Themes In Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis

Franz Kafka’s work of fiction, The Metamorphosis, is one of the most striking pieces of literature due to his unique writing style, going so far as to coin the term Kafkaesque. This vivid story is so magnifying because it depicts the realities which Kafka experienced in his personal life. The author uses his fictional work as a tool to express themes such as the father-son relationship, isolation, and physical and mental illness.

The first theme that Kafka’s fictional story touches upon is that of the Father-son relationship. Ever since Franz Kafka’s childhood, his father cast a vast shadow on the canvas of his life. The recurring scenes of the strained exchanges between Gregor and Mr. Samsa portray the experience Kafka had with his father-figure.

Kafka used his work, The Metamorphosis, as a tool to express the theme of physical and mental illness present throughout his own life. The most disturbing thing about Gregor’s transformation into a giant insect is that this is an auto portrait that Kafka means to paint of himself. The main reason for the creation of Gregor’s transformation is because Franz Kafka thought of himself as a vile vermin in his later days. Kafka was afflicted with many illnesses throughout his lifetime including: insomnia, recurring coughs, night sweats, and similar difficulties, all of which are symptoms of tuberculosis. This later caused him to spend much of his time in a sanitarium with only his journals to keep him company. With his illness and isolation, Kafka felt like the very vermin he describes Gregor to be, going to the length of referring to himself as “Ungeziefer,” (vermin) in his unpublished “Letter to His

Becoming an insect, Gregor crosses over an imaginary line to a point where there is no turning back, much like that of any person with a chronic illness. Kafka was afflicted with various illnesses throughout his life that contributed to his health conscious vegetarian diet. He suffered from insomnia, recurring coughs, night sweats, and similar difficulties, all of which are symptoms of tuberculosis. In 1914, there was no proper technique for diagnosing tuberculosis and the doctor identified Kafka’s sickness as bronchitis. He spent much of his time during these bouts with the symptoms in a sanitarium with only the company of his journals. With his illness and isolation, Kafka felt like vermin, unwanted, reviled. Kafka demonstrates this in his unpublished “Letter to His Father,” where he refers to himself as “Ungeziefer,”˚ that is translated specifically as vermin. This shows that Kafka used Gregor as a puppet to express the burden he felt himself to be in his work, The Metamorphosis.

Clearly, Franz Kafka used The Metamorphosis as a tool to express dominant themes which were present in his own life. These themes include that of the father son relationship shared between Gregor and Mr. Samsa/ Franz and Hermann Kafka, the theme of isolation, and the theme of illness.These themes expressed circumstances in vivid detail in order to communicate the personal pain that Franz felt like he could not share with anybody