Kafka, Freud, and Fantasy
Cora Wilke-Gray
German 390
November 17, 2010 Kafka and Fantasy The Metamorphosis touches upon several of Freud’s dream theories. It presents the idea of dreams as a portrayal of wishes. Another one of Freud’s theories that is presented is the concept of condensation as the representation of an object or idea through an action or person in a dream or fantasy. In this story, the unconscious wishes of the characters are brought to light through Gregor Samsa’s transformation and visualized during the time that Gregor spends in a fantasy-like life as a cockroach. One problem with the text is that it does not clarify whether this is fantasy or reality. For example, the story’s introduction shows that there is a thin line between reality and unconscious fantasy. When Gregor Samsa wakes up in his bed and first notices his metamorphosis, he instinctively relates this transformation to the fact that he must be dreaming. “What has happened to me?” (Kafka, 89) he wonders and then beings to realize while looking around his room that everything happens to be organized just as it is in real life. This produces his explanation that he must not be dreaming although his transformation is impossible. His thoughts then begin to stray from his awful situation and instead head towards his wish of a new job and life. The concept of wish fulfillment manifests itself at the very beginning of the story when the conflict within Gregor is introduced. He is upset with his job and his boss. As he slowly wakes up, he can feel that something is wrong with his body, but the only thing that his mind is able to focus on is how the work at his job is: much more irritating work than doing the actual business in the office, and on top of that there’s the trouble of constant traveling, of worrying about train connections, the bed and irregular meals, causal acquaintances that are always new and never become intimate friend. The devil take it all! (Kafka, 90)
Only the love that he
German 390
November 17, 2010 Kafka and Fantasy The Metamorphosis touches upon several of Freud’s dream theories. It presents the idea of dreams as a portrayal of wishes. Another one of Freud’s theories that is presented is the concept of condensation as the representation of an object or idea through an action or person in a dream or fantasy. In this story, the unconscious wishes of the characters are brought to light through Gregor Samsa’s transformation and visualized during the time that Gregor spends in a fantasy-like life as a cockroach. One problem with the text is that it does not clarify whether this is fantasy or reality. For example, the story’s introduction shows that there is a thin line between reality and unconscious fantasy. When Gregor Samsa wakes up in his bed and first notices his metamorphosis, he instinctively relates this transformation to the fact that he must be dreaming. “What has happened to me?” (Kafka, 89) he wonders and then beings to realize while looking around his room that everything happens to be organized just as it is in real life. This produces his explanation that he must not be dreaming although his transformation is impossible. His thoughts then begin to stray from his awful situation and instead head towards his wish of a new job and life. The concept of wish fulfillment manifests itself at the very beginning of the story when the conflict within Gregor is introduced. He is upset with his job and his boss. As he slowly wakes up, he can feel that something is wrong with his body, but the only thing that his mind is able to focus on is how the work at his job is: much more irritating work than doing the actual business in the office, and on top of that there’s the trouble of constant traveling, of worrying about train connections, the bed and irregular meals, causal acquaintances that are always new and never become intimate friend. The devil take it all! (Kafka, 90)
Only the love that he
Cited: Elbaum, Alexandra. "Kafka and Freud." Blogging at Queens College. Web. 04 Nov. 2010. <http://blogs.qc.cuny.edu/blogs/dreams/aelbaum/>. Freud, Sigmund. (1968). The Interpretation of Dreams, Volume V. 1900-01. London: The Hogarth Press. Kafka, Franz, and Nahum Norbert Glatzer. "The Metamorphosis." The Complete Stories. New York: Schocken, 1983. 89-139. Print. Steinfeld, Gabriel. "Why Kafka Only Uses Fantasy in The Metamorphosis." Arts and Entertainment (2007). Web. 3 Nov. 2010. <http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/361034/why_kafka_only_uses_fantasy_in_th e_pg2.html?cat=38>.