A Post-Colonial Criticism of Franz Kafka's "The Metamorphosis"

Tetris Society

            As far as writers go, Franz Kafka was among the upper echelon of those that have a true gift with imagery. Mr. Kafka was renowned for his ability to spin his stories around immensely powerful images that conveyed much more than what one would see at first glance or first read. One of his greatest works, The Metamorphosis, is a phenomenal example. This story is so simple on the surface, yet so complex underneath. (Sasser)  But what is Kafka trying to say with this particular novel? What is his hidden meaning lurking below the surface of this story? There are many lenses one could see this story through, however there is one question that stands apart from the rest. One question that seems the most prominent of all and that is what is Kafka saying about society and its class structure with this novella? What does the text reveal about the operations of cultural difference – the ways in which race, religion, class, gender, sexual orientation, cultural beliefs, and customs combine to form individual identity – in shaping our perceptions of ourselves, others, and the world in which we live? (OWL) 

To truly understand our scope, one must first know of our author. Franz Kafka was born into a middle-class, German-speaking Jewish family on July 3, 1883 in Prague, Bohemia, now the Czech Republic.(KafkaOnline) Throughout his life Kafka was a bit of a social outcast and this was reflected in his writing. Critics relate Kafka’s dark and isolated temperament to his home life as a child and relationship with his father.  “Franz Kafka is an icon of dark and twisted literature and frequently wrote about themes of isolation, alienation, and authoritarian oppression.” (ArticleMyriad)  “His father, Hermann Kafka, was described as a huge ill-tempered domestic tyrant, who on many occasions directed his anger towards his son and was disrespectful towards his escape into literature.” In Kafka’s diaries, which he kept from the age of 27 until a year before his death (KafkaFranz) he broke down many of his stories and gave an intimate view into his own mind. The diaries offer an image of a profoundly depressed man, isolated from friends and family. All of this he depicts in his writing and it can be seen heavily in The Metamorphosis. The relationship between Gregor and his father is a mirror to Franz and his father. Franz’ father was said to be an abusive man and page 13 of the novella has Gregor’s father beating him back into his room via stomping and attempting to bludgeon him with newspaper and cane. 

Franz Kafka thought of society as a race with no end. Society in general he depicted as a means to an end in which everyone was insignificant. What you did in life did not truly matter to anyone for you were merely filling a slot. As soon as you ceased to exist and your slot became empty, another equally insignificant being would fill that slot until their time came as well.  This was the endless inescapable cycle of life as depicted by Kafka. The literature suggests this form of slotting at the end of the story when our lonely protagonist passes away. The beginning of the story introduces Gregor and he begins to stretch. The plot unfolds and places the reader behind the glass, so to speak, looking in on his life. He is playing his role in life as the supporter of the family, however he falls from grace and is unable to carry out his proscribed duties and eventually passes away leaving that role open. During the conclusion of the novella we see his sister stretching and she is said to be coming of age as a woman.   One can see this as a slot being vacated and another person immediately moving to fill it. Kafka uses stretching as his portrayal of the beginning of tenure in this role of provider.  

 Kafka’s view of the world is dark and borderline morbid and he uses his imagery to perfection to portray the many of the criteria that social classes are based off of in this world.  The transformation of Gregor into a cockroach could be seen as a myriad of things. There are many things in this world that can subject one to prejudice and scorn. I see the transformation into a cockroach as a coverall to portray race, social class, cultural beliefs, as well as gender. Kafka states specifically that Gregor is a brown bug. I see this minor detail as more than mere setting and character acclimation. Was it necessary to give Gregor a specific color? No, it wasn’t. He did so to depict how race can warrant scorn in society. Also he portrays our main character as a middle class salesman turned insect. The job status of the protagonist is a loaded statement in and of itself.  This is a depiction of a middle class worker fighting to survive in a society domineered by wealth as well as a statement being made that a man’s career choice can be a measurement of a person’s worth. In Kafka’s time, as well as now, door to door salesmen are not held in high regard to say the least, this correlates with Kafka’s decision to be a writer and the reaction is father had to his career choice.

 Furthermore the relationship between Gregor and his boss is a snapshot of cross-class relationships in society dating back as even further than the earliest colonies.  His boss being of the upper class and Gregor being of the middle class was a spot of conflict between the two. Gregor sees the boss as a bothersome entity that always seems to single him out as can be seen at the very beginning on pages one and two.

“Other traveling salesmen live like harem women. For instance, when I come back to the inn during the course of the morning to write up the necessary orders, these gentlemen are just sitting down to breakfast. If I were to try that with my boss, I’d be thrown out on the spot.” (The Metamorphosis. )

This is a surely a niche in which all can relate. The view of an overbearing boss scrutinizing all that one does watching closely for the tiniest slip so that the repercussions may rain down upon the wicked! However, this is only one of the sides Kafka depicts in this relationship.  Page seven puts Gregor on the receiving end of his boss’ tirade concerning his lack of productivity, slacking off in his job, and this most recent bout of “pig-headedness” missing the early train and, as a result, being late to work. This relationship sums up perfectly the class clashing that takes place in our society’s workplace.

During the conclusion Kafka takes a swing at how gender can affect these roles in society. Regor is a male and in his slot as provider he is a hard worker and earns capital the best way he knows how to support his family. After his passing, his slot is left vacant and Kafka names Gregor’s sister as successor to the slot via stretching as mentioned earlier. “Growing more silent and almost unconsciously understanding each other in their glances, they thought that the time was now at hand to seek out a good honest man for her.” (The Metamorphosis) From the literature we can gather that she will be slotted as provider, however she will do so by finding an “honest man”.  That man, reined in by the sister of the late provider, will be the provider for the sister and in turn will provide for the family in society’s endless cycle.

This is but one instance of Kafka’s work and in just this one novella we see many issues of our society addressed. This text reveals much about the operations of cultural difference in shaping our perceptions of ourselves, others, and the world in which we live. Through Kafka’s eyes we see society as a resemblance of Tetris where when one block is eliminated another immediately fills its place in this inescapable, unending cycle of life in which all is futile and pointless.  For to quote the late Franz Kafka “The meaning of life, is that it stops.” (KafaOnline)

Works Cited

Kafka-Online

Gregor. "Franz Kafka." Online. Gregor, 2007. Web. 25 May 2012. <http://www.kafka-online.info/>.

KafkaFranz

"Franz Kafka Writing." Franz Kafka Writing. Web. 25 May 2012. <http://kafka-franz.com/franz-kafka-writing.htm>.

OWL

Brizee, Allen, and J. Case Tompkins. "Literary Theory and Schools of Criticism." Purdue OWL: Literary Theory and Schools of Criticism. Web. 25 May 2012. <http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/722/01/>.

Sasser

Tanya T. Sasser