphe in the article How

Kafka’s ‘Metamorphosis’ Anticipated The Holocaust states “The ultimate extermination of the

Jews began as a campaign to make them seem nonhuman”(Roiphe). This argument uses the

transformation of Gregor into a non human insect to reflect Germany's view on jews at the time.
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Jews felt alienated and were at fear for their lives, thousands killed and many tried anything they

could to flee the country and become refugees. Being casted out from their home and society

jews faced one of the worst genocides in history. Gregor shares similarities with this, not having

time to socially interact he is casted out of the world and soon out of his family. But in The

Metamorphosis Gregor is the first to experience this transformation, and is not at fear for his life.

He in fact was more than eager to expose himself to everyone unlike how Jews were feeling

during the Holocaust. “Here, the Jews would become bugs, pictured as such in cartoons and

editorials, pests on the body civic of the gentile world”(Roiphe). The transformation Gregor

faces physically is from human body into insect, but unlike someone who might not want to be

seen as a vermin Gregor starts to enjoy his new body, going so far as to crawl all over the walls

and hang from the ceiling during his leisure time. The allegory for this book cannot be what

Roiphe states it is, although they share similarities.

Gregors unfortunate position as a full time salesman left him to revolve his life around

two things, work and his family. Gregor's job consisted of meeting new people at a rapid pace so

he never had time to connect to them emotionally.Gregor's transformation into an insect finalized

his isolation from any human, since most thought he was too disgusting to look at Gregor spent

his isolation in his room. Along with not being able to communicate it proved to be a strong

challenge for Gregor and his family which lead to his death, riding his family of his burden.

Unlike what Jews felt during the holocaust gregor was never in full fear for his life but instead

feared losing the humanity in him.

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Work Cited

Ben - Ephraim, G. "Making and Breaking Meaning: Deconstruction, Four-level All." The

Midwest Quarterly 35.4 (1994): 450. Web.

Kafka, Franz. The Metamorphosis. Arcturus Publishing LTD, 2018.

Roiphe, Anne. “How Kafka's 'Metamorphosis' Anticipated The Holocaust.” The Forward, 9 May

2017,
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