This paper argues that Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis is an allegory about what it means to be human and the relationship of the individual to the world.
The writing of Kafka is rife with symbolism and imagery, with The Metamorphosis being no different. However, a stylistic reality is his works is worth noting prior to the outset of an analysis of his story, as it is indicative as to the base upon which The Metamorphosis was built. In his works Kafka’s style would transcend merely the position of author, to be rather a transmigration of his soul into new bodies or stories within which to live. Within each of his stories the character will die, only to live on again as a different incarnation in another story of his. In this way, as he dies within each of his stories, Kafka views himself reborn in another, with vermin being the stage in the cycle chosen for the Metamorphosis, and then the same torturous cycle begins again. (Ryan 137) Thus, this story is a step in the condition of an overall progression, with the particular point in the cycle it represents being that of salvation, as will be discussed.