“Gregor reconciled himself quite easily to the shutting of the door, for often enough on evenings when it was opened he had disregarded it entirely and lain in the darkest corner of his room, quite unnoticed by the family.” – Franz Kafka

Franz Kafka is a writer who has developed somewhat of a cult following through his “Kafkaesque” surrealism, where readers are pulled into a story that seems completely devoid of any honest reality but is still somehow relatable. This “closeness” doesn’t have anything to do with the plot, but rather with the theme. We do not actually believe that any of us would morph into a giant insect one morning, but we do believe that alienation from something hinders us all. 

Many of you may have already read this short work. “The Metamorphosis” has attracted frequent attention ever since it was first published in 1915.

This is due to its existentialist appeal. This detail makes the story particularly popular. It is the same reason why writers like Albert Camus, Fyodor Dostoevsky and Jean-Paul Sartre (to list a few totemic names) are so popular. There is something that good observers who are also good writers can communicate that the rest of us seem to lack. There is an aspect of our existence that maintains its absurdity, and we need absurd writers to design absurd depictions of it in order to stay in touch with ourselves.

Gregor Samsa, the protagonist of “The Metamorphosis,” is one such example. Kafka, who famously had issues with his father (and presumably the rest of his family), created an abstraction that lured readers into his alienated mind.

When Samsa wakes up in his bed as a giant insect, Kafka relays that he wakes up feeling completely detached from what makes him human. He is afraid of his family seeing him, and he isn’t eager to see them either. This feeling intensifies, not only with Samsa’s family but with his boss, who arrives at the house to question Samsa about why he did not show up for work. 

Samsa’s room—and the door which he is terribly glad he locked—represent a sort of symbolic barrier throughout the book. Samsa is feared amongst all and simply withers his existence away, stuck as a giant insect and hiding all alone. 

I think what is particularly interesting about the novel is how Kafka doesn’t necessarily focus on how odd it is that Samsa is an insect. Instead, Kafka writes about it as if it were an odd mishap, illustrating, for me at least, how Kafka began to know alienation as a fundamental component of himself and his relationships. 

I highly recommend this story, although I will say that I believe the hype surrounding it is somewhat trite. This goes for many of the books I have reviewed thus far. When people desire to be “edgy” or “different” by reading stories like this, it takes away from the experience and turns it into a contest of who is more fashionable. 

Unfortunately, this book, and Kafka in particular, have been victims of this trend. However, it is only due to Kafka’s greatness. This story is about the dangers of having the unwillingness to take action or to improve oneself and one’s situation.

Read it. Digest it. Learn. 

Rating 7/10