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By Greg Lupton -- 5/01
Franz Kafka seems to have had a tough time growing up with his father, who was apparently a domineering, unapproachable man. A few years before Franz's untimely death, he wrote a long letter to his father in an attempt to address many of the lingering issues which had plagued their relationship. He may have tried through his fictional writing to reach his father prior to the letter, using a kind of "metaphor code." Franz Kafka became other characters representing himself in his fiction. In The Metamorphosis, his character, whose name is Gregor Samsa, becomes a giant beetle as the result of an unexplained transformation at the very beginning. The fact that the author is actually the main character is so cleverly disguised and the details so carefully presented that this encoded message becomes an entertaining literary work in its own right. While many of Kafka's short stories, e.g. The Judgment, A Country Doctor, appear to be vignettes, The Metamorphosis is more or less a surreal self-portrait of Franz's life and his troubled relationship with his family. The concepts of psychological abuse, entrapment and escape are ongoing themes in Kafka's work, and The Metamorphosis contains several examples that specifically relate to his father.
The main character takes the role as caretaker of the family, is transformed into a bug and left to eventually die in his room. In The Metamorphosis, the main character awakens from "troubled dreams" into an even more troubled reality. At the beginning, the rain beating against the window of his room gives him a depressed, melancholy feeling. This sets the tone for the entire story.
According to Franz Kafka, his father could be psychologically abusive. He constantly told his son that he would never succeed, and although he allowed Franz to make his own career decision, he never encouraged him to become a writer. He wanted his son to become a shop owner like himself, perhaps an example of how his ego was anxious to extend itself. Franz Kafka said, "My writing was all about you; all I did there, after all, was to bemoan what I could not bemoan upon your breast." (Kafka 87) In his letter to his father, Franz dealt with many issues that were referred to indirectly in The Metamorphosis. Among other subjects, his fear of marriage, his desire for escape and independence are all disguised as symbols and metaphors. His general lack of communication with his father is exemplified throughout both The Metamorphosis and his letter. For anyone wanting to unravel his writings, this letter can serve as a "road map."
A short temper is evident in Mr. Samsa, the father in The Metamorphosis, who represents Franz's real father. In a fictional setting that bears a strong resemblance to the Kafka family surroundings, his impatience flares upon his first encounter with his disfigured son. He chases Gregor back to his room and as he reaches the door, Gregor's beetle-like body does not fit, resulting in his father having to force him through. The wounds from this incident represent the paradox of the pain Franz experienced in retreating to his room, rather than facing his father. At times, Mr. Samsa seems as strangely complacent toward everyone else as he is violent and preoccupied with his son.
As with Gregor Samsa, Franz could not escape the inevitable. While Kafka's fictional writings may have served as a means of "escape" from a direct confrontation with his father, he could not escape his self-contempt. The only way for him to deal with his problems was to release himself in his writings. This type of behavior could have also made him vulnerable to illness, which eventually resulted in his death. Franz wrote in his letter to his father, that in order to escape his father he would have to escape his whole family, resulting in his self-transformation into a beetle named Gregor. The Metamorphosis may have been an interpretation of an attempt to escape his life. Gregor's room in the story may have also represented a form of escape.
In both The Metamorphosis and the letter to his father are descriptions of the excessive amount of time Gregor the beetle and Franz respectively spend in their rooms. Gregor uses his room as refuge from his family, much like the author did while growing up. Kafka wrote in his letter that he confined himself to his room with friends and books in order to avoid his father. His room seems to be both a safe haven and a prison at the same time. In the story, Gregor's room may symbolize Franz's limited ability to communicate with his father. In his letter he talked about a lack of encouragement from his father. In The Metamorphosis, Kafka's character comments on how his family should have encouraged him as he tried to open the door to his room, a difficult task for a beetle. At one point, Gregor's family is rearranging his room while removing and adding furniture. Gregor allows all of his belongings to be removed except a picture, which seems to have an undue importance.
The picture on the wall in Gregor's room was of a woman dressed only in furs. Kafka referred to the picture twice in The Metamorphosis, this being the first clue to its significance. The woman may have represented Kafka's wife-to-be and he may have wanted to keep it in his room away from his father. In the letter, Franz commented on how his father showed a lack of approval for the choices he had made in his attempts at marriage. Franz also wrote that marriage could have been the ultimate escape from his father, but he was afraid his father would continue to have an adverse affect on him while married. Franz felt unable to marry for many reasons; one being that he did not want to disgrace his father. Although he thought his father would consider him an equal, and viewed his father's marriage as ideal, he did not want to risk fathering a son like himself. Possibly because of Franz's low self-esteem, he does not think he could be successfully married, let alone manage a family.
Gregor's physical size as a beetle remains variable throughout the story. At the beginning, his size seems to be like that of a normal person, or even larger. He was able to open doors, and, by filling his belly with air while in bed is able to make his blanket fall off. This may have been a feeling of being large, because he felt safe in his room. Later in the story, Gregor is able to crawl up and down walls, and seek refuge under the couch in his room. He might have had the impression of being small due to the fact that he was vulnerable to his family's abuse. Just before Gregor is about to be bombarded with apples thrown by his father, Gregor notices how large his father's boot soles are. On the surface, this means that he is afraid of being literally stepped on as a bug, but the "encoded" message is that he is afraid of being stepped on emotionally by his father. Kafka wrote in his letter to his father that he always felt small compared to his father, but in his story, his perspective and point of view seem to change rapidly, even within the context of a single event. For example, immediately following his expression of awe regarding his father's boot-soles and enormous stature, a thrown apple rolls off of his back, and the next apple thrown actually penetrates Gregor's armor-like back.
The piece of apple that lodges in Gregor's back causing a festering wound, and which leads to Gregor's eventual death. This chain of events may represent Franz's belief that his father betrayed him. The apple itself was likely a symbol of abusive words and harsh criticism. In addition to the injury suffered by Gregor while being forced into his room, this appears to have had dire consequences for the character, just as Franz contended his father's words and actions had.
The author's skillful use of metaphors and symbols to communicate may have had little or no affect on his father and their relationship, as he still felt compelled to write a long personal letter plainly stating his feelings. Although Franz intended for the letter to reach his father, it was never sent to him instead it was returned to Franz by his mother. Ironically, even in his straightforward attempt, Franz had failed, though, in a sense his father did read the letter by reading most of his son's work. The fact that he died only a few years later, long before his father did, seems to have been eerily foreshadowed in The Metamorphosis. Franz Kafka seems to have thought that some of the most liberating occurrences are those that are beyond one's control.
By Greg Lupton -- 5/01
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