Essay: Gregor’s Death

Compare the ways in which death is presented in Kafka’s and Swanton’s versions of The Metamorphosis?

This essay will explore the Metamorphosis answer specifically death. We will study the book as well as the film directed by Chris Swanton. Franz Kafka was born in 1883 and died in 1924. The events that took place in his family and personal life has influenced what the story and the message is. His father was a bully and made him feel inferior. Furthermore, I am going to explore the similarities and differences between Kafka’s written version and Swanton’s film version.

In both versions of The Metamorphosis Gregor’s death is presented as a relief to Gregor. In the novella we can tell this when Kafka says ‘but it seemed to him that they were gradually becoming weaker and weaker’. The language device used is repetition. This phrase ‘weaker and weaker’ would imply that the pain is going away and becoming less and less of an issue even though he knows that death is near. Whereas in Swanton’s film version we can see the relief Gregor feels when he is walking ever so slowly back to his room and there is a sense of acknowledgement. This scene shows me that he understands that there is no need to worry about his family and he needs to do what’s best for the family even if that means death. Therefore in both versions of the Metamorphosis, death is presented as a relief to Gregor when in the film his resignation and in the book him crumbling to his death. When I say crumbling I mean that he is barely able to stand and he has recently been very passive and surprised he was able to stand on those skinny legs.

In both the film and the novella Gregor’s death is presented as a relief to the family. This is shown in the novella when Greta (Gregor’s sister) ‘sprung forward nimbly’ and cried out ‘Finally!’ to her parents. Kafka manipulates the syntax by placing the adverb at the end of the sentence in order to build tension. The language used by Kafka when he says Greta ‘sprung forward nimbly’ would show me that she is exhausted of taking care for this foul verminous bug and cannot no longer be able to look at this creature. Her then crying out ‘Finally’ would show that she now believes that she is done with taking care of him and is almost fed up. In comparison, in Swanton’s film version he uses the emotions that Greta shows when she is saying her long speech about how they no longer need this pest in their lives. Once she has finished and Gregor had returned to his room not only the exhaustion of the fact that she doesn’t want to care for Gregor anymore and I believe also that she was exhausted from the whole speech. I also believe that she can’t look after him anymore and is happy to close the door and give up on the person that she thought until now was Gregor.

In the film version of The Metamorphosis, Gregor appears to die of his family’s rejection whereas in the novella he appears to die of his physical wounds. In Kafka’s version we can see this when Kafka states that Gregor’s thoughts were that he in fact was surprised that he could walk on those skinny legs. The quote ‘he had pains throughout his entire body’ suggests to me that his physical wounds were the main cause of death in the novella and it further illustrates that 2 lines later when the rotten apple in his back had inflamed the surrounding area. The language device used by Kafka here is a hyperbole. The word ‘throughout’ implies that Gregor has a pain all through the body which is essentially making him paralysed. On the contrary, in Swanton’s film version the emotions that Greta is showing shows that the family feel as if they can’t and won’t look after him anymore. She goes on to say how the ideology of the family is incorrect and must be changed and no longer think that its Gregor and they need to get on with their lives without Gregor. Gregor eventually accepts that it should be time to go back to his room and sadly the family (he once cared for and fed pretty much as he was the only person to earn an income in the household) don’t want him under the same roof as him anymore.

My final point is that in both the novella and the film, Gregor’s perspective is used to show the sadness of his death through both the physical wounds and the family’s rejection of him. In Kafka’s version, we can tell that this story is written through the eyes of Gregor as he is the only person’s who thoughts we can see/read. For example, when Greta had just finished her speech about how the family can no longer keep up with him in the house we heard his thoughts of him that he should probably turn himself around before anything else could happen. It shows sadness as he is talking about the physical pain he has had to endure all of his beetle life. The language that Kafka uses is exaggerating the physical wounds that Gregor has had. In Swanton’s film version we can tell that Gregor’s perspective is used when the camera is mainly focused on Gregor. This camera shot is known as point of view (POV). The POV shot is used to show the viewer that death is imminent. The POV shot exaggerates the sadness of Gregor’s death. We also see the family and the last moments of his life through the eyes of Gregor. The music is the background – which is slowly fading away  – is focused on the events that take place in Gregor’s chaotic life. Once again in the film a narrator is used to hear what is only going on in the the mind of Gregor who cannot speak.

Throughout this essay, I have explored how the theme is presented in the novella written by Franz Kafka and the film directed by Chris Swanton. Death in the book is presented as a relief not only to Gregor but also to the entire family and how he dies in the book of physical wounds. However, in the film it is still a relief to Gregor and the family but he appears to die of family rejection particularly with the speech that the unlikely Greta spoke out her opinion and was absolutely exhausted by the end when she screeched finally. Finally, they both also use Gregor’s perspective to demonstrate the sadness of his eventual death.