The Metamorphosis (version 4)

About this film

LibriVox recording of The Metamorphosis (version 4) by Franz Kafka. (Translated by Ian Johnston.) Read in English by Phil Chenevert This story, about a man who wakes up transformed into a bug and the repercussions it has on his life and the people around him, has intrigued me for many years. The translation is by Ian Johnston, not the translator that is in Gutenberg; I like Johnston's more. What does it mean? [Spoiler possibly]In my mind it is not complicated at all and is most probably an autobiography of how Kafka himself had experienced his early life living with his parents. Kafka describes how he had experienced his parents’ financial and emotional exploitations of him, to the point of detaching from them and thereby ceasing to be their son (the real metamorphosis). Gregor’s metamorphosis is that of Kafka’s being an obedient son, subserviently paying for his parents’ narcissistic needs with his own life, into being a disobedient one—as if he had become a ‘piece of vermin’. Gregor’s parents possessed a large sum of money in savings, which symbolizes the needlessness of Gregor’s exploitation. In other words, the parents did not love him for who he was, but for his loyal willingn…

Directors & creators

Franz Kafka

Subjects

librivox; audiobooks;

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