The Metamorphosis (1915) By Franz Kafka

"One morning, as Gregor Samsa was waking up from anxious dreams, he discovered that in his bed he had been changed into a monstrous bug…"

First published in 1915, this short story by the intriguing and perpetually morose novelist Franz Kafka is, on a surface level, a surreal and melancholic piece of absurdist literature, which conveys the bizarre misfortunes of Gregor Samsa, a hard-working salesman.

However, upon closer inspection, Kafka is telling his readers a number of intricately veiled messages. The first that I picked up on being that Kafka is pulling back the curtain, through subtle metaphor, on the propaganda-driven mentalities of the working class, who have been taught that working is everything. It comes before even one's own health.

"He was a tool of the boss, without brains or backbone."

It also touches heavily on the themes of identity and reality. The story centres on a man's struggle with expressing himself in a world filled with obligation and his new, unsettling form. And as his reality alters, so too does his mindset. At no point in the story does Gregor ever truly convey his identity, having been drowned by his many, varied responsibilities and needs.

As far as my opinion on the piece, I will say that Kafka has an enviable level of articulation, although, it cannot be denied that he has a tiresome tendancy to overwrite. The unfortunate effect of this is that he tends to get drawn into sentences or seemingly needless description. This in itself would not be an issue, if it was not so regular.

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

As a result, what should've been a very quick and easy read, became an increasingly tedious slog. I hate to refer to it as such, because the actual narrative and symbolism of it is good, but the nature of Kafka's writing proves to be the killer of any true momentum.

My closing thoughts are such; while this may not be the most concisely written short story, it is certainly a marker of excellent symbolism, and worthy of the word that emerged from its author's name and reputation; kafkaesque.

"Was he an animal if music could captivate him so? It seemed to him that he was being shown the way to the unknown nourishment he had been yearning for."