Disability in The Metamorphosis

Tanisha Shende

Bergen County Academies Scholarly Essay

Better to understand disability as well as the social norms and conditions that define particular attributes as impairments and proceed to challenge the disabled, critical disability theory is applied to literature. Doing so reveals how society treats such individuals and how the perception of disability changes over time. The disabled identity can be found throughout literature, even in characters that aren’t outwardly identified as disabled, which can provide nuance and subtlety to the study. One such example is Gregor Samsa in Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis. From his physical and mental changes to the treatment he receives from hisfamily, Gregor’s predicament serves as a literary parallel for disability. In The Metamorphosis, Kafka illustrates the experience of disabled people in modern society through the internal and external conflicts of his central characters.

One of these is the external conflict between Gregor and society. By extension, Kafka examines the designations every member of society falls into and how one will be treated if one does not conform to those standards. After his transformation, Gregor cannot speak, he cannot move without pain, and his outward appearance as a “monstrous vermin” terrifies others (Kafka 7). As soon as Gregor makes contact with the outside world, he is met with revulsion and antagonism, seeing his father threatening him, his mother fearing him, and “the head clerk, standing closest to the door, pressing his hand against his open mouth and backing away slowly” (Kafka 16). To the people outside of Gregor’s world, he is inhuman, and the change is so disorienting that they fear him. This reaction is caused by societal standards that define the boundary of what is human and what is not in order to create a sense of identity. There is what is accepted in society, the Subject, that which is tolerated in society, the Object, and that which is expelled from society, the Abject. “What strikes [Gregor’s] other able-bodied observers is the gross ugliness of his transformation. His appearance, which is a vivid reminder of his otherness, becomes the core of his new identity” (Ghosh 2). Society cannot stand to look at Gregor because he violates the social parameters of personhood and serves as a reminder of the instability and flexibility of bodies and mental states. Thus, Kafka reveals society’s expectation to look and behave a certain way by displaying an antagonistic reaction when a person behaves outside of the norm.

Just as Gregor’s rejection by society was an indication of the expectant relationship between an individual and the rest of society, his rejection by his family addresses another defined component of personhood: the ability to produce capital. Before his transformation, Gregor had “begun to work with consuming energy and was promoted, almost overnight, from a minor clerk to a traveling salesman with much greater potential to earn money” (Kafka 26). By working to pay off his father’s debts and maintaining his family’s good quality of life, Gregor establishes himself as a prized breadwinner and a valuable contributor to society. Notably, Gregor would produce enough “cash that he could then lay on the table before the astonished and delighted family” (Kafka 26). His family is specifically delighted by the money, showing they care more about Gregor’s ability to produce income than his work ethic or personality. Therefore, when he transforms into an insect and must now rely on his family to provide for him, Gregor has taken away their effortless life and spurred their animosity since he can no longer support them. Instead of caring for him in return for his care, the family resents his change, and both his physical appearance and newfound dependency transform him into an abject creature to his family. Over time, this resentment grows until even his sister Grete, who seems to be the only one who still cares for him, will not come inside his room if

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she can see him and changes his food from “milk, which had otherwise been his favorite drink” to “old, half-rotten vegetables, bones covered with congealed white sauce from the supper the night before, some raisins and almonds” (Kafka 21-23). This ill treatment of Gregor by his family serves as a commentary on how a person is defined by what he or she can provide society and how individuals who cannot contribute meaningfully to society are looked down upon.

In reality, these kinds of treatment are almost unavoidable and often expected, but there is another conflict to be addressed. Through the characterization of Gregor as he deals with his new body, Kafka confronts the mental toll of disability and the resulting social consequences. When Gregor first transforms, he is surprised to have “transformed in his bed into a monstrous vermin,” but his energy soon goes into pondering his family and his job (Kafka 7). Notably, regardless of his change, he doesn't find himself nauseating. Given the opportunity, Gregor may even not be able to adapt to his new body but also to learn how to enjoy it and maneuver about the house. Given enough time and support, Gregor likely could have adjusted to his change and reintegrated with society, but this fantasy is shattered when the outside world reacts to him, and his new body now becomes a problem. It is only when he perceives their reaction that Gregor finds himself disgusting. Regarding the production of income, Gregor, who once took great pride in his role as the breadwinner, is now distressed when he can no longer provide for his family. He fears that he is causing his family financial ruin, despite their ability to support themselves by working, renting out rooms in their apartment, and living off saved money. His worries make him throw “himself into the cool leather sofa nearby, [feeling] so flushed with shame and guilt” (Kafka 27). The self-loathing and shame destroy Gregor’s humanity and mind until he sees himself as a waste and a burden and is compelled to starve himself to death to alleviate his family’s stress. Gregor’s family perceives him as different from what is considered normal, inciting the internalization of role expectancy. In this case, Gregor’s traits characterize him as a manifestation of the damage caused by isolation and ostracization on the basis of alienness.

In The Metamorphosis, Gregor the human was acceptable for what he could produce and for how he fit into the social boundaries of society, but once Gregor finds himself outside of these boundaries, his family isolates and ignores him, leading to his self-destruction. Gregor is still fully conscious and mentally human at the beginning of the story. It is only after he is treated exclusively as an insect and as a tragedy and accepts all of this that he loses the last vestiges of his personhood. Could he have continued to live if he was allowed the privilege of being seen as humans despite his superficial appearance and utility to capital? Should he have been treated with respect despite his permanent disfigurement and inability to work? The answer is yes. But rarely are the real people who undergo such a debilitating change, the human beings who are locked away and starved and dehumanized by the family and society who are supposed to care for them, shown such decency.

Works Cited

Ghosh, Uttara. “The Metamorphosis: Through the Looking Glass of a Disabled.” The Criterion, An International Journal in English, vol. 4, no. IV, Aug. 2013, pp. 1–6. Kafka, F., Pelzer, K., & Pelzer, J. (2017). The Metamorphosis. In The Metamorphosis and Other Stories (pp. 5-52). New York: Barnes & Noble

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