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Susana Martinez

Professor Jon Beadle

English 115

1 November 2021

Freedom Isn’t Always Fun

The term freedom is often associated with satisfaction and joy, but there are many cases

where freedom doesn't lead to happiness. An example of this is Franz Kafka’s The

Metamorphosis. This novel is a story about a man named Gregor, waking up one day and

realizing that he had turned into an insect. He has to adjust and learn how to live his life with his

new body. As a result, his life and everything around him come crashing down and he becomes a

burden to everyone around him. The freedom that Gregor received was ultimately not desirable

because he didn't recognize himself anymore and his change ruined the relationship with his

family.

As time went on in the novel, the reader begins to realize and notice that Gregor doesn’t

recognize himself anymore. He has forgotten how to act with the ones around him and has pretty

much lost control over his new body. He begins to prefer eating food scraps rather than

home-cooked meals and likes sleeping or hiding under furniture. He also likes to crawl all over

the walls and ceilings just like any other insect. In other words, he is fully transforming into an

insect. Khashayar Boroomandjazi, a writer who holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy and who mainly

focuses on the Heideggerian Approach in Psychology, explains, “So corresponding to his feeling

of defenselessness in the situation he is in, and the deficiency in his human futural projection,

Gregor finds himself as a physically weak creature with a heavy and inflexible body and small

powerless legs that make him unable to move easily” (Boroomandjazi). To sum up,
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Boroomandjazi talks about how the longer Gregor stayed in the insect’s body, the more

defenseless and disassociated he became with his body and mind. His explanation also illustrates

a picture of what is going on in Gregor’s life. Gregor is not only trying to manage his new body,

but he also has to manage his thoughts. Transforming into the insect takes a great toll on the way

he thinks about life. In addition, Jeffrey Jerome Cohen describes, “The same creatures who

terrify and interdict can evoke potent escapist fantasies” (Cohen). To simplify, the idea of Gregor

being an insect was meant to demonstrate his inner/ deep thoughts. Freedom is all that Gregor

wants. It is what he has always wanted, in his mind or dreams but never shared. He had a lot of

pressure put on him because he was his family’s main source of income, he didn’t seem too

happy with his job, and he felt lonely.

In addition to Gregor losing touch with his mind and body, he also along the way loses

touch or the connection with his family. His choice of actions in his new body makes him seem

like a burden to his family. He can’t provide for his family as he used to. That’s all he seemed to

care about, providing for his family and making sure they are okay. Right before Gregor’s

transformation, he says, “Well, I have not entirely given up hope, and as soon as I have saved the

money to pay off the debt my parents owe him—it might still be another five or six years—I’ll

definitely do it” (Kafka). This quote shows his relationship and his thoughts of his family before

the big downfall in his life. It demonstrates how dearly he loves and cares for his family. This

also gives the audience or the readers an idea of how drastically his life turns upside down.

Micah Sadigh, a writer who holds a Ph.D. in Psychology explains, “To punish the ‘monster,’ the

father grabs a few apples from a dish on the table and begins throwing them at Gregor with great

force, as if they are projectiles shot out of a cannon” (Sadigh). The words that Sadigh used to

explain the moment where Gregor’s father threw an apple at him, creates an image in the reader's
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mind that showcases that the father used all his force. In other words, his father truly wanted to

hurt Gregor. This also shows that his father no longer saw Gregor as his son, but now saw him as

a pest or a burden to the family and he didn’t want him in his house. The disconnection between

Gregor and his family is also seen when his sister came up with the idea of letting Gregor go. He

was no longer seen as a part of the family but a pest.

One might object and say that Gregor’s transformation was ultimately desirable because

he finally got the freedom that he deserved. He worked long and hard to provide for his family

and he deserved his freedom. Also, even though he suddenly passed away, he left peacefully

knowing that he wouldn’t have to stay being a burden to his family and that when he’s gone, they

will all be happy. Although this may all be true and reasonable, Gregor’s freedom was ultimately

not desirable because all he really cared about was being there for his family. This was not

achievable because, in the process of his transformation, he created a lot of problems and chaos.

He was also physically and mentally hurt after his father aggressively threw an apple at him and

caused him to be almost disabled. He had a lot of trouble moving around and not only because of

his new body but also because of the wound. Knowing that a family member, especially when

that member is the father, wanted to hurt him took a huge toll on Gregor because being the

burden of the family was never his intention. This made Gregor very uneasy and depressed. Most

of the time that he spent locked away in his room was spent thinking about how much of a

burden he was to his family. All of the negative things that happened to Gregor while being in

his new body, override the positive. In the end, Gregor didn’t get to enjoy the freedom that he

had earned.

Gregor’s freedom was not desirable because he lost himself and his family along the way.

By losing himself, he lost control over his mind and body. The mind of an insect started to take
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over him. His life changed in an instant. Gregor’s experience of losing his family meant that his

family over time started having hatred and anger over him. He became the pest of the family

because he no longer helped his family with expenses and did nothing but horrify anyone that

came in his way. With that, he began to create new problems for his whole family. Gregor no

longer wanted to feel “freedom” because it felt more like torture than anything. He knew he was

a burden to his family so he chose to wait it out and then he died the next day. After his death,

the family appears to be stress-free and are living their best life. This is very odd and a shock to

the audience because one would think that if someone would do all the heavy lifting for you, you

would at least care for them. Even though Gregor was in a totally different body, he was still the

same Gregor as he once was before. The readers/ audience know the end of the story, whereas

Gregor did not. After finishing the novel, the audience clearly understands and knows that

Gregor’s freedom was ultimately not desirable because his freedom turned out to be torture as

everything around him came crashing down.

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Works Cited

Boroomandjazi, Khashayar. “The World of Gregor Samsa: A Daseinsanalytic Interpretation of

Kafka’s The Metamorphosis.” The Humanistic Psychologist, vol. 48, no. 1, Educational

Publishing Foundation, 2020, pp. 74–83

Cohen, Jeffrey Jerome. “Fear of the Monster Is Really a Kind of Desire.” Monsters, edited by

Andrew J. Hoffman, Bedford St. Martins, 2016. pp. 190-195

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

1915.

Sadigh, Micah. “The Nightmare of Becoming Human: Metaphors and Reflections for

Individuals in Search of Authentic Self.” Existential Analysis, vol. 28, no. 2, Society for

Existential Analysis, 2017, p. 362.