Would you love me if I was a Beetle

Dec 21, 2024

He is terribly afraid of dying because he hasn’t yet lived.

- Franz Kafka

I recently read a book that made me stare at the wall for an hour. The girls are kind of right to ask this question: "Would you still love me if I were a worm?" And then one of my favourite authors uses this as the main plot of the story. So yeah, this is gonna be a book review [SPOLIERS IS THERE]. This is the surreal fiction short story by Franz Kafka The Metamorphosis.

The tale is about a man named Gregor. He is actually a travelling salesman. One fine day, he wakes up in his bed only to find himself transformed into a large insect more like a beetle. Instead of panicking because of transformation, he is worried about his work. This story wrestles with Gregor's struggle to adapt to his new physical form and how his actions affect his family shining a light on what society accepts and the responsibilities that come with being part of a family. Because of this, it burdens his job, all while reflecting on the quirky and amusing aspects of his situation. As he struggles to get out of bed, his family get concerned about him because he doesn't respond well. His mother knocks on his door, his father banging the door. This makes Gregor worry about his family and how they will react to his transformation. He tries his best level to communicate and reassure them but the fear and misunderstanding quickly abandon that. He must live in complete isolation as his family becomes horrified by him.

I felt sad for Gregor's situation and found myself feeling hated towards his parents and his sister. Their reaction to his appearance was disgust and they had difficulty maintaining a loving or trying to understand him. Ultimately, his sister no longer gives a damn about the food she brings him, and his room is hardly cleaned. She merely wants to do enough to feel that she has performed her duty, so her actions are routine. She asserts that their obligation to him has been met when she reaches her breaking point: "I don't think anyone could reproach us in the slightest," she says, implying that they must get rid of him.

“I cannot make you understand. I cannot make anyone understand what is happening inside me. I cannot even explain it to myself”
-Franz Kafka

Okayy why they are hating him? The thing is in the beginning of the story, his family relies upon only Gregor's income to support everyone in the family. Living off home to survive. When he transforms into an insect and can't work any longer, this leads to his family being forced to get jobs. When he was working and travelling for long hours meanwhile his mother and sister got good dresses and his father just sat all day and did nothing. Suddenly they have to take care of him, but they treat bad more like a trash bag not even caring as he stops eating and slowly loses his life.

But the story is not about Gregor it is just for the sake of the story the main point of this story is about themes of isolation, alienation, and the psychological changes that individuals can undergo in response to societal pressures and the dark side of human nature.

There are key themes within Metamorphosis that resonate with real-life experiences. Soul-crushing jobs and the feeling that you're only valued for your paycheck make it hard to connect with people. That’s what happened to Gregor as well he only works all day and night he always longs for debt-free freedom and quits his job. Gregor wants to be free from his stressful job. When he changes into an insect, this doesn’t make him free instead, his family locks him in his room. so when Gregor works he is controlled by his job and his chief, when he doesn’t he is controlled by his family. It seems like there’s no way to be free and do what you’re supposed to do. In the end, you’re always stuck feeling trapped.

Gregor feels terribly guilt every time his family speaks about the family and he thinks about how he caused more trouble to his family by not being able to work. He realizes that his own life is the only thing stopping his family from being happy again. In the end, he dies, sacrificing himself for them, just like he always tried to do when he was working.

IN THE END, Gregor dies and his family feels happy about that as they don’t have to deal with him anymore.

I think I didn’t give book reviews it looks like a book summary. Let me know your thoughts:)

The book I reviewed about: