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Literary Devices
Definition of Allegory
An allegory is a work that conveys a hidden meaning—usually moral, spiritual, or political—through the use of symbolic characters and events. The story of "The Tortoise and The Hare" is... read full definition
An allegory is a work that conveys a hidden meaning—usually moral, spiritual, or political—through the use of symbolic characters and events. The story of "The... read full definition
An allegory is a work that conveys a hidden meaning—usually moral, spiritual, or political—through the use of symbolic characters and... read full definition
Allegory
Explanation and Analysis—Metamorphosis Allegory:
Gregor's transformation into an insect—and his ultimate decline into a subhuman creature—is an allegorical representation of the soul-crushing and dehumanizing effects of modern life. After Gregor transforms into an insect, he is primarily concerned with what will happen to his job rather than his transformation. Even after experiencing the full horror that is his transformation into a bug, Gregor spends time lamenting his family's financial situation. He is terrified that they will be unable to survive without the income he provides. The fact that these concerns dominate Gregor's consciousness post-transformation highlights the significance of post-industrial, capitalistic modern life. Making money in order to survive has become, the story suggests, the singular focus of working people.
While these concerns alone do not make The Metamorphosis allegorical, the fact that Gregor feels lonely and isolated before his transformation begins to suggest the allegorical nature of the story. As Gregor explains, his job as a commercial salesman leaves him with "casual acquaintances that are always new and never become intimate friends." In other words, Gregor is isolated from others by nature of his job, before becoming ever-more isolated by nature of his transformation. Thus, Gregor's transformation into someone (or something) unable to communicate with others begins far before his transformation. In fact, his isolation begins as a consequence of his employment.
Kafka's fiction often deals with illogical and impossible-to-decipher bureaucracies, which leave the protagonist confused and at the whims of authority figures. These absurd institutions are a critique of modernity. Gregor's transformation into a bug, a transformation he never fully understands and that leaves him entirely at the whims of his family, is in many ways yet another instance of this element of Kafka's writing. In The Metamorphosis, Gregor is subject to laws of nature that are as confusing as the laws of government and bureaucracies in Kafka's novels The Trial and The Castle.
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