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Darlene Gomez

Professor Beadle

ESW 113A

11 July 2019

The Metamorphosis: A Reflection of How Differences Are Treated in Society

The Metamorphosis​ by Franz Kafka, is a novella about a traveling salesman named

Gregor Samsa, who wakes up completely transformed into an enormous insect. In the novella

there is no information given on how and why he became an insect. Many speculate that Franz

Kafka felt like an outcast and projected this feeling through Gregor Samsa’s character, and that

Samsa never really actually turned into an insect he just felt like one. Instead of being resistant or

complaining about his sudden change, he embraces his transformation with no protest and is

accepting of it. However, the world around him is not accepting of his sudden transformation. In

the novella Gregor’s family is repulsed by his transformation into a vermin; he is left locked in

his room fed garbage, left unattended, and resented by the ones he loves. Gregor is closed off and

hidden from the world because his family is ashamed of him and who he has become. At the end

of the novel Gregor dies alone in his room because of malnutrition and a possible infection.

Gregor Samsa’s transformation in the ‘Metamorphosis’ mirrors how society views and neglects

those who look or are different.

At the start of ​The Metamorphosis​ Gregor Samsa is seen as a normal male by societal

norms. He is treated with respect, but when he reveals his new form as an insect to his family
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they automatically lose their respect. Gregor Samsa reveals himself and the reaction he

encounters from his father is “With a hostile expression his father clenched his fist, as if to drive

Gregor back into his room, then looked uncertainty around the living room, shielded his eyes

with his hands, and sobbed heaves of his powerful chest.”(14) Gregor’s father reaction to his

transformation and reveal is very intense, he is angry at Gregor and in the same quote you see the

father’s shame when he sobs at Gregor’s reveal. The ending of chapter 1 ends with Gregor’s

father violently shoving him back in to his room: “his father gave him a hard shove, which was

truly his salvation, and bleeding profusely, he flew far into his room. The door was slammed shut

with the cane, then at last everything was quiet.”(19) this quote depicts his father’s violent

rejection of Gregor’s transformation. This is very similar to what happens to members of the

LBTQ+ community when they come out to their loved ones. When a person comes out they are

either accepted or rejected by their family. Many LGBTQ+ members have been rejected by their

family members, and are kicked out of their own homes or violently beaten by family members.

It is stated that 4 out of 10 LGBTQ+ members will be rejected by their loved ones. In a

narrative study called “Coming out and coming into an identity: A structural analysis of the

coming out story” Henry F. Slubowski says that “Coming Out is not only a personal statement of

worth and self-respect, it is a statement of dissent— a voice raised in defense of diversity and

genuine democracy. (Wayne Curtis qtd. In Plummer 49).” Although all coming out stories and

experiences for the LGBTQ+ are different there is no doubt that their coming out story is a very

crucial event in there lives, a moment that embarks the start of their lives where they can finally

live their truth. LGBTQ+ members can only expect and hope that their family and loved ones

will accept them with open arms.

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Gregor Samsa is comfortable in his own skin as an insect, the only issue is how others

will perceive and treat him. In chapter two Gregor’s self confidence plummets because of the

treatment he has received after he has revealed himself as an insect. He is very accepting of

himself, but because of the abuse and neglect he is experiencing in his own home and the energy

from his family towards him changes, Gregor becomes insecure and depressed. His father is

physically violent and abusive toward him and he is one of the reasons Gregor dies. In the

novella Gregor crawling in his insect form around his room trying to protect his last possession

from being thrown out by his mother and sister. Gregor’s mother faints as she watches him and

his sister tells his father that he had started to act out and gone mad. Upon hearing this the father

starts to viciously attack Gregor with apples, “But the very next one that came flying after it

literally forced its way into Gregor’s back; Gregor tried to drag himself away, as if the startling,

unbelievable pain might disappear with a change of place;but he felt nailed to the spot and

stretched out his body in a complete confusion of all his senses.”(37) his father’s intention was to

kill him off for no reason, Gregor was only expressing himself was being dehumanized by his

family and trying to save the only possession that he adored from being taken away from him.

He can’t change the fact he is a vermin it was who he was, and this is totally out of his control.

Maybe his father wasn’t always very affectionate or loving toward Gregor before his

transformation, but it seemed that he and the rest of the family took leverage after Gregor’s

metamorphosis into an insect to dehumanize him and think that it is okay to neglect him and kill

him off. Gregor Samsa should’ve been respected, accepted, and loved regardless if he had

transformed into an insect or not. Gregor Samsa was neglected to death and died alone in his

room and no one cared at all. This is very similar to what is going on in society today with the
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LGBTQ+ community. There has been a rise in killings of LGBTQ+ members and no one is

talking about it, it has simply been brushed off. The Gay “Panic” Defense, is a legal defense used

in court to justify the horrific killings and violent hate crimes imposed against transgender’s and

gay’s. This defense states that their own sexual orientation and gender identity is to blame for the

defendants loss of self-control and violent crimes inflicted upon them. The case of Matthew

Shepard who was beaten too death by two men who aimed to use the Gay “Panic” Defense to

justify their horrible actions. Even Though there has been public resistance towards this legal

defense, it is till this day used in court. Kind of how Gregor Samsa’s murder was justified and

brushed off because he was just an insect. In the article “Trans deaths are real deaths” by Irene

Monroe she states that “In one week this May, three transwomen of African descent were

murdered: Michelle Washington, 40, Claire Legato, 21, and Muhlaysia Booker, 23. As I draw

attention to these sisters, several this year in 2019 have been murdered and, sadly, many more

will be killed.”(Monroe) since this publication there has been 6 transgender homicides reported

Monoroe says that the violence is mainly towards transgender of color. Although some may

argue that there is a period where there seems to be more acceptance for the LGBTQ+ in society

with the pride parades and the legalization of same sex marriages.There are still many issues that

are going on in the LGBTQ+ community such as the increase of homelessness in the community

of the colored LGBTQ+ youth since the 90’s(Patterson). In the article “A Decade of

Microaggression Research and LGBTQ Communities: An Introduction to the Special Issue” by

Kevin Nadal states: “Heterosexist and transphobic discrimination have also persisted through

interpersonal interactions - ranging from more overt forms (e.g., hate crimes, bullying) to more

subtle forms of discrimination, otherwise known as microaggressions.” Although there has been
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some progression, transphobia and heterosexism is still exhibited silently in the U.S. systems, the

fight or LGBTQ+ rights is not over.

There is a pattern of violence that is being inflicted upon on any minority group who are

considered inferior in society that is ongoing throughout the novel ​The Metamorphosis​ by Franz

Kafka and society. Gregor Samsa was viewed negatively because he had transformed into a

vermin, he was neglected, abused, and killed because he was different and couldn’t change who

he had become even if he wanted to. Gregor’s transformation mirrors how negatively society

views differences. The neglect of the people who are different( people of color and the

LGBTQ+) is shown in the lack of representation in society. In the article “Trans deaths are real

deaths” Irene Monroe says this “or decades, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has reported

the violence and murders of our transgender community. In a reported titled "Violence Against

the Transgender Community in 2018," on HRC's website, it states: "While the details of these

cases differ, it is clear that fatal violence disproportionately affects transgender women of color,

and that the intersections of racism, sexism, homophobia, and transphobia conspire to deprive

them of employment, housing, healthcare and other necessities, barriers that make them

vulnerable."(Monroe) and although we don’t have visible segregation as we did before, it’s more

discreet and hidden. It’s systemic oppression and if you aren’t paying attention, you could miss

it.
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Works Cited

Slubowski, Henry F., Jr. Coming Out and Coming into an Identity: A Structural Analysis

of the Coming Out Story, Truman State University, Ann Arbor, 1998. ProQuest,

http://libproxy.csun.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.libproxy.csun.edu/docview/3044

84578?accountid=7285​. Access 8 July 2019

Kafka, Franz. The Metamorphosis. Translated by Stanley Corngold, 2013, Modern

Library, 1915.

Monroe, Irene. "Trans Deaths are Real Deaths." Windy City Times, Jun 05, 2019, pp. 20.

ProQuest,
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http://libproxy.csun.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.libproxy.csun.edu/docview/2239

577216?accountid=7285​. Access 2019

Nadal, Kevin L., PhD. "A Decade of Microaggression Research and LGBTQ

Communities: An Introduction to the Special Issue." Journal of Homosexuality, vol. 66, no. 10,

2019, pp. 1309-1316. ProQuest,

http://libproxy.csun.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.libproxy.csun.edu/docview/2250

843334?accountid=7285,

doi:http://dx.doi.org.libproxy.csun.edu/10.1080/00918369.2018.1539582.

Peterson, Jerry. "A Silent Crisis: LGBTQ Youth Homelessness in Detroit." Between the

Lines, Feb 18, 2016, pp. 13. ProQuest,

http://libproxy.csun.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.libproxy.csun.edu/docview/1770

223439?accountid=7285​.

Nadal, Kevin L., PhD. "A Decade of Microaggression Research and LGBTQ

Communities: An Introduction to the Special Issue." Journal of Homosexuality, vol. 66, no. 10,

2019, pp. 1309-1316. ProQuest,

http://libproxy.csun.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.libproxy.csun.edu/docview/2250

843334?accountid=7285,

doi:​http://dx.doi.org.libproxy.csun.edu/10.1080/00918369.2018.1539582​.