Katherine Martinez Martinez 1

Jon Beadle

English 115

12/09/2021

An Inside Standpoint of Gregor Samsa: Is a Monstrous Figure desirable?

Freedom is a feeling all humans crave as an escape from our reality. Jeffrey Jerome Cohen

describes in his article, "Fear of the Monster is a Kind of Desire," how a monstrous figure is a

temporary escape, yet we as humans fear it at the same time. Similarly, Franz Kafkas, in "The

Metamorphosis," describes Gregor Samsa as an overworked salesman. He feels trapped and

cornered in his own life, yet his transformation is the novel's subject. Gregor's transformation is

viewed as a negative aspect of his life since he becomes more of a social reject within his own

family. Slowly Gregor comes to learn and appreciate the freedom his new body grants him.

Although Gregor never asked to be transformed, it is evident that Gregor craved some form of

freedom from his secluded reality, which his transformation provided him. Most people would

consider being transformed into a monstrous figure as disgusting or undesirable but when placed in

Gregor's shoes, it becomes understandable how desirable monstrous freedom can be even if it

eventually comes in the form of death.

For instance, at the beginning of the story, we meet Gregor Samsa, an overworked and

underappreciated salesman with a lifestyle that pushes him to feel a lack of freedom that only his

monstrous figure would grant him. Gregor first expresses, "...he could hear raindrops hitting against
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the metal window ledge-completely depressed him. 'How about going back to sleep for a few

minutes and forgetting all this nonsense…" (Kafka 3). When Gregor is first introduced, he is

characterized as a hardworking yet miserable salesman. Still, despite Gregor being miserable

because of his overworked lifestyle, he worked for his family's financial stake. There comes the

point where Gregor begins to feel tired of having to commit his entire life for the sake of his family.

He eventually begins to feel trapped and confined within his own reality. Gregor also mentions the

"nonsense" and how depressed he felt with the raindrops hitting the window ledge, both reflect

how Gregor feels about his confined reality, so it becomes evident that he craves an escape from his

reality. As the story progresses we witness not only Gregor who is experiencing a difficult time

trying to accept his new body but his family who slowly become tired of having to attend to his

needs. His family goes as far as wishing to get rid of him. Kafka writes, "He had pains, of course,

throughout his whole body, but it seemed to him that they were gradually getting fainter and fainter

and would finally go away altogether… He thought back on his family with deep emotion and love.

His conviction that he would have to disappear was, if possible, even firmer than his sister's" (Kafka

51). Gregor unintentionally hears his sister’s wish to have him “disappear”, Gregor then comes to

the conclusion that maybe death is the ultimate freedom from his miserable life. The pain he

experiences reflects the emotional pain he felt as an overworked salesman and as the breadwinner

in his family. As the physical pains begin to faint, so does the confinement he felt, and the closer he

gets to reach his freedom. At first, Gregor finds his transformation to be a negative turn of events

but soon discovers that it granted him the freedom he so deeply craved. Although his family wants
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him gone at this point, Gregor comes to terms that maybe death could be the answer to escaping his

confided reality. Death is a powerful way to die, but Gregor was overworked and was unhappy with

his position in life, ultimately it's understandable that Gregor desired freedom in the form of death.

Similarly, Jeffery Jerome Cohen speaks of monsters as a terrifying escape from reality, a

form of freedom. Cohen’s idea reflects the fact that Gregor’s monstrous form granted him an escape

from his overworked lifestyle and allows Gregor to realize that death is his ultimate freedom. Cohen

further explains, "Through the body of the monster, fantasies of aggression, domination, and

inversion are allowed safe expression in a delimited and permanently liminal space" (Cohen 190).

Cohen expresses the idea that through the body of a monster, individuals are allowed the freedom

of self-expression that society deprives them of. Similarly, we can see that Gregor lacked the

freedom of self-expression. His primary focus in life was to provide financial stability for his family.

Although his transformation comes across as a curse, it becomes evident that his transformation

granted him the ultimate freedom. Monsters are given the freedom to express themselves freely

without the societal pressure of being more or something else. They aren’t destined to fit in with

society, therefore, liberating them from any societal pressure to fit into a certain standard or

maintain a certain image. Adding on, Cohen further discusses the idea of discovering one’s true

pleasures in life through a person’s monstrous image. Cohen discusses this idea when he mentions,

"The monster awakens one to the pleasures of the body, to the simple and fleeting joys of being

frightened or frightening- to the experience of morality and corporality" (Cohen 190). Cohen

emphasizes the point where a monster reveals pleasures of one's own body relating to the idea that
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Gregor awakens the notion that he can no longer live a life without satisfaction. Becoming or being

a monster presents a negative connotation regarding societal expectations, still, these expectations

and connotations are heavily misguided. Although monsters are usually associated with evil and

malicious actions, in Gregor’s case, they have proven to provide emotional release and freedom.

Cohen, adds on by praising the idea that monsters are a way where people can experience desirable

freedom. For example, Gregor was presented under immense pressure to maintain his family's

financial stability. Although he was accomplishing that, he remained unhappy and under the control

of societal and family expectations. After his transformation, both Gregor and his family perceive

the change as an unwanted feature of their lives. In the process, Gregor did lose his family and his

life, but in the end, his monstrous figure gave him the freedom of self-expression and the pleasure

he once lacked.

However, in the essay "Brother, Sister, Monster: Resonance and the Exposed Body in

Antigone and The Metamorphosis" by Jeffrey Champlin, Champlin compares both Antigone and

the Metamorphosis idea; of "struggling with the body." Champlin counterfeits the idea of a

monstrous figure providing any kind of freedom when he analysis, "Reading Gregor with Antigone

suggests that the voice escapes the meaning of the subject but does not get free of form. Instead, it

disrupts form in a larger sense. Even now that the "squeaking" has likely taken over the human

voice in terms of communicative efficiency, the human remains as a residue" (Champlin 2016).

Although Gregor's life provided him with immense pressure to maintain financial stability and with

no pleasure, we can’t exactly say that his transformation offered him complete freedom from his
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former life. Champlin highlights the idea that "the human remains as a residue," meaning that

Gregor’s human or unhappy portion will always be a part of him. His physical change and death

can't erase that part of him. Although Gregor craved a release from reality, the freedom he was

granted at one point does become undesirable due to the idea that Gregor's former unhappy self will

always be a part of him. It doesn’t matter how hard Gregor tries or changes, his unhappy self will

remain as a “residue”. Still, his transformation will allow him to choose what he wants to be. His

former self can remain as a part of him but that doesn’t necessarily mean that he will return or

remain living a miserable and unpleasurable lifestyle.

Furthermore, the essay "Existential Failure in Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis" by Hamid

Farahmandian and Pang Haonong discusses Gregor’s dissatisfaction with his career and personal

life. In the story we see how challenging finds it is to escape his reality directly after the

transformation, leaving him death as his only other option. Both authors explain, "They were good

with him until the time that he was the source of financial outcome; Gregor becomes useless after

he changes to a useless bug. There this is Gregor's people who lead him to think of death as a tool

for freedom. He wishes to die to get rid of the injustice world in which he has been situated"

(Faramandian and Haonong 2018). Faramandian and Haonong speak about Gregor's responsibility

to provide for his family. Yet, that same responsibility leads him to believe in "death as a tool for

freedom." As previously mentioned, Gregor's feeling of confinement led him to desire any sense of

pleasure or freedom. Gregor lived such an unhappy and unsatisfactory life. He was living not for

himself but for the well-being of others. He was choosing to remain miserable and unhappy to
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please and maintain his family. Although Gregor lost his family and his job, he gained the freedom

to be himself and to actually live to satisfy himself not others. Although he was being shunned into

his room, his room was the only place Gregor was indeed allowed to be himself without any

pressure from his family. Still, Gregor wasn’t completely satisfied and felt that death was the

ultimate freedom he needed which is ultimately understandably desirable. Farahmandian and Pang

Haonang further discuss the idea that Gregor was unable to change along with his reality. They

mention how his transformation could've been prevented if Gregor abandoned his miserable

lifestyle to pursue freedom and pleasure but chose to remain faithful to his confined and unhappy

reality. Gregor dedicated so much of his time and life to his family’s well-being yet they weren’t

prepared to do the same in return. His family makes it evident that they despise caring for him

giving Gregor the ultimate conclusion that granting them their wish in the form of death is his true

freedom. Freedom where he won’t become a burden to anybody and where he can be free to be

himself.

Gregor's reality was made up of societal expectations, confinement, and dissatisfaction.

Gregor's feelings of hostility and restraint eventually lead him to his physical transformation, where

he is turned from a human to a bug. Gregor found no pleasure in his overworked life; it's

understandable how desirable any form of freedom became to him. Although his human life will

always remain a part of him, the freedom he craves still overpowers any negative feelings he has

towards his former life.

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Works Cited:

Kafka, Franz, The Metamorphosis, edited by Stanley Cornfield, September 1986, Bantam Classics, pg

Kafka, Franz, The Metamorphosis, edited by Stanley Cornfield, September 1986, Bantam Classics, pg

51

Cohen, Jeffrey Jerome, “Fear of the Monster is Really a Kind of Desire,” Monsters, edited by

Andrew J. Hoffman, Bedford St. Martin’s, 2016, pg 190

Farahmandian, Hamid, and Pang Haonong. “Existential Failure in Franz Kafka’s The

Metamorphosis.” Forum for World Literature Studies, vol. 10, no. 2, Wuhan Guoyang Union

Culture & Education Company, 2018, p. 334–.

Champlin, Jeffrey. “Brother, Sister, Monster: Resonance and the Exposed Body in Antigone and

The Metamorphosis.” MLN, vol. 130, no. 5, The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2015, pp.

1179–97, https://doi.org/10.1353/mln.2015.0077.