Hidden Emotions by Cynthia Crosby

     In the short story "The Metamorphosis", there is hidden emotions of oedipal dynamics.  Towards the end of this story you will see where the daughter, mother and father are discussing how to get rid of Gregor.  Two agree and one doesn't.  The relationships (between father/daughter and mother/son) are one of customary structure in families.  The effects that the mother and father have on children while they are growing up, will give the character traits needed to structure their adulthood.  The sub-conscience emotions of rivalry, jealousy, and complacency were transformed when Gregor went from being his father’s stock boy to main bread winner for the family.  The father’s rivalry towards Gregor intensifies due to his determination to push the boarders’ out of the house.   The resentment of sister towards brother with her stating, “We must try and get rid of it”.  "It Must Be Gotten Rid Of" cried the sister.  This paragraph plainly states the true validity of the oedipal theory.  With a fright which was totally incomprehensible to Gregor, the sister even left the mother, pushed herself away from her chair, as if she would sooner sacrifice her mother than remain in Gregor’s vicinity, and rushed behind her father who, excited merely by her behavior, also stood up and half raised his arms in front of the sister as though to protect her. (Kafka 37)    

     Mr. Samsa had been the main bread winner for the family until the lost of his mercantile to the modernization movement of the second phase of the industrial revolution in the late 1800's and early 1900's.  In this mercantile Gregor was his father’s insignificant stock boy who did not get paid. The father was the admired merchant and money maker, now reduced to wallowing in his self pity and drowning in his sorrow.  The father has to depend on Gregor for their survival.  This burden was laid on Gregor as a young man with no real work history to find the foundation of servant hood to an outside work place.  However; with his fortitude to prove himself to his father, his new job was profitable but had hidden sacrifices and suffering.  Furthermore, his parents could not bring themselves to acknowledge his sacrifices until his transformation and was faced with all that Gregor had done to support them.   

     When Gregor was metamorphosis-ed, everyone's world was affected within this household.  They lost servants, the sister was forced by circumstances to grow up and take charge of the household.  The mother was asthmatic and in poor health but she could sew.  The father was in good health, just overweight from sitting in his chair all day long.  Certainly we can see where this change has caused resentment towards Gregor.  He has caused everyone's life to be turned upside down.  The emotions of all four persons were running rampant trying to put a rhyme or reason for the physical change in Gregor and what they had been thrown into.  Through the growing process from child to adulthood, we undergo changes of mental/physical states and emotions.  Anna Freud popularized the notion that adolescence is a period that includes rapid mood fluctuation with enormous uncertainty about self.  J.J. Arnett has the best explanatory of adolescence in his writings: “Adolescent Storm and Stress.”  Accordingly, this would explain the aggressive and submissive characteristics of both Gregor and Grete.  Displayed by the aggression by Gregor in the beginning of his metamorphosis then becoming submissive. While Grete was submissive and loving in the beginning then became aggressive.

     The parents, up in age now, are going through their mental changes as well.  They are faced with the issues that they can not do what they once could and having to rely on the two young adult children to provide and support them.  With this comes the “older man/younger woman” mind set and the older woman needing affirmation that she is still loved and needed.  In these two stages where the parents and young adults are, there is a paradigm shift in the gender roles.  Whereas the mother subconsciously needs the young son to give her the affirmation she so longs for and needs, the father on the other hand clings to the youth of the daughter to make him feel as though he is the protector and supporter. This in turn matures the young woman as to the type of husband she should have.  During this process, there is a certain amount of jealousy that has to play out because of the role the parents have now shifted from a mother/daughter relationship to a mother/son relationship. The same is true with the father/son relationship.   

     In conclusion, by looking into the oedipal theory of “The Metamorphosis”, we can plainly see the jealousy and rivalry indications within this story.  We can get a better understanding of the oedipal theory from Swami Atmashraddhananda in her writing of “Absence of Jealousy” by definition.  Finally with Gregor dead, the three of them found comfort and finality to the situation. 

Works Cited:

1.     Wikimedia – The free Encyclopedia on the web for photo of Franz Kafka

2.     Kafka-Online for the quote stated with page number.

3.     Jeffrey Jansen Arnett, University of Maryland 1999.

4.     Swami Atmashraddhananda, author of Absence of Jealousy 2011.