Since the pandemic started, I made it a point to read at least three books every month and review them. Although I have managed to keep up the promise made to self, but I do not get time to write reviews. Last week I was listening to a podcast by a celebrated author who is a big fan of Franz Kafka. A day later, I walked through a bookstore and the first book my eyes laid on was “Short stories by Franz Kafka”. I grabbed the book and walked home. Before reading a book I do some research on the writer and their notable works and I really find this exercise useful. Franz Kafka born in 1883 was a Bohemian (Czech Republic) novelist and short story writer. He was an isolated unhappy man who used to write about unique and peculiar protagonists. His last literary wish was to burn all his novels, manuscripts and stories, luckily his friend ignored his wish and his works got published. One of his literary genius is Metamorphoses (Die Verwandlung) which was published in 1915.

The story revolves around the life of a salesman Gregor Samsa who wakes up one day only to find out that he has changed into a monstrous verminous insect (German ungeheures Ungeziefer, literally "monstrous vermin"). As readers, we feel that the situation would be temporary and he will crawl back to normalcy but Gregor seems to be stuck with his body. When the family came to know about his transformation, their aversion for Gregor starts never to end. Gregor who is incapacitated and unable to earn for his family is slowly turning to be a parasite for them. His condition forces his family to start working again to supplement the family income. Grete Samsa, his sister takes care of Gregor and leaves him with rotten food which is the only food Gregor could eat. Gregor’s family decides to move the furniture of his room so that he could move and crawl easily but Gregor is upset with their actions. Upset by his actions, his father once throws an apple at him which leaves him severely injured. As a reader, Kafka delves deeper into our thoughts and arouse empathy and sympathy for Gregor. As time passes, his metamorphosis completely wears down his family especially Greta who takes minimum efforts to feed and clean him. One such day, Greta was playing the violin for the tenants who lived in their house and they spotted Gregor. They protested against the unhygienic conditions and left without paying any rent this proved to be the last nail in the coffin and Gregor finally understood how disgusted his family was with him. Gregor feels neglected and dies of starvation. His family finds huge relief in his death and move on with their lives.
As a reader, this story brings forth the ugly side of human nature. The tone in the story is depressing. Once a person is no more useful to others, he loses the esteem and respect in their lives. One of the interpretations could be the isolation that Kafka felt and how unacceptable society was of his ways. The novella brings fore the fact that being human is even more difficult than being an insect, knowing how cruel humans could be. The metamorphosis is not only about Gregor but the change in the attitude of his family who also undergoes a metamorphosis. Elias Canetti wrote that the story was something Kafka “could never surpass because there is nothing which Metamorphosis could be surpassed by”. As endorsements go, the bar could not be set higher and I couldn’t agree more.

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