BOOK REVIEW OF "THE METAMORPHOSIS” BY FRANZ KAFKA By Ayesha Hossain (3rd sem/2023-24)

"As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect"

The very first sentence of the story shakes the whole world of literature.  Kafka successfully arrested the attention of his readers at the very beginning. "The Metamorphosis" was published in 1915. Samsa, a traveling salesman, the protagonist of the story, wakes up one day and discovers his metamorphosed form of a gigantic insect. Here Kafka doesn't focus on the cause but the effect of the transformation. This is not about fantasy which is only prisoned in books, but it transgresses the boundary of bookworld to our life. The very title reminds us of the Roman poet Ovid’s "The Metamorphoses". Ovid and Kafka both showed how the tragic transition of life can affect the normal system. Samsa's change of physical appearance makes the rough and bumpy transition of his life. We see the ugly reality of our life through Samsa. People become completely blind when simple normal life takes the form of complexity. According to this selfish world, people like Samsa are a burden on Earth and they have no right to exist.

 To me the most striking feature is that despite being transformed into an insect, Samsa's feelings remained human just like Actaeon of Ovid’s The Metamorphoses, where he was transformed into a stag by the curse of Diana, the goddess of the hunt, but only by the physical appearance.

The transformation doesn’t include Samsa only but also his family members. The reaction of his family after the discovery indeed sends shivers down our spine. Our tragic hero Samsa was the spine of the family. As a punctual character he was maintaining his responsibility with respect. But the continuity got interrupted by his transformation. Kafka shows the harsh reality of life where money becomes the focus of life instead of humanity. People are ready to stake humanity to get the money prize. People will love you until you work and earn money. Money becomes the first priority. And the exact same thing will happen in this story. Samsa's desire to live is indeed praiseworthy. He kept himself strong till the end but the disgusted eyes of family kept hammering his hopeful soul. Their behaviour was almost an emotional abuse. Samsa then realizes that he had become a burden on the shoulder of his family instead of the burden-bearer. Unfortunately his combatant was his own family. It was a battle between the body and mind, the appearance and the reality. That's how he becomes disgusted with himself.

From the very beginning itself, whether it's "The Metamorphoses" by Ovid or "The Metamorphosis" by Franz Kafka, both writers took the crippled hand of tragedy in their writings.

The story is dark and the foggy atmosphere of depression pervades it. Not everybody finds the story interesting. Alienation, absurdity of existence, vulnerability are the main themes explored in this story. The ending of the story may also not satisfy some readers. Kafka forces us to question the longevity of forever, how long people will love you and the boundaries between the self and the world. The writer thunders truth in the pleasant disguise of illusion in his story. He has penned down something which is real yet tragic at the same time.

Overall the story has enough power to make us realize the actual reality of life. I would recommend this story to anyone who is interested in the complexities of the human condition. It's not just a story but a hard slap on the face of society. The fictional story is in the form of non-fictional with symbolic meaning unique in the literary context.

At last I would highly recommend this story to everyone who is ready to learn the actual strategy of life, the mysterious plan of this world, the pain of isolation.

"I cannot make you understand. I cannot make anyone understand what is happening inside me. I cannot even explain it to myself."

 

-          Franz Kafka, The Metamorphosis