Recognition 4-3-14

    In Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis, Gregor Samsa, a traveling salesman, wakes one day to find that he is know a giant insect. Gregor's normal pace of life is extremely stressful and fast-paced that this sudden new part of his life does not shock him like one would expect. Instead, he is more worried about the effects that his new body may have on his job and therefore his family. "Why don't I keep sleeping for a little while longer and forget all this foolishness," (Kafka 1). Samsa's main priority is always the people he cares for. He works an extremely stressful job only to pay off debt that his parents have obtained. This idea of Samsa's selflessness comes up more than once throughout the story. Another example of it is when he is trying to get out of bed in order to calm down his now worrying mother and angry boss. "His greatest reservation was a worry about the loud noise which the fall must create..." (Kafka 3). The fall out of bed in his new body could cause Samsa great pain, yet he simply does not want to startle or awake any of his loved ones below. Even though his selflessness seems well given and authentic, it is very possible that it stemmed from some form of fear. This fear that may have caused Samsa's "fake" servants heart was most likely spurred from the harsh personality's of the fathers of both Samsa and Kafka. "His father clenched his fist with a hostile expression, as if he wished to push Gregor back into his room..." (Kafka 6). This line comes directly after Samsa steps out of his room for the first time. Instead of fainting from pure shock his mother, Samsa's father seems disappointed. We know that Kafka did not have a strong relationship with his very outspoken father and he translated this into The Metamorphosis. I think that it is very logical that Gregor Samsa's overwhelming selflessness is almost used as a self-defense mechanism to avoid the chaos and stress that his father often brings; a event that Kafka himself may have experienced first hand.

         Not only did the father play a very significant role in the life of Gregor Samsa, but Samsa's sister, Grete, also had a large impact on his new bug life. At first, Grete appeared to be extremely helpful and kind to Samsa, yet her transformation was soon to come. "For surely no one except Grete would ever trust themselves to enter a room in which Gregor ruled the empty walls all by himself," (Kafka 15). Samsa was very close to his sister and this relationship transferred over post-transformation. Grete would often come in and take care of him, yet she soon began to see it as a duty and less of a service. Her transformation from a helpful girl to an independent adult was also very noticeable at the end of the story after Samsa's death. "...they thought that the time was now at hand to seek out a good honest man for her," (Kafka 27). This line shows not only how much Grete had changed but how Mr. Samsa is so able to move on from the murder of his son to begin thinking about his daughters future in a much different way then appropriate for this time of what should have been grief. The mother however, remains very constant in her approach to Samsa's new look. Her first look at him was a shock, and she fainted often in the story, but she never stopped loving him or trying to protect him. This is evident when Mr. Samsa begins to attack him with fruit. "him—but at this moment Gregor’s powers of sight gave way—as her hands reached around his father’s neck, and she begged him to spare Gregor’s life," (Kafka 18). The sister and father both changed dramatically, but Samsa's mother never once questioned her love for him. In conclusion, Gregor Samsa's constant selflessness (spurred by fear or not), was never once rewarded and was only recognized by the one person who never changed the way she looked at her only son.