Smith-Soeten 1

Erin Smith-Soeten

Professor Beadle

English 115

25 October 2019

Project Text Essay

When reading a novel do you ever notice it’s themes in relation to society? In the novel

The Metamorphosis​ by Franz Kafka, the main character Gregor Samsa, is an unhappy traveling

salesman, transforms into a hideous “vermin”, but pays little concern to his new transformation

and continues on with his humanistic woes and worries about his job and his family. Gregor

struggles with alienation and isolation not only from his family, himself, and also from society.

This book criticizes society by the way Gregor is alienated for his transformation, which is

something out of his control. This is shown by the way Gregor is treated by his family members,

his boss and how that treatment differs, of Gregor, before and after his transformation. Gregor’s

transformation throughout the book criticizes society, because of the way that Gregor is isolated

and alienated from society, himself, and his materialistic ideals and values he holds throughout

the novel.

In the novel Gregor is alienated and isolated from society, similarily to the Jews in Nazi

Germany. The criticisms of society in this book are partly due to Kafka's life and his own

personal experience with society, while still relating the themes within the book to everyone’s

own societal struggles. Gustav Janouch, a Czech poet writes in his memoir about his personal

interactions and conversations with Kafka, along with Janouch’s interpretation of them. Janouch
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stated in his journal when talking about the transformation into a “vermin”, “Since Kafka was

jewish, he had unfortunately experienced something of this kind. His recital symbolizes even

more validly the situation of a poet of his kind in present society. The fear of those who

surrounded Gregor Samsa is the panicked fear which the presence in a poet’s work of the most

suppressed secrets will evoke even in a crowd of mediocre people” (Janouch 260). The way that

Kafka was alienated from society is similar to Gregor’s experience because of how he is

alienated for his physical appearance from society and because he is viewed as different or not of

the norm that the rest of his family is. The theme of alienation throughout the novel is very

prevalent due to Kafka’s strong relations within his own alienation which is also shown by

Gregor’s own self-alienation.

Gregor's reason for work is specifically targeted at the self alienation that he's working

not for himself, but rather for his father with no basis of reason or support from the family. In

“Article by Walter H. Sokel"​ by Walter Sokel, he states the comparison of the theme self

alienation to the famous psychologist Karl Marx’s view and studies of alienation. The author

provides Marxists ideologies and theories that support the view that ​The Metamorphosis​ is filled

with the theme of self alienation due to a demanding and unforgiving society. In Sokel’s Journal

writing, he states that “Kafka’s story ​The Metamorphosis, ​“systematizes,” as it were, the Markist

factor, not by conscious design, of course, but by virtue of the astonishing parallelism in the

point of view, particularly the presentation of self-alienation.” (Sokel 285). The specific example

that Sokel gives that Gregor's reason for work is specifically targeted at the self alienation that

he's working not for himself but rather for his father with no basis of reason or support from the

family. In Kafka’s ​The Metamorphosis​, Gregor lay in bed he states “what a demanding job I’ve
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chosen! Day in, day out on the road. The stresses of trade are much greater than the work going

on at head office, and, in addition to that, I have to deal with the problems of traveling, the

worries about train connections, irregular bad food, temporary and constantly changing human

relationships, which never come from the heart” (Kafka 4). Even though Gregor hates his job

and finds no redeeming value in it, he still continues to work there just for the satisfaction of his

family and paying off his father's debt. Due to the societal normalities and pressures that Gregor

faces he has no time or energy to be concerned with being a bug now, but is rather forced to

focus on his greater stresses in life such as his job. Kafka critiques society with the theme of self

alienation in Gregor because people in society tend to care about more materialistic things rather

than their own health or well being above all else. Gregor cares more about his standing in

society rather than his happiness and how that affects him emotionally and mentally. People in

society also tend to be more materialistic which is showcased in Gregor.

In addition to Gregor holding onto the stress of his job he also tries to hold onto his

material goods, while also holding onto what's left of his humanity. When Grete, his sister, and

the mother are going through Gregor's room to try and help make room for his new body, Gregor

starts to feel attached to his materialistic objects. Kafka states that “Now, Gregor could still do

without the chest of drawers if need be, but the writing desk really had to stay” (Kafka 45). By

trying to hold on to the items in his room Gregor is attempting to maintain what little humanity

he has left. Even though Gregor can no longer use the desk he still feels personally attached to it.

In addition to the dresser Gregor has a cut out of a magazine on his wall. In the book Kafka

describes Gregor’s room as very minimal with little emotional connection to his belongings.

When Grete is taking Gregor’s belongings out of his room Kafka states that “He (Gregor) really
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didn’t know what he should rescue first. Then he saw hanging conspicuously on the wall, which

was otherwise already empty, the picture of the woman dressed in nothing but fur” (Kafka 46).

Gregor has no connection to the women in the magazine picture that he has in his room, yet he

feels the need to hold onto it. In society people often get attached to their belongings just because

they have it rather than having a meaning or personal connection to it such as a picture or piece

of clothing that holds special to you. The way that Gregor is trying to hold on to what little he

has left is a criticism of society by the way society places meaning and value on our material

goods and how much we have. Kafka states in the novel that materialistic goods have very little

concern to us until they can’t be ours. Our personal loss of ownership means that in society we

arent as well off as others or that we haven't accomplished anything in our life. Gregor seems to

only care about his goods as he is losing possession of them, he tries to deal with a lost sense of

ownership, and his loss sense of humanity. However others may argue against this, stating it's

not the strongest criticism of society that Kafka presents, and that the societal status and gender

norms of the book are a more relevant societal criticism.

Others may argue that the theme of societal norms and gender roles is more prevalent

within the novel. There is ample evidence of how Gregor starts out as the head of the household,

then he slowly loses his authority to Grete as she starts taking care of the family and making

decisions for them as a unit. Kafka criticizes society by establishing multiple gender stereotypes

and gender roles that are relevant at the time the book was written. This is seen more so with

how Gregor feels the need to take care of his sister even though she is fully capable to do so

herself, and ends up doing this in the end as the head of household dynamic shifts. The argument

that societal norms are more prevalent within the novel isn't the case. While there are few
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criticisms of societal norms in the novel it mainly is more centered around the societal norms of

Kafka's time in the early twentieth century. Nina ​Pelikan ​Strauss, a feminist literature scholar nd

author, analyzes these societal norms by stating that “Kafka’s language effect a tension between

culturally sanctioned attitudes toward women and his own exploration of those attitudes… Kafka

holds in suspension European, urban, and early twentieth-century masculine attitudes toward

women” (Strauss 652). The criticism that Kafka is making a statement about societal normalities

within society is not as strong as a claim that the theme of self alienation within society because,

as Strauss states, these societal norms are common practice to Kafka, due to the time in which he

had written the novel. The criticism of materialism, societal alienation, and self alienation are the

foundation for the rest of the critiques that Kafka makes throughout the novel. Reading in present

day shows the criticism of societal norms and how they play into societal repercussions within

Gregor’s life and society now.

This novel critics alienated from society, the theme of self alienation, and the possession

and loss materialistic ideals and values throughout the novel. Kafka's writing has the ability for

people of any society to understand and feel the pain and struggles that Gregor goes through

while also poking fun at the systematics in place. The way that Kafka criticizes society is clearly

seen throughout the novel in many forms, which allows any reader to be able to relate to the

novel and its themes of societal dislikes. In conclusion Franz Kafka’s novel ​The Metamorphosis

depicts the alienation and isolation from society by the neglect of Gregor Samsa and his

criticisms about his employment all solely based on a factor that is out of his control that has

changed.
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Works Cited

Janouch, Gustav. "In an Excerpt from a Conversation with Franz Kafka." Translated by

Goronwy Rees. ​Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism,​ edited by Dennis Poupard, vol. 13,

Gale, 1984. ​Literature Criticism Online​, Accessed 26 Oct. 2019. Originally published in

Conversations with Kafka,​ by Gustav Janouch, New Directions, 1971, pp. 31-32.

https://link-gale-com.libproxy.csun.edu/apps/doc/ANLOSJ951396538/LCO?u=csunorthridg

e&sid=LCO&xid=7cbaf70b​.

Kafka, Franz, and Stanley Corngold. “The Metamorphosis.” Bantam classic ed. Toronto ; New

York, N.Y.: Bantam Books, 1981

Straus, Nina Pelikan. “Transforming Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis.’” ​Signs​, vol. 14, no. 3, 1989,

pp. 651–667. ​JSTOR​, ​www.jstor.org/stable/3174406​.

Sokel, Walter H. ​Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism​, edited by Dedria Bryfonski, vol. 2,

Gale, 1979. ​Literature Criticism Online​, Accessed 26 Oct. 2019. Originally published in

Franz Kafka​, by Walter H. Sokel, Columbia University Press, 1966.

https://link-gale-com.libproxy.csun.edu/apps/doc/FWORVB421539073/LCO?u=csunorthrid

ge&sid=LCO&xid=cb1d915e​.