The Metamorphosis

Kafka is important to us because his
predicament is the predicament of modern man.
—British poet W. H. Auden

Kafka certainly does not provide an
interpretation of the world. . . . What he
provides is an image of how experience looks
when all interpretations are called in doubt
—British critic Anthony Thorlby

I recently advised one of my friends to read Franz Kafka's "The Metamorphosis". After her long journey into an abyss of alienation and disoriented anxiety she confronted me with many questions such as whether or not one should interpret this in a literal or symbolic sense and whether the story itself has any actual meaning. The answer to these questions do not come easy considering the work is filled with endless interpretations. The most salient feature of this work is that it has the ability to diverge its meanings. Since the book is full of possible meanings, the reader must find meaning subjectively. In a symbolic sense, one might hold that Gregor's transformation symbolizes his emptiness, his despair and his insignificant life as a traveling salesman. Others assert that the story is written through the eyes of Kafka's father who views his son as a degrading form of existence. This story can also be interpreted as an allegory. The literal transformation might exemplify the very definition of failure. However, I believe the ambiguity of its meaning is found when the reader comes to the realization that the transformation occurs in order to illustrate the fact that Gregor died the exact way in which he had lived; in isolation and in pain.