Kafka And Reality Of Change Essay, Research Paper

The Reality of Change What is reality? Every person has his or her own

?reality? or truth of their existence. For some it may be a dead-end job due

to their lack of education while to others it may be the carefree life of a

successful person. The true reality of any situation is that whatever direction

is chosen in life a person brings the same inner self, motivational levels and

attitudes. Unless they are willing to change the way they perceive and react to

a situation they are forever trading one set of problems for another. As readers

of literature we too seek to escape our ?reality? and experience life

through an author?s imagination while gaining valuable knowledge about

ourselves. In Franz Kafka?s Metamorphosis, the nature of Gregor Samsa?s

reality changes insignificantly in spite of his drastic physical changes.

Gregor?s life before the metamorphosis was limited to working and caring for

his family. As a travelling salesman, Gregor worked long, hard hours that left

little time to experience ?life.? He reflects on his so-called life

acknowledging the ?plague of traveling: the anxieties of changing trains, the

irregular, inferior meals, the ever changing faces, never to be seen again,

people with whom one has no chance to be friendly? (Kafka 13). Gregor, working

to pay off his family?s debt, has resigned himself to a life full of no

pleasures only work. Kafka himself paralleled this sentiment in a quote taken

from his diaries noting that no matter how hard you work ?that work still

doesn?t entitle you to loving concern for people. Instead, you?re alone, a

total stranger, a mere object of curiosity? (Pawel 167). Gregor submerges

himself in work and becomes a stranger to himself and to life. Any type of

social contact beyond porters, waitresses or bartenders was non-existent. He had

once met a ?cashier in a hat shop, whom he had pursued earnestly but too

slowly? (Kafka 76). There was no room in Gregor?s life for people other that

his family and as a result was condemned to a life without love or caring not to

mention basic companionship. He worked diligently to provide for his family and

that remained his only goal in life. Gregor?s family relied on him to be the

?breadwinner? of the family, but gave him nothing in return. The life that

he had led until now was one fully of obligations and loneliness; he came home

to empty hotel rooms or his apathetic family. His parents and ?their dominance

thus extends to the system which deprives him of creative life and married

love? (Eggenschwiler 54). So concerned with ensuring his parents and sister

were taken care of, he forgot his own needs. It was apparent to everyone that he

was no longer thought of as a son or an extension of the family, but merely as a

?support system.? The tragic fact is that ?everyone had grown accustomed

to it, his family as much as himself; they took the money gratefully, he gave it

willingly but the act was accompanied by no remarkable effusiveness? (Kafka

48). It appears that in the course of his hectic work schedule, he overlooks

that in return for dedication to his family, he remains unloved and

unappreciated. Yet Gregor still ?believed he had to provide his family with a

pleasant, contented, secure life? (Emrich 149), regardless of how they treated

him. Gregor?s existence before the metamorphosis was much like after it;

limited to work and family, he went unnoticed by both. After changing into a

cockroach one night, Gregor is forced to live a life of isolation with a family

who is appalled by him. He is placed in a ?dark bedroom, in the jumble of

discarded furniture and filth? a ? monstrous vermin, a grotesque, hidden

part of the family? (Eggenschwiler 211). Shock and terror, resulting in Gregor

being locked away, marked his family?s reaction to his metamorphosis. His

sister is the only one that, while frightened, would tend to Gregor?s room and

meals. She even took the responsibility so far as to get angry with anyone who

wanted to help. Gregor was not allowed any contact or association with the

family and ?no one attempted to understand him, no one, not even his sister,

imagined that he could understand them? (Kafka 45). So Gregor was left to

occupy his time, alone, and contemplate the situation he had been thrust into.

He was coming to realize that through his metamorphosis he had not lost

anything. He had simply moved from one form to another while his environment

remained constant. The actual metamorphosis ?symbolizes a rebellion assertion

of unconscious desires and energies? (Eggenschwiler 203). Gregor?s current

circumstances understandably left him in search of a way out. It was however,

his devotion to his family that kept him working and sacrificing himself right

up to the crucial change. The family unit undergoes radical changes after

Gregor?s metamorphosis while he attempts to remain vigilant in caring for his

family. In reality from the onset of the change Gregor would not be able to

provide for his family any longer. However, he is so consumed with his duties

that, even in his ?cockroach? state ?considers whether he can now still

catch the seven o?clock train? (Emrich 137). Gregor puts his family first,

yet again. During the confrontation with the manager from his office, he begs

the manager ?please sir, spare my parents? (Kafka 24). Even in the face of

some unknown tragedy that had transformed Gregor, he steadfastly protects his

family. As always he concludes ?his duty was to remain docile and to try to

make things bearable for his family? (Kafka 42). He carries this out even

though it is he who is experiencing this devastating situation, not his family.

As time goes by Gregor realizes that his family can get on without him. He has

become a burden to them and his days of being provider and protector are over.

Near the end of the story, his parents hardly even acknowledge him. Realizing

that the situation is hopeless, his father exclaims ?If he could only

understand us, perhaps there would be some way of coming to an agreement?

(Kafka 89). This ?understanding? the father desires is one that they never

allowed Gregor. The family never understood the strain that the current state of

affairs was putting on Gregor, and now rather than supporting him when he needs

them they desert him. Even his sister begins to resent him, feeding him only

occasionally and rarely cleaning his room. The family he gave so much to in

return gives him nothing, leaving him in his time of need, alone and despondent.

He recognizes that it is time to free his family of the burden of caring for

him. Thinking of his family he ?realized that he must go, and this opinion on

this point was even more firm, if possible, than that of his sister? (Kafka

92). He dies that night and his family mourns only momentarily before moving on

with their life. They decide to go for a ride in the country as if nothing

happened, ?they assert freedom and rebellion that Gregor never asserted in his

five years as a dutiful salesman? (Eggenschwiler 213). Having responsibility

proved to be too much for the family, unlike Gregor who devoted his life to his

family. The family distanced themselves from Gregor after the transformation but

ultimately, moved closer to the way of life Gregor had been subjected to. The

true reality of Gregor and his family can be seen through the resulting

condition of the family itself. After his metamorphosis Gregor learned

disturbing information of the financial matters of the family. ?He had always

imagined that his father had been unable to save a penny from the ruins of his

business; in any case, his father had never said anything to undeceive him?

(Kafka 47), and he was shocked to learn the family had money. For five years he

had struggled and remained a ?slave? to his own family to find out they

could have bought his way out of bondage long ago. Upon hearing this though

Gregor, still wanting to take care of his family, is not upset but rather glad

his father had the foresight. The current situation also led to the members of

the family to gaining employment to make ends meet. Seeing the father returning

from work, dressed in his work clothes, Gregor wonders if ?it was really the

same man who once had lain wearily in bed when Gregor had been leaving on his

journeys? (Kafka 64). Not only has the father found employment, but the mother

and daughter as well. Though they are a seamstress and sales clerk respectively,

they are forced to partake of the ?daily grind? to ensure the success of the

family. While the family maintains their existence, they are no better off than

they were when Gregor was at the helm. The tragedy of the situation is that the

family comes full circle, enduring exactly what Gregor had for years. After

observing a family who lived on the fruits of someone else is labor, we are

shown a ?family exhausted and depressed from laboring at menial jobs ?

messenger, seamstress, salesgirl. They live much as Gregor did before his

metamorphosis? (Eggenschwiler 209). Finally, they are forced to work and earn

their own keep. Gregor had slaved for them right up until the metamorphosis and

now it was their turn to do for themselves. We watch ?this petty bourgeois

family that once had its own business? as it falls ?in to the laboring

class, where its strength, pride and independence are lost? (Eggenschwiler

210). They must begin, yet again, working their way back to economic freedom

with no help from Gregor. After the nightmare of Gregor?s transformation

passes they look to the future, longing for normalcy and the possibility of

marriage for their daughter. In the Metamorphosis, we tend to believe that

Gregor?s change into a cockroach is the main purpose, but after further

consideration we see that the ?true? metamorphosis was in that of his

family. Gregor?s reality never changes; his life is as worthless as a

cockroach as it was as a human. The family as a unit is the ones who go from

being ?freeloaders? to able-bodied workers for the good of the family. It is

possible that had they realized this earlier the suffering Gregor had

experienced for years could have been avoided. Franz Kafka asks us to fathom if

only for a moment, the thought of our lives changing due to some radical change.

Do we feel like Gregor, beaten down and alone? Are our daily struggles for

naught? And, if so, would we fair better as a cockroach? The answer is, of

course, ?no? but, through the Metamorphosis we observe as one man?s life

is proven to be in vain and no better as a human than a cockroach. Gregor?s

family is a burden that he respectfully accepts and carries but the family

reciprocates by neglecting him and longing for his demise. Can anyone be sure

that their lives are good and perfect and that their families would understand

and accept any change that could arise? The fact is that above and beyond all

things a person must consider themselves first, however selfish it might appear.

Sense of self will keep you through all the adverse times in life and be a

companion to rely on when no one else cares.

513

Eggenschwiler, David. ??The Metamorphosis?, Freud, and the Chains of

Odysseus?. Franz Kafka: Modern Critical Views. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York:

Chelsea House Publishers, 1986. 199-219. Emrich, Wilhelm. Franz Kafka: A

Critical Study of His Writings. New York: Ungar, 1968. Kafka, Franz.

Metamorphosis. Trans. A.L. Lloyd. New York: Vanguard Press, Inc., 1946. Pawel,

Ernst. The Nightmare of Reason. New York: Vintage Books, 1984.