The Metamorphosis

Having never read Kafka before, I was pleasantly surprised by how engaging the story was told. The surreal and fantastical transformation of Gregor Samsa is simply taken as is, and the rest of the novella deals with the consequences from this.

A theme that struck me particularly was dehumanization. Samsa is through his work being dehumanized to a employee, whom the company only cares for in the extend that he doesn’t show up for work. Complete human traits, such as missing a morning commute due to overwhelming pressure are seen as disloyalty. Despite Samsa’s physical metamorphosis, he is not mentally transformed – ironically, his mental dehumanization has already happened, or at least deindividualization, since his main concerns are not being an insect, but getting to work.

This mental dehumanization is also seen in a lack of awareness or rejection of his situation once the plot is in motion, at least initially. Samsa does not consider how is actions are perceived, only his own internal intentions. It does lead to some hilarious scenes, but it is poignant too.