Irony plays a vital role in part I of The Metamorphosis, this allows the author to better illustrate Gregor’s life. Throughout the book we see the agony that Gregor lives in, and the use of irony helps us paint a more vivid picture of how pathetic his life is. It also permits us to perceive the reaction of the rest of the family about this injustice present in Gregor’s life.
Firstly, The author can portray how depressing Gregor’s life is by showing his relationship with his work. He is forced to work as a traveling salesman; a job that he utterly despises. He says, “Oh God, he thought, what an exhausting job I’ve picked out for myself. On the road day in, day out.” In this sentence alone there are multiple examples of irony. One can assume that Gregor hates this job; however, the truth is he needs it. Even though he hates the job, he will never quit because he is helping his family by working off the debt that they owe. At the end of the day, when he comes home and his family is able to feed themselves solely because of his doing, he must feel good. Moreover, he states in the quote, “What an exhausting job I’ve picked out for myself.” It’s ironic because he didn’t even get to pick the job! One may believe that the reason he says this is to simply make himself feel better and feel as though he has some type of control over his life; which he doesn’t. Also, he ends the quote by saying, “On the road day in, day out.” One may regard this as an example irony because his job is to travel frequently, yet he is trapped by his family’s decisions.
Secondly, Gregor’s family demonstrate a great deal of irony through their decisions and thoughts. Gregor states, “The breakfast dishes were set out on the table in great number, for breakfast was the most important meal of the day for Greogor’s father, who stretched it out for hours over various newspapers.” Usually, we are accustomed to associating the Father/Husband as the primary earner in the house. In this case, not only is the father not the primary earner, he doesn’t earn anything at all. While his son his at work paying for his father’s debt, the father just stays home enjoying breakfast for hours. This really articulates the fact that Gregor’s family doesn’t really love him. Furthermore, even though his mom claims to love him one can perceive that as a lie as she doesn’t object to her husband not working while her son is out living no life of his own. If she truly loved him, she would figure out a way to let him live his own life and persuade her husband to pay off the debt himself.
Lastly, the book begins by showing the reader that Gregor has become a cockroach, but as we learn more about the character it feels as though it wasn’t that big of a change. Of course, he has become uglier, but other than that not much has changed. He was never rightfully treated and that fact stays the same when he becomes a cockroach. In fact, it might help him show the truth; when he becomes a cockroach he can no longer work and pay off the debt and therefore becomes useless to his family. Instead of trying to figure out a solution and helping him his family just ignores him. This very well communicates to the reader and Gregor that his family only cared for him because he was there main source of income.
Irony plays an imperative role in this book as it allows the author to demonstrate how horrible Gregor’s life is. He’s trapped in a job he absolutely hates, his parents don’t really care for him, and becoming a cockroach didn’t make his life that much worse. It must be utterly atrocious to be Gregor!
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