Analysis of Gregor Samsa Death

Analysis of Gregor Samsa Death

Introduction

Gregor Samsa is a traveling salesman, and act as the protagonist in The Metamorphosis. Gregor transitions to a massive creature and spends the rest of his life in those states. Kevin W. Sweeney analyzed the story with the aid of Competing Theories of Identity.  Sweeney suggests that Gregor’s death could be seen as suicide due to his hopeless state. In his statement, Sweeney confirms that Gregory’s behavior was nothing short of irrational and threating to family members. The family isolated him, a condition that is suspected to be the primary cause of his death. Isolation of Gregor by other family members instigated him to commit suicide due to long-standing severe depression.

What I think about the claim

The claim by Sweeney that Gregor’s death could be seen as suicide may be valid since the protagonist had been going through severe depression due to the communication barrier (Sweeney, 2016). “Gregor finds communication with other people hard because he is unfamiliar with his voice.”  A metaphysical barrier now bars him from interacting with other members. Notably, both manager and family found Gregor’s behavior irrational and was not in line with acceptable human character (Mondal, 2018).

Additionally, they were all wondering about the creature which was being referred to as Gregor. The interrogation of Gregor by the family members while trying to acquire information regarding his identity might have created a sense of hopelessness in him (Mondal, 2018). Based on the story, it is evident that the family kept him separate from other members, which was against his wish. The action from the family members could have triggered him to commit suicide.

The cause of Gregor’s death

The fact that Gregor had transitioned to another creature does not mean he could not remember his old ways of living. Notably, he could see himself crawling up walls, rather than standing upright in a human position (Sweeney, 2016). Again, the range of his vision decreases his taste in food changes and begins not to notice the passage of time. The family members could relate him to an insect. Gregor could comprehend the above changes clearly, in addition to being isolated by the family members (Sweeney, 2016). Equally, the gradual encroachment of one character on another makes Gregor’s individuality unravel. He could feel the hatred that was created between himself and other family members. These changes developed unhappiness and sorrow, a condition that might have led to his death.

Gregor’s family was much bitter to accept him amid themselves. Again, it was challenging for the family to swallow the disgust and take him as one of the family’s sons. It is, however, worth noting that the family member held discussion continuously geared towards eliminating Gregor (the monster) (Sweeney, 2016). Since the family had cut off communication with Gregor, it became much challenging to create a new familial bond. A gradual change was not only evidenced in Gregor’s ways of living, but also the family (Minar, & Sutandio, 2017). Precisely, the family could see him as an irrational and threating creature, a situation which made him lose hope for the future. Gregor’s death is termed as a compassionate consideration since the family was much overwhelmed to hear of the incidence.

Before transition, Gregor had been going through pain and depression due to various aspects, including the responsibilities he inherited and the destructive his life had become. He never got the love he expected from his Dad (Minar, & Sutandio, 2017). Additionally, he was forced by circumstances to abandon studies to embark on the miserable life he was living before the transition. Life became even more disgusting after metamorphosis as he is seen struggling to survive in addition to battling with denial. Gregor could walk through all streets in a bid to make a sale because he had a family responsibly (Mondal, 2018). Besides, he was working to repay the debt from his father. As noted earlier, a person can feel past experiences even after transformation. Therefore, it is evident that Gregor could remember all the suffering he experienced before metamorphosis. His reflection of past events could be the primary cause of suicide.

What drives Gregor to commit suicide?

Gregor’s suicide decision was purposely to sacrifice for his family. Gregor was pretty sure that he would never assist the family in any way, and he will remain as a burden forever. Suicide was the last option of deliberation from suffering as well as a relief to the family. The unusual condition demanded him to remain confined in a room, and he could not venture outside chores (Mondal, 2018). As a result, the situation became unfavorable, yet unbearable since he could hardly seek security and peace. Again, one can easily conclude that Gregory committed suicide to take control of the entire situation since it was the only method for someone in his shoes could do (Sweeney, 2016). It worth noting that his spiritual death might have occurred the time he was sacrificing his happiness to feed the family. Notably, Gregor could enslave himself to support the family financially, a situation that led him to commit suicide.

Gregor’s scars, which were presented both mentally and physically, was the primary cause of suicide decision. After metamorphosis, Mr. Samsa diverged his mind entirely from Gregor, thereby triggering his guiltiness towards responsibilities (Mondal, 2018). An apple grew on his back, which was a significant physical disturbance, thereby inducing him to commit suicide. Again the long-standing isolation of Gregor by other family members contributed hugely towards his death. Some researchers suggest that Gregor died of starvation because he finds human food to be much disgusting (Sweeney, 2016). Sweeney (2016) opine that the apple which was thrown to him by father is believed to have caused infectious, thereby leading to death. While he was providing financial help to the family, the sister could not appreciate his efforts. She even requested his dad to through Gregor outside the house, which might contribute towards his decision to commit suicide.

Conclusion

All in all, Gregor’s decision to take his own life was only the approach he could bring to liberate himself from suffering. Again, he could not bear with the family’s behavior due to continuous isolation and confinement. Additionally, Gregory had uprooted happiness from the family. Therefore, his actions were meant to reunite the family in addition to rebuilding a peaceful environment. It is worth noting that Gregory’s death was much significant because the family learned to be independent.  The entire family could sit down and wait to be fed by Gregor during his working error as opposed to now where everybody struggles in search of daily bread.

References

Minar, K. S., & Sutandio, A. (2017). Shame and alienation in Kafka’s The

Metamorphosis. Jurnal POETIKA, 5(2), 123-133.

Mondal, P. (2018). Predicament of the Modern Man in the City: Reading Kafka’s The Trial and

The Metamorphosis. The Contour, 64-70.

Sweeney, K. W. (2016). The possibility of the cinematic in ‘the metamorphosis ‘and ‘the

burrow’. Mediamorphosis: Kafka and the Moving Image, 163.