Devastation in a life of a Human being comes in various versions which ultimately hollows a person psychologically, emotionally, and sometimes physically too. Kafka’s one of the most popular novellas to date is  “Metamorphosis”, which is the best example of Human abandonment from their own society. This novella portrays how a human is outcasted by their own family and left to die.

A Tragic Story of Gregor Samsa –

The Novella begins with a setting of a bedroom where the protagonist is first introduced to the readers, as “Gregor Samsa”, who wakes up from his bed and sees himself transformed into a bug which brings him into a state of perplexing situation of his sudden body changes. He started to anticipate many assumptions of what had really happened to his body in one night but he failed in vain with the running thoughts.

Gregor Samsa was a salesman and a sole breadwinner who had a bunch of family responsibilities piled upon him. Even in the state of his physical transformation, he was concerned about his job and how would he be able to go to his office and catch his train at 7am.

Shock to the family –

When Gregor’s family members came to know about his physical transformation there were abashed and terrified by his transformation and avoided him mostly due to his nasty appearance. They were least bothered about Gregor, rather they were trying to avoid him by looking in this room and treating him like a real bug. Gregor’s father who never had any emotion and concern for his son only treated Gregor as someone who is paying off his debts. Gregor’s mother who loved Samsa dearly couldn’t be able to see his own son’s face as he looked disgusting and she was horrified with his appearance.

The only member who had a little bit of concern was Grete ( Sister of Gregor), who used to feed food to Samsa, but later on, in the story, she also loses interest in taking care of his own brother.

Family becomes Rebellious and Abandons Gregor :

This novella highlights the Fractured Family Relationships and the ill consequences which happened to Gregor after his transformation. His family, in particular, treated him like a disgusting insect which they wanted to get rid of, as the days were passing, Gregor who was once taking the responsibility for every member of his family now became a burden to them.

His father, Mr. Samsa even tried to kill Gregor with an apple, as he hated his own son so much. His mother though loved his son so much but never tried to visit him due to his condition.

The transformation was just a physical pain to Gregor, but the emotional and mental pain he received from his own family who was betraying him every day and alienated him in the end.

Tragic death Of Gregor:  

“He thought back of his family with emotion and love. If it was possible, he felt that he must go away even more strongly than his sister. He remained in this state of empty and peaceful rumination until he heard the clock tower strike three in the morning. He watched as it slowly began to get light everywhere outside the window too. Then, without his willing it, his head sank down completely, and his last breath flowed weakly from his nostrils.”

This quote mainly reflects the tragic death of Gregor which created a  sense of happiness for his family members. Profoundly, Grete is portrayed as responsible for Gregor’s death, but as we look into the story, we can’t blame only one character as responsible for his death, it is the whole family which should be blamed. Gregor was suffering from a state of identity crisis which brought his suicidal thoughts.

If we look into the story from a critical point of view, we can find that Gregor was depressed and was suffering from a breakdown. Unlike, other men of his age, he was different, he never enjoyed his life and never went to hang out with his friends, rather he was a workaholic and loner who used to be distant from socializing.

As we look into the story, Gregor died in his own room due to the burdensome of his own existence. His family made him feel like an outcast who should be dead and that made him demotivated to even live in this world.

His death was tragic because he died emotionally, mentally and when he was dead from inside his physical state couldn’t bear his body and left him abandoned, so he died tragically.

The ill fate of Gregor – An Alienated living being.

Gregor as a young salesman and even as a  son, brother played all of his responsibility in an admirable way, he never disappointed anyone but rather always worked hard in spite of any situations.

When his life became upside down when he became a bug and his transformation made him realize that he has no one in this real world. His family was a mirage of happiness that abandoned him in the end. All his family urged was the money. They were happy with Gregor till he was capable of earning, the day he was of no use his family changed their attitudes towards him which made Gregor feel alone.

The author tried to make understand through the situation of Gregor to his readers that, when a person is physically able, they are treated as a prominent part of the society, but when they have any flaws or deficits in their body, they are discriminated against by there looks and appearances and left alone by criticizing and judging them, which makes the person hollow from inside.

A fractured family basically lives a materialistic life where emotions and understanding are not prominent instead there is always a motive of taking advantage of each other. Gregor’s family were money-oriented people who only urged for money and not didn’t worried about Gregor’s crisis he was going through.

Metamorphosis is the best work Novella which tells about Humans and their family relationships that, if a person is dead their life doesn’t stop as like the flowing water their life moves on and people forget there past like the dawn of other days.