​ De La Torre 1

Victoria De La Torre

Professor Beadle

English 115

21 October, 2019

The Darker Side of Humanity

The book ​Metamorphosis b​ y Franz Kafka is a complicated and meaningful piece of

literature. The book is about a man named Gregor who hates his work but feels obligated to work

to support his family. He is the main and only breadwinner so when he turns to a cockroach type

of bug one morning it causes the whole family concern. Soon the whole family changes their

attitude towards Gregor. They start mistreating, isolating, and dehumanising him. Many scholars

have suggested that the main reason that Kafka made this novel was to use it as a way to criticize

society. Although we can’t go back in time and ask Kafka straight out what was the main

purpose of the book we can definitely infer if and what aspect of society Kafka is criticizing in

his book ​Metamorphosis​. Kafka is criticizing society specifically on how society treats outsiders.

By transforming Gregor into bug it represents a person who once had a job and money, to a

person who no longer has that. This can accurately describe a person such as a homeless person.

Kafka uses the transformation of Gregor to represent a homeless person and uses the family as a

representation of society’s treatment toward homeless people. The family mistreats, isolates, and

criminalizes him which are things that homeless people often go through.

One of the most common reasons that homeless people get mistreated is because many

people are actually afraid of them. This happens quite similarly with Gregor throughout the

story. At the beginning of the book, Gregor had not yet revealed himself to his boss nor his
 ​ De La Torre 2

family. He had kept himself locked inside the room, part of the reason being that he could not get

up from the bed, and the other being he did not want to go to work. However when he does

reveal himself to his boss and family outside the door of his room everyone panics. The mother

and father instead of seeing a human being who once brought revenue and had a job transformed

their view of Gregor. They no longer saw a human being. The mother goes to help ask for help to

Gregor’s father. This results in Gregor’s father treating him not as a human but as something

less, “nothing would stop Gergor’s father as he drove him back, making hissing noises at him

like a wild man… his father gave him a hefty shove from behind which released him from where

he was being held and sent him flying and heavily bleeding, deep into his room” (Kafka 1972,

pp. 9-10) This type of experience happens similarly to homeless people, as said in the book

called “​Street Is Not a Home: Solving America's Homeless Dilemma​ "they scare us. They are,

say the Jungians, the 'shadow', the darker, harsher side of life and of humanity" (Coates 1990,

pp.19). In being scared of them we also become a darker side of humanity, one that has evolved

into greed and hate. By being scared of homeless people we try to justify and push laws that limit

the amount of public space and what they can do with the space given. In 2012, “33% of 235

cities had an anti-camping ban in at least some public areas, and 17% had a citywide ban,

effectively making these cities partial or total “no homeless” zones...Thirty percent prohibited

sitting or lying in public places, 47% prohibited “loitering”, and 47% prohibited begging in at

least some public places” (Criminalization of Homelessness in the United States of America,

2014, pp. 2). As seen in this report you can see the level that we have restricted the access. Just

like this is the beginning of Gregor’s confinement to his room, in 2012 the homeless started to be

confined to their “rooms” being the limited public space that we leave them with. Even Gregor’s
 ​ De La Torre 3

own sister Grete who at the beginning was the only one of the family taking care of him “still

found his appearance unbearable and would continue to do so” (Kafka, 1915, pp. 35). As a

result, because some people are not pretty to look at due to their situation financially, many

financially unstable people are pushed to the slums. Therefore it keeps them out of sight and out

of mind of the people who are more financially stable. Gregor’s situation mimics the situation of

a homeless person and as a result Kafka parallels both of the situations so he can criticize society

on their lack of empathy towards the homeless people.

Another situation that is similar to that of a homeless person and Gregor, is the alienation

and isolation that they feel. Soon after that Gregor’s father confined him to his room no one but

his sister would visit him once a day to feed him. Other than that however Gregor spent the rest

of the day alone or waiting for someone to visit him: “Gregor went and waited immediately by

the door, resolved either to bring the timorous visitor into the room in some way or at least find

out who it was; but the door was opened no more that night and Gregor waited in vain” (Kafka,

1915, pp. 25). As seen here Gregor is shown very little empathy by his family as they completely

ignore him and keep him confined. They no longer treat him as a human being and as a result no

longer see him as part of the family. This is seen in other situations for homeless people and this

shows the lack of empathy that society like the family. As said in a book called “​Homelessness:

The Making and Unmaking of a Crisis”, ​“The homeless are, by definition, estranged and

alienated from society at large, not to mention their families. Their intimate relationships, if they

can trust enough to develop them, are either non-existent or unfulfilling” (Layton, 2000). Many

are forced to the streets or shelters where they will have to change their location every couple of
 ​ De La Torre 4

months or even every couple of weeks. This doesn’t allow them to maintain close relationships

with friends or family.

The abuse that Gregor suffers from, stems from family’s hatred because they think that

Gregor is no longer helpful in contributing to the family’s well being. Many people are in the

same situation with homelessness. They also receive the anger and hatred from the society all

around them because most of society believes they do not contribute to the well being of the rest

of society. An example of this is most clearly seen at the end of the book is when Gregor comes

out of the room and scares the three lodgers who were suppose to pay Gregor’s family for

staying in the house. Since he scares them off before paying the money the family decides they

have had enough “we have to try and get rid of it” (Kafka, 1915, pp. 60). At this point the family

is no longer even considering Gregor as a human being but an “it”. As a result Gregor ends up

dying from the lack of care. This brings into the light what happens to many homeless people

and others like Gregor who lose their money and jobs. According to society they should stay out

of sight as Gregor did and die quietly. Meaning that they should disappear quietly so the

mistreatment of human beings would not be put under scrutiny.

As soon as Gregor loses his job and money the family ended up making an “​in​” and “​out​”

and invisible boundary between him and them. Gregor is kept from using what we would

consider a space that rightfully belongs to him as well as his family, his home. Also since he is

seen as dirty or something lower than a human they prohibit him from leaving his room or for

anyone to see him. And since they now saw him as a person who was part of the “​out​” group

they treated him unfairly and criminalized him. Such as the father throwing apples at him when

he came out of his room. Homeless people often receive this type of treatment from society and
 ​ De La Torre 5

lawmakers. We prefer not to see homeless people out in the streets because it ruins our vision of

reality. The academic journal “No Right to Rest” mentions their findings that relate to the

criminalization of homeless people. They found that “36% of survey respondents have been

arrested for a crime of homelessness; 70% of survey respondents have been ticketed for a crime

of homelessness; 90% of survey respondents report police harassment for a crime of

homelessness; 83% have been denied access to a bathroom, due to the increasing scarcity of

public restrooms”(Robinson and Sickels, pp. 11). Gregor in relation has been prohibited from

using the space that he had been paying for long before he turned into a bug. In a similar way the

taxes that the homeless had paid before they became homeless to pay for the streets and public

restrooms are now being denied to them. By limiting the poor’s access to public spaces we are

creating invisible boundaries and are creating an “​in​” and “​out​” group. The article ​‘‘This is My

Community’’: Reproducing and Resisting Boundaries of Exclusion in Contested Public Spaces​”

is a peer-reviewed journal written by Erin E. Toolis and Phillip L. Hammack, also talks about the

criminalization of poverty one person described the struggle like this “I always have to talk to

cops, and it’s like, even when I’m just going to the bathroom… after a while, I’m just like, this is

a war against people like me…” (Toolis and Hammack, 2015, pp. 1). The main societal aspect

that Kafka is criticizing is society’s dehumanization of people who no longer have the means to

take care of themselves and by default society labels them a burden. Which then results in

society trying to get rid of them.

However many people do not always agree the Kafka is making a commentary on the

mistreatment of homeless people. Many other scholars and literary critics believe that Kafka is

criticizing society on the lack of correct treatment for people with mental disorders. I can see
 ​ De La Torre 6

where people can definitely see that as a theme, however another main theme that is constantly

involved in the story is the role of a job and money in Gregor’s life. It is at the beginning of the

story with the clerk chief coming to see Gregor because he hadn’t come to work and at the end

where the family is trying to make money with the 3 travelers. Since these themes of work and

money are constant throughout the story it makes more sense that Kafka is relating the story to

people who have commonly lost those things too, such as homeless people. Therefore, I believe

the main societal aspect that Kafka is criticizing is the maltreatment of homeless people rather

than the maltreatment of people with mental disorders.

In conclusion, Kafka centers the theme of the book to revolve around money and work to

put an emphasis on the parallel between Gregor and homeless people. As a result the critization

of society centers around the maltreatment of homeless people as reflected in the maltreatment of

Gregor by his family. The end fate of Gregor’s death at the end of the book reflects the end of

most homeless people, early death or disappearing quietly to the background of society. It

emphasizes the isolation and criminalization of society towards homeless people.

 ​ De La Torre 7

Works Cited

Coates, Robert C. ​A Street Is Not a Home: Solving America's Homeless Dilemma.​ Prometheus

Books, 1990.

“Criminalization of Homelessness in the United States of America.” ​The National Law Center on

Homelessness and Poverty​, 22 Sept. 2014, pp. 1–11.

Kafka, Franz, and A. L. (Albert Lancaster) Lloyd. ​Metamorphosis.​ EBD, 1946.

Layton, Jack. ​Homelessness: the Making and Unmaking of a Crisis.​ Penguin, 2000.

Toolis, Erin E., and Phillip L. Hammack. “‘This Is My Community’: Reproducing and Resisting

Boundaries of Exclusion in Contested Public Spaces.” ​American Journal of Community

Psychology​, vol. 56, no. 3-4, 2015, pp. 368–382., doi:10.1007/s10464-015-9756-5.