Die Verwandlung; Metamorphosis

Die Verwandlung; Metamorphosis; The Transformation (written 1912, published 1915)

Kafka’s most famous story has a devastating opening sentence, at the end of which we learn that he has been transformed into a monstrous ‘Ungeziefer’. This word is unspecific and negative, it means ‘pest’ or ‘vermin’. In other words, Gregor Samsa has become transformed into an unspecific insect, not a cockroach.

Students of German literature are expected to write literary criticism; they are generally advised to avoid narrow biographical interpretations of literary texts. Even so, it is worth noting that Kafka used the word ‘Ungeziefer’ in Brief an den Vater (Letter to His Father), written in 1919 but never delivered. When Kafka invited his Polish friend, the actor Yitzchak Lowy (1887-1942), to dinner in the family home, his father’s reaction was hostile: ‘Ohne ihn zu kennen, verglichst Du ihn in einer schrecklichen Weise, die ich schon vergessen habe, mit Ungeziefer, und wie so oft für Leute, die mir lieb waren, hattest Du automatisch das Sprichwort von den Hunden und Flöhen bei der Hand.’ (Without even knowing him, you compared him to vermin in a nasty way - I have forgotten the exact words, and you automatically repeated that proverb about dogs and fleas, as you so often do so when talking about people who are dear to me). There is a family drama going on here, and it relates to the racism of Hermann Kafka. It seems that Kafka experienced a lot of racism in his life, particularly from his own Jewish father.

As Ritchie Robertson says (in Kafka: A very short introduction, Oxford, 2004, p. 33), the story is not about the metamorphosis itself, but about the reactions of Gregor Samsa and his family to it. It is interesting to note that no one ever asks why Gregor has been transformed into an insect, or even whether the insect is Gregor – the other characters all just assume (correctly) that the insect is Gregor.

In the opening sequence Gregor is in shock. He seems to be more troubled by the rain and about missing his train than he is about being an insect. As for Gregor’s family, initial horror and aggression (in the case of the father) soon turn to disgust and sullen dislike. Gregor’s sister Grete feeds him but can’t stand to be in the same room as him for more than a minute or two. When she sees the trail of slime he leaves behind him, she decides to remove the furniture from his room; Gregor thinks this is to help him manoeuvre, but it could just be to save the furniture. The father throws an apple at Gregor and it gets stuck in Gregor’s back, causing an infection. Gregor interrupts Grete’s violin performance causing the three lodgers to give their notice. Grete declares that the insect is not worthy to be called her brother any more and that they must get rid of it. Shortly after hearing these words, Gregor dies. Gregor’s family are happy that he has died. The family’s callousness towards Gregor is highlighted by the fact that only the charwoman (Bedienerin) credits him with any intelligence and shows no fear of him.

By focusing on the reactions of Gregor and his family, e.g. Gregor’s feelings for his sister and the family’s ruthlessness, the story manages to suggest that the human brain is potentially more monstrous than the insect which Gregor has become. As Freud or Jung would say: if monsters exist at all, then they exist in us.