Synopsis: The Metamorphosis, a short novel written by Franz Kafka and published in 1915, is a disturbing tale that examines the complexities of family relationships and personal isolation. The story follows Gregor Samsa, a young salesman who wakes up one morning inexplicably transformed into a giant insect. As he tries to adapt to his new condition, Gregor observes how his family, for whom he was previously the primary source of income, reacts to his change with a mixture of compassion, rejection, and bewilderment.

Franz Kafka: The Metamorphosis. Summary and analysis

Warning

The following summary and analysis is only a semblance and one of the many possible readings of the text. It is not intended to replace the experience of reading the story.

Summary by chapters of The Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka.

Summary of Chapter 1.

Gregor Samsa, a young traveling salesman, wakes up one morning after a restless sleep to discover that he has been transformed into a giant insect. His new body has a hard shell, a bulging belly, and multiple tiny, uncontrolled legs. Although he tries to convince himself that it is all a bad dream, he soon realizes it is not. Trapped in his new form, Gregor reflects on his life, marked by the financial burden of supporting his parents and his sister, Grete, and by the monotony and exhaustion of his work.

The sound of the alarm clock reminds him that he has missed the train he was supposed to take for his business trip. Despite his distress, he tries to get out of bed, which is extremely difficult due to his new form. Between his efforts, his mother knocks on the door, worried about his delay, and his father and Grete also show concern. Gregor tries to answer, but his voice has changed and becomes an unintelligible sound.

As Gregor struggles to get up, his boss, the company proxy, arrives at his house to investigate his absence. The proxy’s presence puts tremendous pressure on the family, who cannot explain Gregor’s delay. Inside the room, Gregor feels the urge to open the door and calm the situation, but he fears how others will react when they see his new appearance. After an arduous effort, he turns the key with his jaws and opens the door.

The impact is immediate: the proxy recoils in horror, his mother faints, and his father shows a mixture of anger and bewilderment. Gregor tries to explain what has happened and calm the proxy down, but he is unsuccessful. Instead of calming down, the proxy flees in terror, and the father, completely beside himself, uses a cane and a newspaper to push Gregor back into his room. In his desperate attempt to return to the room, Gregor gets caught in the door and can only get inside with a sharp push from his father, resulting in him being injured and bruised.

The door closes behind him, and silence takes over the house. Gregor is injured and faces the uncertainty of his new reality.

Summary of Chapter 2.

Gregor wakes up at dusk after a deep sleep that brings him some relief, although he is still suffering from the injuries sustained in the morning incident. Weak and hungry, he is drawn to the smell of a bowl of milk and bread that Grete, his sister, has left in the room. Although it had always been his favorite drink, now it seems repulsive, and he barely tastes it before walking away disappointed.

The house is quiet, and Gregor, who feels lonely and displaced, begins to reflect on his situation and his family. Although he is proud of having provided them with a comfortable life, he also fears that his transformation will bring a terrible end for everyone. During the night, he hides under the divan, where he finds some comfort. When Grete enters the room in the morning, she discovers that Gregor has left the milk untouched. Showing concern, she offers him a variety of foods to taste: cheese, old vegetables, and bones. Excited, Gregor devours the spoiled foods with voracity, while the fresh ones are unpleasant.

The family avoids entering Gregor’s room and delegates caring for him to Grete. Although the young woman shows dedication, constant contact with Gregor affects her emotionally. To prevent him from seeing her too upset, she quickly opens the windows every time she enters the room, which makes Gregor uncomfortable. One night, Grete removes the furniture from the room to give him more space to move around and empties it with her mother’s help.

Initially, Gregor agrees with the idea, but he changes his mind when he remembers the sentimental value of the objects. He decides to protect a painting of a woman wearing furs that adorn the wall and climbs on top of it to prevent it from being removed. Upon seeing him, his mother panics and faints, and Grete has to seek help. Gregor, distressed, tries to get closer to help but only manages to scare them more.

At that moment, the father returns home. Upon learning what had happened and seeing Gregor outside his room, he reacts furiously. Equipped with fruit from the greengrocer, he throws it at Gregor. One of the apples gets stuck in his back, causing him unbearable pain and leaving him immobile. Grete and the mother intervene desperately to prevent the father from continuing to attack. Gregor, wounded and humiliated, crawls back to his room, marking the end of a day full of tension and suffering that further aggravates his estrangement from his family.

Summary of Chapter 3.

Gregor is seriously injured after his father’s attack. This injury leaves him permanently weakened and prevents him from moving quickly. However, this also causes a change in the family’s attitude. Although they continue to reject Gregor, they now treat him with more resignation, as if to remind them that, despite his transformation, he is still a family member. Even so, tensions increase, and living together becomes increasingly complicated.

At this point, Gregor can no longer move along the walls or the ceiling as he used to do before his injury. He spends most of his time in his room, which the family begins to use as a storage room. Unnecessary objects, rubbish, and furniture that no longer have a place in the house accumulate in no particular order. The attention they give him is considerably reduced. Grete, who used to care for him, now performs her tasks mechanically, leaving food quickly and removing it regardless of whether he has eaten it. The room is full of dust and dirt, but nobody bothers to clean it.

Pressured by financial problems following Gregor’s inability to work, the family rents a room to three men. These guests are serious and demanding, and their presence creates an oppressive atmosphere in the home. The family strives to look after them and maintain a semblance of order, but this only increases the emotional strain on everyone. The parents and Grete work tirelessly, while Gregor, increasingly aware of his situation, feels like a burden to others. The wound on his back starts to hurt again, and his health deteriorates even further.

One night, while Grete plays the violin for the guests in the living room, Gregor ventures out of his room, drawn in by the music. This moment marks a rare display of emotion in Gregor, who seems to find solace in music and a bond with his sister. However, his presence interrupts the scene. On noticing his appearance, the guests react with disgust and decide to leave immediately, making it clear that they will not pay for their stay. This incident causes a crisis in the family, who feel even more humiliated and desperate.

After the guests leave, Grete, visibly upset, openly expresses what until then had been an implicit thought: Gregor must disappear. She argues that he can no longer be considered her brother, that he is a beast who endangers their well-being, and that the family can no longer bear it. The parents accept this opinion, albeit with obvious pain. For the first time, the family decides to lock Gregor’s room door and isolate him completely.

Gregor, physically and emotionally exhausted, retires to his room. There, he reflects on his state and understands that his presence is an obstacle to the happiness of his family. Little by little, he falls into a lethargy that culminates in his death. When The Charwoman finds his body the following morning, she shows no emotion upon announcing it. The family, on confirming his death, feels a deep sense of relief. Instead of mourning him, they begin to plan a future without him.

That same day, the family decides to rest and go to the countryside. For the first time in a long time, the Samsa family share a moment of tranquillity and optimism. During the walk, the father and mother realize that Grete has matured and has become a beautiful young woman. With renewed hope, they begin to imagine a future in which Grete finds a good husband and the family can return to a normal and happy life, leaving behind the memory of Gregor and his tragic transformation.

Characters from The Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka.

Gregor Samsa is the story’s protagonist, a young traveling salesman who wakes up transformed into a monstrous insect. Before his metamorphosis, Gregor describes himself as a responsible man, willing to endure the difficulties of a job he detests to provide for his family. This burden alienates him, as his life revolves exclusively around duty. His physical transformation intensifies his isolation, not only from the outside world but also from his family, who begin to see him as a burden and a stranger. Gregor is a tragic figure: his struggle to adapt to his new condition contrasts with his inability to be understood or accepted. His physical and emotional deterioration culminates in a resigned acceptance of his death, which he sees almost as a liberation for both himself and his family.

Grete Samsa, the younger sister, undergoes a notable change throughout the story. Initially, she empathizes with Gregor, taking care of him and bringing him food. It is evident that Grete had a close relationship with him before his transformation, and Gregor even dreamed of sending her to the conservatory to develop her musical talent. However, caring for Gregor overwhelms her, and her initial compassion turns to frustration and rejection. Finally, it is Grete who decides to remove Gregor from their lives, which marks her evolution from an innocent young woman to a colder and more pragmatic figure.

Gregor’s father, Mr. Samsa, is a man who has depended financially on his son since the failure of his business. Before The Metamorphosis, he is described as passive and defeated, spending his days doing nothing. However, Gregor’s transformation forces the father to take on an active role again, getting a job as an orderly and regaining an authoritarian attitude at home. His relationship with Gregor becomes hostile: he rejects him from the start and treats him violently, as shown in the episode where he throws apples to keep him away. This character reflects the tension between the obligation to protect and the inability to accept the weakness of others.

Gregor’s mother, Mrs. Samsa, is an ambivalent figure. Although she initially seems more willing to accept her son, his physical and emotional weakness prevents her from intervening in any meaningful way. Her passive nature and tendency to avoid conflict make her a silent spectator to Gregor’s degradation and the deterioration of family relations. Her attempts to help, such as when she tries to clean Gregor’s room, end up being counterproductive and weaken her even more physically and emotionally.

Among the secondary characters, the three lodgers the family hires as a desperate measure to earn some income stand out. These characters symbolize society’s indifference and lack of empathy towards differences. Their encounter with Gregor triggers their immediate rejection and departure, highlighting the superficiality of their relationship with the Samsa family. Likewise, The Charwoman, a strong and somewhat rough woman, contrasts with the family’s attitude towards Gregor. Far from feeling fear or compassion, she treats him with indifference and mockery, calling him a “dung beetle.” Her role, although minor, underlines the isolation and dehumanization Gregor suffers even from those around him physically.

Analysis and commentary on The Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka.

Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis is a work that, although based on a fantastical event — the transformation of Gregor Samsa into an insect — focuses on exploring profoundly human themes. Through this story, Kafka invites us to reflect on the fragility of family relationships, the alienation that work and social expectations can generate, and the importance of how others perceive us.

The story’s center is Gregor, a young man dedicated to working tirelessly to support his family. From the beginning, his transformation into an insect highlights one of the book’s central ideas: dehumanization. Before becoming physically a different being, Gregor had already been treated as just another tool without considering his needs and emotions. His physical transformation is nothing more than the external manifestation of something already happening inside him. Through this, Kafka seems to ask: what happens when we no longer meet the expectations that others have of us? By becoming unable to work, Gregor loses his value to the family, and this change exposes the fragile bond that united them.

Rejection is a crucial theme addressed in the story. Although the family initially tries to deal with Gregor’s situation, his transformation quickly becomes a burden they cannot bear. This rejection is physical, in the form of revulsion towards his new appearance, and emotional. Gregor, who had been the family’s financial mainstay, is reduced to a being who, although at first arousing compassion, ends up being seen as an obstacle and a threat to their stability. This reflects a painful reality: how, on many occasions, human relationships are based more on utility than on love or genuine understanding.

The change experienced by the members of the Samsa family is another outstanding aspect of the story. As Gregor deteriorates, the others find new ways to adapt. The father, previously passive and defeated, assumes an active role, regains authority, and can work again. The mother, although still more passive, helps with the housework, and Grete, the sister, becomes a central figure, both in the initial care of Gregor and in the final decision to get rid of him. These transformations show how crisis pushes people to adapt, but they also highlight how this adaptation can involve emotional sacrifices and the loss of humanity in interaction with others.

Another fascinating aspect of the work is its ambiguity. Kafka does not explain why Gregor transforms. This approach leaves room for interpretation: some see it as a metaphor for how work can destroy personal identity, while others understand it as a representation of the isolation suffered by people who are sick, marginalized, or different. The absence of clear answers makes the reader reflect on their context and the dynamics of their life.

The narrative also has a rhythm that reflects Gregor’s deterioration and the story’s progress. Initially, the events are more detailed and slower-paced, showing Gregor’s attempts to adapt to his new form, and the family has difficulty understanding his situation. However, as the family rejects him more and more and Gregor fades away, the pace of the narrative becomes more frantic and distressing until the final resolution. This change in style masterfully reflects the protagonist’s emotional and physical decline.

The story’s ending, with Gregor’s death and the family’s relief, is deeply shocking. Although it may seem cruel, it can also be interpreted as a release. Gregor’s life had become unbearable for both him and his family, so his end meant the end of his suffering. On the other hand, by freeing themselves of the burden he represented, the family can now move on with their lives, which suggests that Gregor’s transformation was a catalyst that forced them to change and mature.

Franz Kafka: The Metamorphosis. Summary and analysis
  • Author: Franz Kafka
  • Title: The Metamorphosis
  • Original title: Die Verwandlung
  • Published in: Die Weißen Blätter, October 1915

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