Obligation In Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis

Physical, financial, and emotional obligations are imprisonments evident in everyday life. Within The Metamorphosis, the author creates metaphorical walls that keep his characters imprisoned by these obligations and away from outside intervention. Franz Kafka confines the freedom of his characters, in order to demonstrate the struggle the character’s face with imprisonment. Kafka, creates situations, similar to Gregor’s transformation, where imprisonment ultimately leads to freedom. Before the transformation, Gregor felt trapped in his job because of his duty to his family, but after the transformation, Gregor became imprisoned by his family. Gregor’s escape from his responsibilities failed to bring him any freedom, until his inevitable demise.

When Gregor is transformed into an insect, his whole family begins to feel imprisoned. Ralph Freedman writes in his criticism that “The hero’s transformation and the change in his relations to the world involve significant cognitive changes” (Freedman 131). Freedman explains that Gregor’s personal changes also influenced changes around him. Due to the transformation, the Samsa family was no longer able to leave the apartment together, “for at least two members of the family were always at home...it was impossible to leave the apartment completely empty” (Kafka 24-25). Since Gregor could no longer support the family and pay off the debt, the family members also had to get jobs. In addition, the family did not want the world to see the vermin that was their son, and so Gregor become imprisoned by his family. The Samsa family locked Gregor in his room and, therefore, blocked Gregor off from the human world. Gregor’s room now served as a prison designated to him, where he was unable to communicate with his family and was trapped inside a body that repulses those he loves. Outside, the sky is overcast, and Gregor could hear “rain drops beating on the window gutter” (Kafka 1). The locked door and the gloomy atmosphere symbolize Gregor’s imprisonment, as well as obstacles that limit his freedom. Although Gregor experiences more physical freedom as a bug, the transformation causes him to feel more trapped and isolated than