Episode 55, Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis (Part II - The Plot)

The Panpsycast Philosophy Podcast

Jack Symes | Andrew Horton, Oliver Marley, and Rose de Castellane

Euthanasia, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Existentialism, Marxism, Kant, Ethics, Davidpapineau, Dennett, Marx, Evilgodchallenge, Cosmological, Mind, Consciousness, Courses, Nagasawa, Education, Johnstuartmill, Jeremybentham, Aristotle, Ocr, Camus, Josephfletcher, Conscience, Society & Culture, Kantianethics, Philosophy

4.8 • 604 Ratings

🗓️ 17 February 2019

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Published in 1915, Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis is a gruelling and ironic depiction of the pressures imposed by family and profession in the Twentieth Century. The novella centres around travelling salesman Gregor Samsa who, one morning, finds himself transformed into an insect. What follows, depending on the interpretation, is a reflection of how modern life provides a misunderstanding of predicament and a lack of empathy towards those who have been beaten down by an unforgiving capitalist system.

Equally, The Metamorphosis asks questions of Gregor himself. Over time he has continued to disregard his own well-being and autonomy, seeing himself as the saviour of his family’s debts. Yet, by doing so, he has missed the fact that his family appear to resent the house he has chosen to rent, or that their debts are not quite as bad as they seemed. He has taken a cross which he need not have beared.

In the words of Vladimir Nabokov, “In The Metamorphosis, contract and unity, style and matter, manner and plot are most perfectly integrated”.

Contents

Part I. The Life of Franz Kafka.

Part II. The Plot.

Part III. The Meaning.

Part IV. Further Analysis and Discussion.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Pan
0:02.0	Pah
0:06.0	Psygast
0:07.0	Part 2, the plot
0:19.0	So here we are Met Metamorphosis Town Destination Story.
0:24.2	Okay, welcome to part two, where we're going to be looking at the plot of metamorphosis.
0:28.4	We're going to be doing it quite improvised, so it might go really well, or it might not go too great.
0:34.8	And most of our voices are going up like this. It's a little novel you've been writing there, Chuck. We're going to do the whole. Yeah. See, that's someone else's Jake. Can't do this. Yeah, I know. But maybe some people will get it. You'll, we'll do the whole of this part in those high voices. So if you don't want that, then please turn off now. So, shall we
0:55.2	kick off with the start of the story? Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis Panpsychast Reading 2019.
1:03.6	When Gregor Samsa woke one morning from uneasy dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a monstrous
1:13.5	insect. He was lying on his hard shell-like back, and when he lifted his head a little,
1:20.1	he could see his dome-shaped brown body, banded with reinforcing arches, on top of which, the
1:26.4	blanket, ready to slip right off, maintained its
1:29.8	precarious hold. His numerous legs pitifully thin in relation to the rest of his bulk danced
1:36.6	ineffectually before his eyes. What has happened to me? he thought. It was not a dream.
1:51.4	Realising he had slept through his five o'clock alarm, he worried what his company might think.
1:53.3	It was half past six now.
1:55.7	He could rush and get the seven o'clock train.
1:58.9	He lies there, thinking and trying to get up.
2:00.8	Mother shouts through the door. It's quarter to seven, didn't you want to be somewhere?
2:03.6	His father and sister get wind of what's going on and join the chorus, trying to get Gregor out of bed.
2:09.6	Gregor, come out your room.
	...

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