Thursday, July 22, 2010

Franz Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis”: Unknown causes that that further and enhance the narrative

In his classic story “The Metamorphosis” Franz Kafka omits important information that would explain the basic premise of the narrative, yet, through two specific writing techniques in plot and character development, he leads the reader away from seeking such information.

Story is a sequence of related events and one of the central elements of storytelling is Plot , which answers the questions “what happened” and suggests “why did it happen” . The story begins abruptly, with a powerful inciting action: Gregor Samsa awakes one day and finds himself transformed into a monstrous vermin. The reader does not know: a) how such transformation occurred; and b) what sort of vermin is has become. Instead on elaborating on the cause of the transformation, Kafka concentrates heavily on the effects of the transformation; he follows the first sentence with a detailed description on Samsa’s new body. Even though the character Samsa asks “What has happened to me?” and verifies with horror that he is not dreaming, he does not dwell in the cause, but analyzes his room, recalls and criticizes his hated job, looks through the window, and worries for being late. This dense description of Samsa’s thoughts, one after the other, distracts the reader from the causes of the transformation and provides the necessary background that makes the character real and the transformation credible. Instead of the how did this happen? Of why did it happen? Kafka focuses on the consequences of the given premise through each of the characters. The hard fact of the transformation becomes the premise that governs the story from then on. The effects of such transformation move the story forward unveiling each character’s thoughts, intentions, and actions. The loving (love? Or calculated interest?) family he has, his sister Grete and his parents are transformed. Young Grete goes from loving, caring little sister (“Today he really liked it”, p. 701) to referring to him as it and plotting to kill him (“we have to try to get rid of it”, p. 716). His mother goes from hope and denial (“when Gregor come back to us”, page 705) to fear (“Oh God! Oh God! And collapsed, page 707). His father goes from anger (“furious and elated”) to sheer intentin of killing him (“begging him…to spare Gregor’s life”, p. 709). In other words, the plot concentrates on the family relationships.

When the cleaning lady finds Gregor dead the family becomes melancholy, even remorseful (“They all looked as if they had been crying”, p. 719) and Mr. Samsa throws out the tenants. He fires the cleaning lady who disposed of Gregor’s corpse and goes from lazy and detached to taking charge and encouraging all to look at the future. As quickly as the family says good bye to Gregor, the reader is dragged by Kafka into the bright future the Samsas are preparing to live.

Concealing the type of vermin provides the reader with whatever her imagination can produce. For one a rat would be repulsive enough, for other, a roach, for still others a beetle. By not given a clear name to the “insect” Kafka gave each reader the dose for her own fear and repulsion. By concentrating the narrative on the effects of the primary cause on the characters, Kakfa creates a moving plot that forces the reader to question his own views and exploring his own reactions to the changes in others.

The Story and its Writer, page 1742
“Plot is the sequence of events in a story and their relationship to one another as they develop and often resolve a conflict” (The Story and its Writer, page 1742)
The Story and its Writer, page 1742
There is much debate about the correct translation that would identify the specific vermin or insect he has become. Kafka himself did not want to address this question.

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