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Darlene Gomez

Professor Beadle

ESW 113A

11 July 2019

The Metamorphosis: A Reflection of How Differences Are Treated in Society

The Metamorphosis​ by Franz Kafka, is a novella about a traveling salesman named

Gregor Samsa, who wakes up completely transformed into an enormous insect. In the novella

there is no information given on how​ or ​why he became an insect. ​Many speculate that Franz

Kafka felt like an outcast and his feeling is projected in ​The Metamorphosis, ​onto his main

character Gregor Samsa. ​So, Gregor Samsa probably never turned into a vermin he just felt like

one. Instead of being ​resistant to his sudden change,​ he embraces his transformation with no

protest and is accepting of it. However, the world around him is not accepting of his sudden

transformation. In the novella Gregor’s family is repulsed by his transformation into a vermin; he

is left locked in his room fed garbage, left unattended, and resented by the ones he loves. Gregor

is closed off and hidden from the world because his family was ashamed ​of who he was​. At the

end of the novella Gregor dies alone in his room because of malnutrition and a possible

infection. Gregor Samsa’s transformation in ​The Metamorphosis​ ​mirrors how society views and

neglects ​people who are considered “different”, but more specifically, the LGBTQ+ community.

At the start of ​The Metamorphosis​ Gregor Samsa is seen as a normal male by societal

norms. ​Gregor Samsa has a coming out moment when he reveals himself to his family and

manager. When Gregor reveals himself, he is very comfortable in his own truth.​ ​Gregor literally

comes has a coming out moment, his transformation seems to be no new news to him, only to
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those around him.Now, the only problem he faces is that now, he has to reveal himself to the rest

of the world​. ​The reaction he encounters from the people waiting outside his room is disgust and

horror. Father is the most physically violent and it is scene right after Gregor Samsa comes out

“With a hostile expression his father clenched his fist, as if to drive Gregor back into his room,

then looked uncertainty around the living room, shielded his eyes with his hands, and sobbed

heaves of his powerful chest.”(14) Gregor’s father’s reaction to his transformation and reveal is

very intense, he is angry at Gregor and in the quote you see the father’s shame when he sobs at

Gregor’s reveal. The ending of chapter ​one​ ends with Gregor’s father violently shoving him

back into his room: “his father gave him a hard shove, which was truly his salvation, and

bleeding profusely, he flew far into his room. The door was slammed shut with the cane, then at

last everything was quiet.”(19) this quote depicts his father’s violent rejection of Gregor’s

transformation.

Gregor Samsa’s rejection from his father mirrors exactly what happens to members of the

LGBTQ+ community when they come out to their loved ones and in society​. When a person

comes out they are either accepted or rejected by their family. It is normal in LGBTQ+

community to be rejected by their family members, kicked out of​ their own homes, discriminated

against in society, and in some extreme cases murdered.​ In a narrative study called “Coming out

and coming into an identity: A structural analysis of the coming out story” Henry F. Slubowski

says that “Coming Out is not only a personal statement of worth and self-respect, it is a statement

of dissent— a voice raised in defense of diversity and genuine democracy. (Wayne Curtis qtd. In

Plummer 49).”​(Slubowski) ​Although all coming out stories and experiences for the LGBTQ+ are

different there is no doubt that their coming out story is a very crucial event in there lives, a
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moment that embarks the start of their lives where they can finally live their truth. LGBTQ+

members can only expect and hope that their family and loved ones will accept them with open

arms. ​All Gregor wanted from the beginning of the book is to carry on with his life even though

he had transformed, he wanted the people around him to be just as comfortable and accepting as

he was with his new identity.

In chapter two Gregor’s self confidence plummets because of the treatment he has

received after ​he has came out and ​revealed himself as an insect. He is very accepting of himself,

but because of the abuse and neglect he is experiencing in his own home and the energy from his

family towards him changes, Gregor becomes insecure and depressed. ​This also happens to

LGBTQ+ members who are bullied and neglected by those around them, they begin to feel

ashamed of who they are. ​ ​In the article “A Decade of Microaggression Research and LGBTQ

Communities: An Introduction to the Special Issue” by Kevin Nadal states: “Heterosexist and

transphobic discrimination have also persisted through interpersonal interactions - ranging from

more overt forms (e.g., hate crimes, bullying) to more subtle forms of discrimination, otherwise

known as microaggressions.”​ Although there has been some progression, transphobia and

heterosexism is still exhibited silently in the U.S. systems, the fight or LGBTQ+ rights is not

over.

Gregor expressed who he was by crawling around the walls, and this distrubed the people

around him. Just how some people get disgusted and uncomfortable when a transgender dresses

up as the opposite gender, when this their way of expressing themselves and their sexuality.

Gregor expressed who he was by crawling around his room “He was especially fond of hanging

from the ceiling. The experience was quite different from lying on the floor. It was easier to
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breathe, a slight vibration went through his body, and in the midst of the almost happy

amusement which Gregor found up there”(41) This is when Gregor is the happiest bug ever.

However, the people who see this are uncomfortable and horrified by it. As a result, his ​father

starts to viciously attack Gregor with apples, “But the very next one that came flying after it

literally forced its way into Gregor’s back; Gregor tried to drag himself away, as if the startling,

unbelievable pain might disappear with a change of place;but he felt nailed to the spot and

stretched out his body in a complete confusion of all his senses.”(37) ​Gregor later died because

of an infection perpetrated by the apple thrown to his back by his own father.​ father’s intention

was to kill him off only because Gregor was expressing himself. He can’t change the fact he is a

vermin it was who he was, and this is totally out of his control. Maybe his father wasn’t always

very affectionate or loving toward Gregor before his transformation, but it seemed that he and

the rest of the family took leverage after Gregor’s metamorphosis into an insect to dehumanize

him and think that it is okay to neglect him and kill him off. Gregor Samsa should’ve been

respected, accepted, and loved regardless if he had transformed into an insect or not.

Gregor Samsa was neglected to death and died alone in his room and no one cared at all.

This is very similar to what is going on in society today with the LGBTQ+ community.​ There

has been a rise in killings of LGBTQ+ members and no one is talking about it, it has simply

been brushed off. The Gay “Panic” Defense, is a legal defense used in court to justify the horrific

killings and violent hate crimes imposed against transgender’s and gay’s. This defense states that

their own sexual orientation and gender identity is to blame for the defendants loss of

self-control and violent crimes inflicted upon them. The case of Matthew Shepard who was

beaten too death by two men who aimed to use the Gay “Panic” Defense to justify their horrible
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actions. Even Though there has been public resistance towards this legal defense, it is till this day

used in court. Kind of how Gregor Samsa’s murder was justified and brushed off because he

was just an insect. ​After Gregor dies his family literally goes on with their lives with no remorse

for Gregor “They talked to each other, leaning back comfortably in their seats, about future

prospects”(76), not once after Gregor’s death is he mentioned by his family. As if his death

didn’t matter because he was a vermin, and this justifies their actions of neglecting him to death.

In the article “Trans deaths are real deaths” by Irene Monroe she states that “In one week

this May, three transwomen of African descent were murdered: Michelle Washington, 40, Claire

Legato, 21, and Muhlaysia Booker, 23. As I draw attention to these sisters, several this year in

2019 have been murdered and, sadly, many more will be killed.”(Monroe) and their death’s

aren’t taken seriously, just Gregor Samsa’s death, because they are transgender and considered

inferior. Since this publication there has been 6 transgender homicides reported Monoroe says

that the violence is mainly towards transgender of color. ​Although some may interpret Franz

Kafka’s ​The Metamorphosis a​ s a depiction of​ ​the negative effects of a capitalist society. This is

noted when you think about Gregor Samsa’a relationship with money. However, this goes

against the idea of the whole novella which is about how Gregor is treated differently because he

was different. Not to mention that half of the events of the book are him being neglected by his

family and those around him for being a vermin. ​Not Gregor’s relationship with money.

There is a pattern of violence that is being inflicted upon on any minority ​groups​ who are

considered inferior in society that is ongoing throughout the novel ​The Metamorphosis​ by Franz

Kafka and society. Gregor Samsa was viewed negatively because he had transformed into a

vermin, he was neglected, abused, and killed because he was different and couldn’t change who
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he had become even if he wanted to. Gregor’s transformation mirrors how negatively society

views differences. The neglect of the people who are different( people of color and the

LGBTQ+) is shown in the lack of representation in society. Although we don’t have visible

segregation as we did before, it’s more discreet and hidden. It’s systemic oppression and if you

aren’t paying attention, you could miss it.

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Works Cited

Kafka, Franz. The Metamorphosis. Translated by Stanley Corngold, 2013, Modern Library,

1915.

Monroe, Irene. "Trans Deaths are Real Deaths." Windy City Times, Jun 05, 2019, pp. 20.

ProQuest,

http://libproxy.csun.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.libproxy.csun.edu/docvie

w/2239577216?accountid=7285. Access 2019

Nadal, Kevin L., PhD. "A Decade of Microaggression Research and LGBTQ Communities: An

Introduction to the Special Issue." Journal of Homosexuality, vol. 66, no. 10, 2019, pp.

1309-1316. ProQuest,

http://libproxy.csun.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.libproxy.csun.edu/docvie

w/2250843334?accountid=7285,

doi:http://dx.doi.org.libproxy.csun.edu/10.1080/00918369.2018.1539582.

Peterson, Jerry. "A Silent Crisis: LGBTQ Youth Homelessness in Detroit." Between the Lines,

Feb 18, 2016, pp. 13. ProQuest,

http://libproxy.csun.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.libproxy.csun.edu/docvie

w/1770223439?accountid=7285. Access 8 July 2019

Slubowski, Henry F., Jr. Coming Out and Coming into an Identity: A Structural Analysis of the

Coming Out Story, Truman State University, Ann Arbor, 1998. ProQuest,

http://libproxy.csun.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.libproxy.csun.edu/docvie

w/304484578?accountid=7285. Access 8 July 2019

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