The Metamorphosis’s Commentary on Sacrifice During Crisis

In his novella “The Metamorphosis”, Franz Kafka presents the mental characterization of Gregor Samsa right before his death (the willing sacrifice of his life) in order to more display Gregor’s and his values of love for his family, responsibility, and passive obedience, ultimately conveying how sacrifices are often willingly made to maintain order in times of crisis.

Gregor’s death was mentally spurred on by his sister Grete’s remark that, if he really loved his family, he would have left the house to not give them the burden of caring for him. This marks the first time Grete has openly been against Gregor’s existence in their household and is also when she begins referring to Gregor as “it”, showing her completely refusing to think of Gregor as her brother or part of the family. Both actions are significant as they completely signify to Gregor that he is unneeded and even bothersome in this household. Gregor’s death taking place immediately after this scene implies that these words were the cause of his willingness to “let go” as to not burden the family any longer and disrupt the new order of the family, displaying his value of loving his family deeply.

Gregor’s death also showcases his sense of responsibility toward his family. At the beginning, the readers are given a taste for how responsible Gregor is when he does not care about turning into a bug but rather thinks about his job and how he needed to earn money for his family. Gregor’s death elaborates on this value – due to Grete’s comment on how they should get rid of Gregor, Gregor feels the need to make things easier for them, even if the sacrifice that must be made is himself. This should go against Gregor’s primal, selfish instincts, whether human or (especially) bug – one’s instincts are to benefit themselves all to stay alive, yet Gregor forgoes this to benefit his family in this time of crisis. This indicates the great extent of Gregor’s responsibility – enough to make the ultimate sacrifice – and recognizes Gregor’s remaining humanity (animals do not have “sacrificial spirit”), even within his physical bug self, to commit a sacrifice to maintain order.

Finally, Gregor’s death truly characterized his passive obedience. This stems from the physical reason for his death – the apple rotting away in his back. Gregor had an apple embedded within his back due to his father trying to get him back into his room – Gregor was treated as an enemy by his own family. Then, Gregor did not try to retaliate, and as the apple continued rotting in his back for the days afterward, he did not try to get it out. The apple can be seen as a symbol of Gregor’s father and his whole family not wanting him here – symbolizing all their negative emotions toward him. The apple rotting in Gregor’s back out of his free will implies that Gregor is (again) going against his primal instincts to stay alive and out of pain – he is recognizing that his family does not need him and that he is even a burden to them, and thus does not want to burden them further by having them remove the apple. He is basically abiding by his father’s wishes. Therefore, when Gregor finally succumbs to the infection by the apple, he is metaphorically abiding his father’s order to not be here anymore – to not burden his family. In fact, right as Gregor dies, he notes that the apple in his back did not even hurt anymore – with the apple symbolizing his father’s negative emotions toward him and wanting to be rid of him. Gregor’s intentional/willing death would therefore obey his father’s wishes (to make a sacrifice to keep the family well and functional), leading for the apple to no longer be a problem to him.

In all, the reasons for Gregor’s death are used to characterize Gregor as loving to his family, burdened with a great sense of responsibility, and obedient. This ultimately illuminates the larger theme that in times of crisis, sacrifices can be willingly made to maintain or restore order.

Tracy Lei