Metamorphosis and other Stories

Synopsis: Gregor Samsa awakens one morning to find himself transformed into a repulsive bug. Trapped inside this hideous form, his mind remains unchanged - until he sees the shocked reaction of those around him and begins to question the basis of human love and, indeed, his entire purpose in existence. But this, it seems, is only the beginning of his ordeal.

Review: A very strange little tale of a man - Gregor Samsa - who wakes up and finds himself transformed into an insect (or bug .. as the purists would prefer but then I have always thought they were one and the same .. ignorance is bliss! Though I do know that insects are supposed to have not more than six legs and Gregor calls his legs 'numerous' still, six could still be called numerous when you are used to only two.) Gregor needs to get himself up and out of bed, he's going to miss his train if he does not and the family all rely on him and his work as a travelling salesman. His father, his mother and sister are all knocking on the various doors to his chamber, urging him to rise and that's all very well and good but how on earth can you rise when you've only just found out that you're a monstrous bug?

There's a feeling of suffocation, it seems he can't even deal with this problem in peace and quiet without his family harassing him. Added pressure is put on by the eventual appearance of the chief clerk from Gregor's office who comes to find out if Gregor is swinging the lead and to add his urges to that of the others. Various thumps and crashes are heard coming from his room as Gregor struggles to do as they request which startle the family but the alarm really goes up when Gregor speaks ... "That was the voice of an animal." says the chief clerk. The doctor and the locksmith are sent for. Eventually the horror of what is actually residing in Gregor's bedroom is revealed to the rest of the family.

It's an interesting concept isn't it, what would you do if you entered the room where a loved one sleeps only to find a giant bug there in their place? My first thought would be that it had eaten my loved one I'm sure and I'd probably phone up Rentokil or something and have the poor thing exterminated. Gregor would not have made it past the first fifteen pages.

Poor Gregor continues to think as a human though and insists that he is still intending to get dressed if the clerk will only report back to the office to say that he has been temporarily incapacitated. The really interesting part of the book is seeing how the family adapt to having a bug for a son/brother. It can't be said that they do all that well, although they certainly do better than I would. Within a fairly short space of time they almost go back to living their life as before, for the most part ignoring Gregor and trying to act as normal. It's not only Gregor's life that is transformed though, each family member changes as the story progresses becoming quite different people by the end of it.

I found it strangely touching and sad, it's amazing how quickly you can get used to the protagonist being a giant beetle and how you feel all of his discomfort and rejection. A sad little tale about how quickly one can become forgotten, not to say despised, when no longer useful. Apparently there are over a hundred theories about what the Metamorphosis is really about, ideas range from how a family may cope with terminal or mental illness, feelings of alienation (citing Kafka as a German and a Jew living in Prague,) the uneasy relationship between Kafka and his father - which is also touched upon in another short story in this collection The Judgement, an allegory for genocide etc etc. Nabakov even did a lecture on it. It's only short but it's oddly touching.Even shorter is another tale in the collection called Give Up! the entirety of which I will write here:

'It was early in the morning, the streets clean and deserted, I was walking to the station. As I compared a tower clock with my watch, I saw that it was already much later that I had thought, I had to hurry, the shock of this discovery made me uncertain of the way, I was not yet very well acquainted with the town, fortunately there was a policeman nearby, I ran up to him and breathlessly asked him the way. he smiled and said "You are asking me the way?" "Yes," I said, "since I cannot find it myself." "Give up, give up." he said, and turned away with a great sweep, like people who want to be alone with their laughter.'

I'm not sure what is meant but it reminded me of those days when you run around and around and get absolutely nowhere!! I have them all the time! A surreal and thought provoking collection of short stories, but Metamorphosis is the stand-out.