?Kafkaesque? is a term coined to describe a man?s writing style. But it goes much further than that that it describes a man. The Metamorphosis is so full of surrealism and impending danger that one can?t help but think Franz Kafka sees life the same way. Gregor is alienated from his family because of his condition, and his condition makes his family feel that there is impending danger whenever they are near him. Little do they know that all of Gregor?s intentions are good, so the danger isn?t even real, no matter how evident it may seem. Even the impending danger is surreal, showing that Kafka must really have a problem with reality. It makes me think he probably didn?t fit into the world like most people pretend they do.
The very idea of a man changing into a bug is very surreal. Common sense tells our brains that such a thing could never happen, but Kafka makes it seem real by the way Gregor reacts.
Gregor Robertson, Founder of Happy Planet
gregor at loch duich
Gregor Books and Giraffe HeroesKafka never lets the reader forget that Gregor is still human, even right after he describes Gregor?s bug qualities. It is hard to imagine a bug with human qualities, or in this case, a human with bug qualities. In the earlier stages of his transformation, ?[Gregor] would crawl up to the window sill and, propped up in the chair, lean against the window, evidently in some sort of remembrance of the feeling of freedom he used to have from looking out the window.? (29) Kafka paints a picture of a bug sitting in a human position, doing a human thing, and just reflecting. There is something freeing about looking out a window, that words can?t describe, and all humans feel that. There is no use in trying to understand it, that?s just the way...