The Notion of “Insect” in Kafka’s Metamorphosis
In few
other works of modern fiction can we encounter the use of the image of an
animal so odious as Kafka’s “insect”. It
is said that in the original transcription in German, that the word Ungeziefer
is used to convey the term roughly
as “insect” but it may refer to vermin just as well; a word which may have been
equally abhorrent.
So why is it that Kafka insisted on
the specific word insect but not a specific species? Nor why would he not
permit, any drawing or other referent or facsimile to its looks on the cover of
the book when printed? Why was it important to have such an object of attention
receive so much scrutiny but result in such little specific description?
I think that the answer can be found
in many of Kafka’s thoughts on the subject of family and society as well as his
undermining psychological description of humanity that he and others held at
the time of the writing of the story. First, to many of us, insects are not a
species to be loved nor for that matter, cared for, readily, so it must be an
appreciable consideration for anybody to regard an insect with any amount of
concern. (which some of his family members initially were inclined to do).
Second, the insect though not specifically described, seemed to have a “beetle
like” appearance with a hard or rounded back of a carapace. Third, the animal,
into which Kafka had to be transformed had to be large, (as large almost as he)
in effort for us as readers and the players to understand that it was Gregor
Samsa who had been transformed into this specific insect and not into some
insignificant and miss-noticed bug scurrying across the floor like any other
common household insect. In fact the insect had, itself, a need to be just so
big and neither larger nor smaller: if a bug is detestable, then certainly a
big bug would be much more monstrous.
Another consideration that we must
indulge is how Gregor Samsa (or Kafka) felt as a member of society and family.
We know from other readings that Kafka had a rather low opinion of society
members and how each treated their fellow humans. Also we know that he had a
poor opinion of government who he felt treated people in inhumane ways. So, it
is not too surprising to encounter the analogy of the bug in society and how
people are generally disgusted with bugs and how they treat them: distrust,
loathe; harbouring germs, mistrust, and above all, exterminable.
His family members behave variously
towards the sight of Gregor. Starting with his sister Grete, who initially was
very sympathetic towards Gregor and experimented with a diet suitable to him,
soon after altered her behavior in a predictable way. This in part led to
Gregor’s rapid deterioration and demise. His mother was most affected by
Gregor’s appearance, finding him repulsive and very unsettling to look at. His colleague ran, upon his sight of Gregor and many of the house guests once they
knew of his existence left the house or were inclined to and demanded that
Gregor be removed. And the Charwoman, who is hired to look after Gregor’s
needs, gleefully disposes of him once learning that he has died. Last, his
father, whose own self image needed improvement, finds that there is someone
more loathsome than himself and takes it out on Gregor in a fit of rage by
flinging an apple at Gregor’s back which lodges there to fester and eventually
kill him.
In fact, though Gregor seems to have
the run of freedom to do as he wants, he is in fact a prisoner in his own room”
confined like the undesirable that he has become to all. But I think that
Gregor uses the time to be self indulgent to his plight as an under appreciated
worker and Kafka uses the metamorphosis of the bug to indulge his fantasy that
society members are no more nor less than insignificant bugs on the pages of societies
history.
To finally analyze why Kafka chose
this image of a “monstrous vermin” to symbolize Gregor’s metamorphosis from
clerk and family food provider to hideous bug we can conclude the following. It
is clear, that when Kafka came to choose what form of thing...his protagonist
should transform into, it should be something loathsome so that the other
characters could at first be repulsed by, then tolerated then abhorred. A giant
bug is certainly a good choice here. Second, it should be a kind of thing which
inspires dislike and therefore excludes such animals such that may illicit
feelings of beauty, pity, and other anthropomorphic attitudes. And finally, the animal must be unpleasant to
actually look at and be familiar enough for people to identify with...such is
the odious beetle-like insect.
To conclude, it may be that Gregor
felt like an insect himself and so that it was natural for him to emerge as
this hateful vermin himself and perhaps Kafka himself thought of members of
society being treated as such that inspired him to use this form of reference.
At any rate, the choice was perfect. No other choice would have proven to be as
illustrative or as bizarre as this choice. In the end, Kafka wanted to b clear enough that his animal was a bug of
some kind but not so clear as to precisely identify the species because it
didn’t matter that much: suffice that the animal was detestable, grotesque,
vile and hated by the readers and by the protagonists in the story.
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