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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 turned out to be transforming

into a bug, he quickly found out that it was ultimately not desirable because he didn't recognize

himself anymore and his transformation ruined the relationship between him and 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 and hiding under furniture. He also found himself liking

to crawl all over the walls and ceilings just like any other insect. In other words, he is fully

transforming into an insect not just physically but mentally as well. 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
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move easily” (Boroomandjazi). To sum up, 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. Gregor not only has to accustom to

his new body and mind, he also has to relearn how to live life itself. 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. The way he chooses to act and behave with 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 demonstrates to the audience or the readers 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
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Sadigh used to explain the moment where Gregor’s father threw an apple at him, creates an

image in the reader's mind that showcases that the father used all his force. In other words, his

own father truly wanted to cause great harm upon Gregor even to the point of killing him. 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

viewed as a part of the family like he used to. Gregor finally achieved the freedom he sought out

for but it cost him the hefty price of the thing he loved most, his family.

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. To Gregor the most important thing was his family. 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 caused a lot of problems and chaos. Something that physically and mentally

hurt Gregor was when his father aggressively threw an apple at him and led him to be

handicapped. 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.
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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

over him. His life changed in an instant. Gregor changed from being part of a family to being a

pest to them overnight. His family basically had no use for him anymore, all he was now was

nothing but a nuisance. 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 providing 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. Gregor cherished his family and he would give anything for them even

his happiness and to him freedom was actually not even freedom at all. Gregor hated knowing

that he was what bothered his family so much, even when he was suffering and was treated

harshly, he wanted his family to be happy. The entire time that Gregor was “free”, he didn’t even

feel free, more so he felt tied down by his emotions. 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.