Kafka The Metamorphosis

Question: Analyze the action of gregor Samsa's family from an ethical- medical perspective. What did they owe Gregor and What should they have done? Answer: The behaviour of each character is discussed briefly below and this will help us understand the medical and ethical issues realted to Gregor Samsas transformation story: Gregor Samsa: In the story the metamorphosis, Gregor Samsa was completely turned into a bug overnight, but however during the entire story of metamorphosis, Gregor changes very little in accordance to his nature. He accepted his hardship even as a man as well as an insect without complaining (Kafka, 2013). He disliked his job of a travelling salesman but he agreed to do it in order to earn money since his fathers business had failed. Even after changing into a bug, he did not cry about it but accepted his new life as it is and tried to make the most of it. He never questioned his transformation, but accepted without causing distress and problem to his parents and sister. He still wanted to go to work so that he could earn for his family. He also wanted to earn because he wanted to fulfil his sisters dream to take violin lessons in the Conservatory. But it took him a while to know that he could no longer help in doing so. Even after transforming into a bug he still had human emotions and the care f or his family that he used to have earlier and that is why when he realised that he had become a disgrace to his family, he thought that he should not let them suffer anymore and so died in his room thinking of his familys best interest and with not one complaint about his sufferings and his transformed life (Kafka, 2013). Greta Samsa: Greta for Gregors sister and they both used to be very close before his transformation so she became the caretaker of Gregor. Initially she cared for him a lot but later she changed completely. This was so because during that time she too changed from a girl into a woman and this caused her love pity and care for Gregor to vanish completely (Kafka, 2013). She no longer treated him with care and compassion. Later she suggested to her parents that Gregor has become more of a disgust to their family than a family member and so they should get rid of him as soon as possible. The parents also willingly agreed with her decision thinking that she was right and it was the time to find a husband for her as she had become a beautiful young woman. Mr.Samsa: Mr. Samsa seems to be an unkind man and being a parent he should have been with his son and support him throughout the story but he did not. He failed to develop any sympathy for him despite his sons helpful behaviour (Kafka, 2013). He was always worried about the familys finances and not about his sons well being. He also refuses to interact with him directly and was able to interact with him only after many days of the transformation. On the very first day when Gregor came out of his room, his father beat him up with a stick and a role of newspaper, this hurt him badly (Kafka, 2013). The next time also when his father saw Gregor, he threw an apple at him in order to scare him away. This hurt him so badly that he was unable to move the entire week and was also paralysed for his entire life. These details suggest that he was estranged from his father as their relationship was strained. What Mr. Samsa did as a father was very wrong and it showed how cruel and heartless a father he was . Mrs. Samsa: In this story, Mrs. Samsa had feelings for his son initially. She did feel pity for the condition his son was in and the suffering he had to go through. She also wanted to go and see her son at times but was always prevented by Grete and Mr. Samsa. She also helped Grete empty out Gregors furniture so that he had more space to scurry and climb but later this weak link between them also started breaking when she too no longer felt pity for her son but regarded him as a disgrace to the family (Huber Munro, 2014). The behaviour showed by all the three family members of Gregor was highly unethical. First of all, when the family came to know about Gregors transformation, they should have taken him to a medical doctor so as to find out why this kind of a transformation ocurred suddenly and to help him get back to being a boy. But instead his father did not even go and see him once (Asch et al, 2015). Gregor was also allowed to remain confined to the 4 walls of his bedroom and all his attempts to come out were strictly dealt with. It should not have been so. Being his parents, it was their responsibility to make Gregor feel comfortable with the change and to accept him the way he was. It was their duty to not make him hide behind closed doors but to give him the courage and confidence to come out in front of the world and accept him the way he was. They should have been supportive towards him and should have let him be comfortable in his own skin not thinking about what the world would say about h im or his family (Puma Lawyer, 2011). Had they done all this Gregor would have lived a content life and would have been happy with his family. But it was only because of them that Gregor died a cold and merciless death (Booth et al, 2014). Reference list: La Puma, J., Lawlor, E. F. (2011). Quality-adjusted life-years: ethical implications for physicians and policymakers.Jama,263(21), 2917-2921. Asch, D. A., Hansen-Flaschen, J., Lanken, P. N. (2015). Decisions to limit or continue life-sustaining treatment by critical care physicians in the United States: conflicts between physicians' practices and patients' wishes.American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine,151(2), 288-292. Fried, T. R., Stein, M. D., O'Sullivan, P. S., Brock, D. W., Novack, D. H. (2013). Limits of patient autonomy: physician attitudes and practices regarding life-sustaining treatments and euthanasia.Archives of Internal Medicine,153(6), 722-728. Booth, T. C., Waldman, A. D., Wardlaw, J. M., Taylor, S. A., Jackson, A. (2014). Management of incidental findings during imaging research in healthy volunteers: current UK practice.The British journal of radiology. Kafka, F. (2013).The metamorphosis. Modern Library. Huber, C., Munro, I. (2014). Moral Distance in Organizations: An Inquiry into Ethical Violence in the Works of Kafka.Journal of Business Ethics,124(2), 259-269.