Samsa and Samsara: Suffering, Death, and Rebirth in "The Metamorphosis"

The variety of suffering which plagued 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 least of them. Before dying in Kierling of tuberculosis, Kafka would constantly suffer most destructive form of reproach a person can endure-his own. Max Brod terms Kafka's disposition as one of deep (48). Such a disposition might be viewed in part responsible for his haunting tales. Considering Die Verwandlung, William Kluback writes, we wander into a of violence, of frightful laughter, and terror (92). Similarly, Franz Kempf notes view that Das Urteil (The Judgment) and Die Verwandlung (The Metamorphosis) depict mercilessness of world (11). Probing which methods) Kafka may have employed to communicate torment (metaphor, analogy, parable) is of considerable importance. Scholars nevertheless might agree that regardless of method, Kafka's writing does indulge pain and suffering. The apparent misery in Kafka's writing is perhaps what precipitated scholars to compare his works with philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer. Erich Heller, for instance, believes Kafka's aphorisms to read like marginal glosses ... of a text by (24). T.J. Reed concurs: the contents of his notes offer sufficient proof that he was intensively occupied with (168). This warrants further investigation into nature of Schopenhauer's pessimism and its possible influences) on Kafka. For Arthur Schopenhauer, life is what eastern religious philosophy calls Samsara: this life of birth, suffering, sickness, lust, craving, old age, death and rebirth. Stanley Corngold, considering ungeheueres Ungeziefer, reminds us that Kafka-reader of etymologies-- knew what depth of unbeing underlies this phrase (32).1 Perhaps, too, Franz Kafka knew profundity Samsara offered. Like ungeheueres Ungeziefer, it presents opportunity to torture his character(s) not only with circumstance, but with their own etymology. While discussing Die Verwandlung Kafka declares, is not merely Kafka, and nothing else (Janouch 32). Hence, Samsara is very possibly root word for family name Samsa in Die Verwandlung. It is purpose of this essay to explore that possibility. To do so I will first discuss concept of Samsara, and then consider possible mediators that may have inspired Kafka's use of name Samsa in Die Verwandlung. This will be followed by a new interpretation of Die Verwandlung. The term Samsara appears for first time in Upanishads; by circa 600 B.C. it is a primary tenet of both Hinduism and Buddhism. Samsara (also pronounced and written Sansara) is this of craving, lust, suffering, death, rebirth, and disease. Indeed, anything that could be considered objectionable in our lives is a part of Samsara. Deliverance from this Samsaric is responsibility of individual. This deliverance is contingent upon one's Karma, a moral causality, which helps spiritual-minded justify his own plight. One's situation is a matter of past and present deeds. It is fatalistic in a manner of speaking, yet it is opposite of fatalism; each individual has opportunity to shape his own destiny. One can perform deeds which will secure salvation or at least a higher state of existence. Samsara has three common translations: wander,journey, and bondage (which is more a translation of Sanskrit term's effect rather than word itself). This endless wandering and its effect of bondage, a pessimistic view which West has difficulty accepting, strongly influenced thinking of Arthur Schopenhauer. Schopenhauer works, in part, from Oupnekhat, a Latin translation of Upanishads. Throughout his Samtliche Werke, both in text and footnote, one sees term Sansara, as for example in following passage: Nirwana, das Gegenteil von S a n s a r a, welches die Welt der steten Wiedergeburten, des Gehistes and Verlangens, der Sinnentauschung and wandelbaren Formen, des Geborenwerdens, Alterns, Erkrankens and Sterbens ist. …