The Ending of the Metamorphosis: Happily, Ever After?
The Metamorphosis as a whole seems to epitome Kafkaesque. Waking up and finding yourself transformed into a giant bug already feels very surreal yet Gregor’s single minded focus to get to work makes it seem even more surreal. On the whole, the story feels very dark and it feels like nothing goes Gregor’s way and yet, the mood of the last few paragraphs diverges from the previous Kafkaesque tone. The imagery we get in the last few paragraphs feels oddly optimistic. First off, “the tram car was filled with warm sunshine” (110). Just the phrase “warm sunshine” seems like the opposite of Kafkaesque. Sunshine is nice, happy and warm, all of which are not emotions you would expect people to feel when a family member transforms into a giant bug and dies. Earlier, Kafka writes, “They rose, went to the window, and clasped each other tight” (110). This scene feels like a sweet moment of family bonding. I know this probably wasn’t what Kafka intended but I imagine the S...