SOURCE: Ryan, Michael P. “Samsa and Samsara: Suffering, Death, and Rebirth in ‘The Metamorphosis.’” The German Quarterly 72, no. 2 (spring 1999): 133-52.

In the following essay, Ryan utilizes the eastern philosophy Samsara to explore suffering, death, and rebirth in “The Metamorphosis,” and ultimately offers a new interpretation of it.

The variety of suffering which plagued the life of Franz Kafka is well documented. The illness which hounded him, relegating him to a life of fitful coughs and extended stays at various sanitariums, is clearly not the least of them. Before dying in Kierling of tuberculosis, Kafka would constantly suffer the most destructive form of reproach a person can endure—his own. Max Brod terms Kafka's disposition as one of “deep pessimism” (48). Such a disposition might be viewed in part responsible for his haunting tales. Considering “Die Verwandlung,” William Kluback writes, “we wander into a world of violence, of frightful laughter...