METAMORPHOSIS

Today being a "no work" day, I got my hands on Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. It has left a strong mark on my mind. The book is definitely a marvelous piece of art. It was like, my mind and soul savoring good food after a long period of fast.

The story begins with an absurd imagination, Gregor Samsa (the protagonist) is transformed to a monstrous insect, one fine morning. Of course no one could ever experience, what it feels like to wake up as a "vermin", but his struggle for identity, is something which is truly relatable to all of us.The story begins with Gregors helplessness to understand his physical condition, the first few pages just made me enjoy the funny imagination it gave me, but as I read further I could explore Gregors push towards independence. The strong imagination and human reality, with which Kafka has portrayed the story has triggered a part of my subconscious mind. The story is all about, how a person is frustrated of his mundane existence, the oscillating behavior of society, depending on ones usefulness and the bitter truth about humanity, of alienating someone, once the glory that crowned around is lost. The story entrapped me in visualizing the outcomes when someone becomes useless to own self and a burden on others. It’s about each of us, forgetting to discover our true virtues, the true self in the process of running a race, where we only follow a set of rules, giving up our own independence and desires. It’s about worthlessness of living a life, which we don’t know what we are living for. Forgetting to enjoy life, just like Gregor Samsa, even before his physical transformation, his life was not much better than an insect. It was only after his dehumanization (by his own family), he realized the rhythm and beauty of life, music, nature, art, only after they were all gone far away from his life.The author is adept at keeping the reader involved in the story so deeply that, it made me want to help out Gregor and make his family feel guilty for their act, which was so inconsiderate. It made me cry with Gregor and feel his emotions.

I could not relate the story to a family but in a broader sense, it can be related to our society and people who are outcasted, for they could not suffice to be of its any use further, although they would have struggled all their life to make the very same people forming the society feel happy ,
An enthralling read to stretch our mind and understand the mental METAMORPHOSIS.