Metamorphosis

[Julia.22.8.81]

Is there anyone else here who has an opinion on Metamorphosis by Kafka? I have just read it and I was completely bowled over by the bizarre brilliance, the playful humour, the intensity of the expression of desperate loneliness and isolation, the pathos. Never having read any Kafka before, I had a vague idea that his work was strange in an abstract, unapproachable sort of a way, and had therefore avoided his work until now. What an incredible and unexpected experience to feel so moved by the story of a many waking up to find he has turned into a giant bug! Completely unforgettable and unique, will stay with me forever.

[Hayley]

I read this book recently and I would definitely agree with your description of 'bizarre brilliance'. Considering the extremely odd events of the story, it's so well written that you still feel yourself connecting emotionally with the characters, and really feeling sympathetic towards Gregor.

I read an interpretation somewhere (I can't remember where now) which I thought was interesting, that when Gregor transforms he actually has wings, but he just never realises it. I think this would give an entirely new meaning to the story, but at the same time I don't think there's really any solid evidence to prove it.

[poppyshake]

I loved it too .. such an unusual book, and so many ways of interpreting it. It made me feel a bit panicky though .. I could envisage it happening I took the whole thing to be a metaphor on isolation .. that Gregor withdrew from his family because of their demands on him and then they withdrew from him when they found they no longer needed him.

[Julia.22.8.81]

I read something about Gregor's wings too - that Nabokov was a insect expert and he said that Gregor was definitely not a cockroach, but a beetle with wings under his shell. Wings he never discovered . . . interesting! Agree with you about the isolation metaphor, Poppyshake.

[buddha quaffing bourbon]

i'm only a dabbler in Kafka. his longer works i find tedious, but i made it through some of his short stories including this one, which i found passable, and a volume of Diaries, which i very much enjoyed.

 

In Middle German, Ungeziefer literally means "unclean animal not suitable for sacrifice" and is sometimes used colloquially to mean "bug" ...and there's more on the Wikipedia page for Metamorphosis, under the Translation section.

 

and there are even more ways to translate the story's meaning, as mentioned: verminous transformation could symbolize isolation, but to leave it at that is dangerously reductive! if Kafka is still relevant it's because his theme has more depth than the "oh no, modern society, alienation, woe unto me" line that was already overplayed by 1915. here are a couple of quotes i happened to save, which iirc are from somewhere in the Diaries:

 

"Hatred of active introspection. Explanations of one's soul, such as: Yesterday I was so, and for this reason; today I am so, and for this reason. It is not true, not for this reason and not for that reason, and therefore also not so and so. To put up with oneself calmly, without being precipitate, to live as one must, not to chase one's tail like a dog."

 

and, "Beyond a certain point there is no return. This point has to be reached."

 

playing roach's advocate, suppose we imagine these to be the narrator's thoughts, which brought about his transformation? it lends a certain poignancy, and makes for a happier ending, if the wings he had all along were death to the cleanly and sterile world of his family, which didn't sound much more enticing than a bug's life... someone said there is no solid evidence for this, and of course there is not, but with some authors, it's best to destroy all the solid evidence you can find, as you would a, hmm, bug?

 

btw if anyone wants more wonderfully disconcerting short stories of the eerie and alien, i recommend a collection called The Street of Crocodiles, by Bruno Schulz (trans by Wieniewska is best)

 

man it's been a while since i was part of any kind of a literary debate, feels good.

[TheKingOfIlliterature]

Hi everyone. Nabokov's thing about Gregor having wings he never discovered is a clever idea, although I reckon it's more of a poetic and abstract idea than Kafka would have been interested in. I think the poignancy of making Gregor a bug is in the sentences - how hard he finds it to manoeuvre, how he can't control his lots of little legs, how he can't hide properly under the couch, how he starts to enjoy climbing around his walls and ceiling, how he looks repulsive to everyone and collects dirt he can't clean off.

 

Can I ask, Julia, which parts in particular gave you the biggest sense of loneliness and pathos?

[wordsgood]

Okay, I'm a bit embarrassed to say this given my reading habits the last few years, but I'd never even heard of Kafka until I started seeing the name in various places around the forum. I just looked him up and am very, very interested.

 

Would anyone have suggestions about what might be the best place to start among his works?

 

King, sorry if it seems I'm trying to hijack your thread. I'm not, it's just thought it was a good place to pose my question.

[Kylie]

I would say that Metamorphosis is a good starting place, Wordsgood. It's quite short - more of a novella. The Trial is also brilliant.

[TheKingOfIlliterature]

That's ok Wordsgood, it isn't even my thread.

 

How about starting with this, it's a one paragraph story called 'A Little Fable':

 

"Alas," said the mouse, "the whole world is growing smaller every day. At the beginning it was so big that I was afraid, I kept running and running, and I was glad when I saw walls far away to the right and left, but these long walls have narrowed so quickly that I am in the last chamber already, and there in the corner stands the trap that I must run into."

 

"You only need to change your direction," said the cat, and ate it up.

 

Good eh? And I agree with Kylie, the Metamorphosis and The Trial are both brilliant.

[Julia.22.8.81]

Exactly, KingofLiterature, I think the poignancy is in all those little details you mentioned. The part where Gregor creeps out of his room to listen to his sister play music (and the resolution of this scene) was incredibly moving. He was captivated by the music and wanted to reach out to his sister, with whom he used to share the greatest bond, but his family respond with fear and revulsion. Then there is that description of Gregor pitifully trying to manouvere his body back to his room, having to repeatedly strike his head against the floor to help himself along in his filthy pain wrecked condition. I felt so sorry for Gregor - felt his humiliation and rejection as he made that slow painful journey creeping back to his room, under the gaze of his family, before his sister jumps up to lock the door after him - but I can still smile at the absurdity of it all. I think the balance of pathos and humour is masterful. The way the story is told is so engaging - that's why I'm fascinated and I want spend time figuring out exactly what to make of it. As it's been said, there must be many ways of interpreting it.

 

The Street of Crocodiles, by Bruno Schulz looks so irresistably strange and wonderful, Budda, that I think I will have to get hold of it – thanks.

[buddha quaffing bourbon]

i somehow can't find the exact quote i was looking for, but Walter Benjamin has many great thoughts about Kafka. here's one of them, and it echoes everyone's thoughts on how open to interpretation K's work is. keep in mind that Kafka was notorious for quadruple-checking his manuscripts to make sure he hadn't given his readers any hints. some writers don't like their thoughts to be put into boxes.

 

"At times [Kafka] seems to come close to saying with Dostoevsky’s Grand Inquisitor: “So we have before us a mystery which we cannot comprehend. And precisely because it is a mystery we have had the right to preach it, to teach the people that what matters is neither freedom nor love, but the riddle, the secret, the mystery to which they have to bow―without reflection and even against their conscience.” […] Kafka had a rare capacity for creating parables for himself. Yet his parables are never exhausted by what is explainable; on the contrary, he took all conceivable precautions against the interpretation of his writings. One has to find one’s way in them circumspectly, cautiously, and warily."

 

Julia, i hope you enjoy it! most of his works are available online at schulzian dot net, but again Wieniewska's translations are better.

[TheKingOfIlliterature]

Another thing about that scene, Julia, is that part of the reason Gregor comes out of his room when he hears his sister playing is that she had been starting to neglect him, to not care as much as she had before about his condition. And what makes this even more sad is that it's understandable, because although it isn't Gregor's fault - or at least Gregor doesn't think it is (the difference there might be significant) - he only makes his family's lives more and more difficult and, as far as they can tell, seems to be doing so either wilfully or uncaringly. The arc of the story is increasingly sad but also makes complete sense, so that the ending is sort of inevitable. That's one reason it's beautiful, I think.

[Julia.22.8.81]

Yes, I see what you mean, King. And part of that arc – part of the inevitability, sadness and beauty of the story - is the parallel transformation of Gregor’s sister. As she takes on new responsibilities necessitated by Gregor’s transformation, she emerges into an assertive young woman who doesn’t need Gregor anymore. When she stood up on the train at the end and ‘stretched out her young body’ it made me think of a butterfly emerging from a chrysalis – a very evocative phrase.

[Julia.22.8.81]

Thanks for mentioning Walter Benjamin’s writings on Kafka, Budda. Just found a lecture by Judith Butler (a feminist philosopher) about Walter Benjamin on Kafka – sounds really interesting. I’ll have a listen.

[buddha quaffing bourbon]

^thanks for the tip, Julia. i can't watch/listen to lectures, my attention wanders too much, but i usually like Butler. keep us posted?

[wordsgood]

Thank you all for the great responses and tips! And to you, King for not minding my intrusion onto your thread. I actually found a site devoted to several online translations of all his works, though they are by volunteers I believe, who may or may, be professional translators. I've downloaded and printed some of the shorter stories but haven't actually read them yet. Think I will start with the Trial as that seems to be the general consensus here and other places I saw after Googling Kafka.

[TheKingOfIlliterature]

I think you're right about Gregor's sister, Julia, the way she changes seems significant. Without Gregor the family dynamic changes and that final line seems to suggest that she's trying to take on a new role within it, more confident and serious.

 

It's also interesting that her maturity is inverse to Gregor's demise - maybe Kafka wants to show that Gregor, despite his best efforts (before the metamorphosis he was finacially supporting the whole family), was always more hinderence than help in their eyes and that they, ultimately, took what happened to him as a blessing. Poor guy.

[Julia.22.8.81]

Thanks for your comments, King. Poor guy indeed. It is very interesting that Grete's transformation does seem inverse to Gregor's. I think I will join you, Wordsgood, in reading The Trial next. Really looking forward to it.

 

When I think about Metamorphosis the following phrase lingers in my mind: “Was he an animal if music stirred him that way? He felt as if he were being shown the way to the unknown nourishment he longed for.” These were Gregor’s uncharacteristically questioning thoughts after listening to his sister’s beautiful, sorrowful music - music unappreciated by the lodgers who were hoping for some easier entertainment. Just before the violin was brought out Gregor had watched the family and the lodgers stuffing their faces with food (which he has been rejecting): “I do have an appetite,” said Gregor uneasily to himself, “but not for those things. How these lodgers pack it away, and I’m perishing!” Near the end, when the last remnants of sympathy and pity for Gregor are dwindling away, Gregor feels ‘love and compassion’ for his family. I feel as though Gregor seems to have finally – in some sort of inner sense – lifted above the banality of his everyday existence and become more truly human, in spite of his monstrous shape, than all the other people around him. (especially the parasitic father and the cruel, heartless people from his old work). I am left with a sense of a very sad, but strangely beautiful, paradoxical journey…

[Christian Friborg]

My friend recommended me this book. I haven't read it yet though. I've been reading The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Tolstoy lately. Can I read Metamorphosis in one sitting? I barely have time to read, my books got all piled up in my room. So much to read, so little time. Oh, life.

[emelee]

Love Kafka. I read The Trial before Metamorphosis, and I liked both very much.

To me it doesn't matter what kind of insect Gregor turned into, as (to me) it cannot have been a realistic insect. He was human still, with human thoughts and feelings. So for me, it wouldn't have matter if he had wings on his head instead.

 

I read it as a tale of what happens when you have lost your capability to work and privide for a living. He became useless even to his own family. They didn't want anything to do with him anymore, even though they knew it was still Gregor inside the insect. He became a burden for them because they cared more about reputation and what Gregor provided for them.

 

Instead of a becoming a bug, he could have become a total bum and the effects would have been similar. But he became a bug, and had no control over the metamorphosis. It wasn't his fault, he didn't let it happen. But the reactions were the same. Disgust.

[~Andrea~]

I just finished this and loved it. This is what i wrote on my reading blog:

 

the family didn't really treat Gregor very well, (letting him do all the work although it made him miserable) and he became something unpleasant, he became almost what they thought of him. He also could not see anything but good in them and failed to realise how they took advantage of him. He allowed them to transform him thus, and eventually be destroyed.

[itsmeagain]

An excellent tale , one of Kafka`s best ever.

[Lenaelric]

Oh man, I loved it! In the middle of the book I was nearly dropping it and frowing it away because it was so fudgeing slow and boring and so descriptive...but I kept reading it and close to the end I got so stucked in the book . It was amazing and says much about the people's behavious and I wondered if I'd be disgusted to touch my mom if she turned out in a cockroach XD.