Though it was written prior to World War I, “The Metamorphosis” comments on modernity in a similar manner as War literature. For example, Kafka’s story repeatedly discusses the dehumanizing effects of modern work. Very obviously, Gregor turns into a bug—he is literally dehumanized. Symbolically, this change can be read as an effect of the enormous amount of energy and life he puts into his work. His job sucks the life out of him, and it reduces him to a piece of vermin.
World War I soldiers also felt incredibly dehumanized as a result of the work they had to do. The poison gas and alien-like masks, the condition of living in a ditch like an animal, and mechanized fighting all contributed the dehumanization. Many War veterans probably felt as though they had metamorphosed into some lesser being as a result of their experiences.
Comments
Kristyn Baker
Wed, 05/01/2013 - 00:40
Permalink
This is an interesting way to
This is an interesting way to think about this story. I would not have initially thought of this as a comment on modernism but you do a good job of explaining it as such. Yes, soliders were made to feel almost machine-like and in a world where they were forced to kill or be killed, they could easily lose the empathy needed to combat the dehumanizing that can so easily effect soldiers. Gregor was literally turned into something non-human as a result of his work and the intense dedication he had. He had just become a tool, a machine and perhaps the text is suggesting that even before he was a bug he was still no more human than after his metamorphosis.
Amy Bunselmeyer
Thu, 05/02/2013 - 11:49
Permalink
When I read the story I
When I read the story I thought of the way Gregor was unable to take care of his family which was much like the way many soldiers felt after the war. However, I hadn't considered the story in this way, thinking of it as reflecting the dehuminization that people felt. It is interesting to me that Kafka would have felt that so strongly even before the war, and it shows just how unstable people were in the state of modernity and humanity, even before the war had started.