Yesterday in philosophy we started learning about Existentialism. Literature is a main form of communication for Existentialists. Franz Kafka was an Existentialist, and a lot of the things pointed out in class fit into The Metamorphosis.
One of the main points of Existentialism is that people must make choices all the time. At first I thought the fact that Gregor turned into a beetle sort of went against that idea because it wasn’t his choice to turn into a beetle, but it actually made a lot of sense when I thought about it more. Existentialists believed that conformity was “bad faith” and that it was the worst possible thing. In Gregor’s life before he became a beetle, he totally just agreed to what his parents wanted him to do. It wasn’t his choice to work all the time; he only did it because his parents told him to. Existentialists thought that choices would eventually create a purpose for humanity or something, so maybe Gregor transforming into a beetle symbolized that his life of conformity as a human was so meaningless that he was more like a bug.
Something else Mr. Brehm mentioned that reminded me of The Metamorphosis was a play called Rhinoceros which was written by Eugene Ionesco. I looked it up and I guess everyone in the town turned into rhinos except for one guy who stayed human, so he was kind of the opposite of Gregor. I thought it was interesting that multiple Existentialists wrote about human to animal transformations.
I like how you brought up the point about Gregor conforming to society before transforming into a beetle, and I'd like to point out another decision in the book that would support existentialism. At first, the family kind of just tried to go on with their normal lives, conforming to how they had lived before, which was in conformity with the rest of society. This leads them to more and more misery as they struggle to support themselves. Eventually something snaps in Grete, though, and she makes the choice to get rid of Gregor once and for all. Existentialists view making such choices as the ultimate good in life, even if that choice leads to unpleasant consequences. Despite the fact that Gregor died, however, I'd say the consequences for the family weren't altogether unpleasant.
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