Franz Kafka takes his place in the annals of Western literature as an author and unique mind responsible for some of the most surreal, yet socially conscious works in history. His impact remains so great that in certain situations of severe alienation and social confusion, people often use the term “Kafkaesque” to describe the feeling. This feeling describes the moment when a situation seems out of one’s control, strange, unknown and unknowable. While this makes for amazing literature with lasting impact, in life most people wish to avoid finding themselves in Kafkaesque situations. However, not only do individuals often find themselves in these situations, but often entire nations find themselves alienated and traveling down a path completely unfamiliar and often possessing extremely negative connotations. As one of the most famous Kafka stories, “The Metamorphosis” often draws parallels to real life situations, and one of the most dramatic and far-reaching similarities between the story and reality can be found in the war against terror. Much like the metamorphosis that Gregor Samsa undergoes, the war on terror has experienced a similar transformation for many people, as millions went from staunch supporters to unflappable opponents of the war.
Gregor Samsa has a problem that while it could not happen in real life, when one morning he, “woke from troubled dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a horrible vermin” (Kafka). While this may seem like a fantastical and almost humorous opening line, the event itself represents an unwanted or unintentional alienation that happens all too often in society. Gregor’s metamorphosis into a giant bug speaks less of some science fiction fantasy and more of Kafka’s ability to relay social and personal alienation in dramatic form. Samsa himself became alienated in the story long before his transformation, working all the time, becoming distrustful and weary of people in general, and increasingly distancing himself from his family. His ambitious work ethic was merely to get his family out of their financial troubles as quickly as possible, but it meant that he had to work harder and longer to meet his financial goals: “Gregor converted his success at work straight into cash that he could lay on the table at home for the benefit of his astonished and delighted family… They had even got used to it, both Gregor and the family, they took the money with gratitude and he was glad to provide it, although there was no longer much warm affection given in return. Gregor only remained close to his sister now” (Kafka). His sister, the artistic and sensitive, Grete, was his lone connection to the world of human emotion and familial love, and virtually the only one that even accepted his metamorphosis as real, perhaps as a representation of the peaceful and understanding nature of artists and writers like Kafka himself. However, even though Gregor set out with the best intentions merely to help his family, the appreciative and unappreciative alike, he ends up a giant bug that repulses everyone, and only his sister retains compassion, though she eventually relents that the bug is not Gregor in the final blow and realization that he is no longer in the world of humanity. This transformation and consequent realization is very similar to the chain of events that led to the current situation regarding the War on Terror.
The War on Terror was initially waged after terrorists attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. At first, the war was waged out of necessity and supported by almost every American citizen, as well as citizens of other countries around the world that were likewise shocked and saddened by the heinous acts of violence. Similar to the transformation that Gregor experienced, the War on Terror started out as a useful thing, ambitious in its scope, and requiring attention and effort to be spent by many far from home where they lack the support and the love of family. Soldiers, like Gregor, become alienated from their families because of the ironic twist of fighting to defend those same families. The terrible atrocities they witness, or sometimes are forced to inflict upon the country’s enemies often cause metamorphoses that make them unrecognizable when they finally return home. One of the least reported statistics from the War on Terror is the number of servicemen and women wounded in action. Because the armed forces keep such firm control on media and personal reports by the soldiers, the American public is largely unaware of the sheer numbers of soldiers that come back from Iraq gravely wounded and completely changed both physically and psychologically. According to the recent reports by the Department of Defense, the total U.S. Iraq War casualties alone stand at over 56,000; this figure includes the nearly 28,000 wounded by hostile action and almost double that amount for soldiers who were evacuated for illness and non-hostile action, a blanket description that also includes soldiers who commit suicide (White). The war, like Gregor has become an ugly thing of which people care not to be a part and many people who formerly supported it have abandoned it, largely from the ugliness of what it has created—physically and mentally transformed soldiers and citizens. Like when Gregor’s family bombarded him with fruit, many Americans openly petition for the war to finally end.
The thing that differentiates the war in Iraq from previous wars is that the fatality rate is misleading and the casualty rate is significantly higher than previous American wars, which had fewer than three people wounded for every person killed, and higher even than the World Wars, in which there were less than two (Bilmes). The fact that many of the soldiers returning home from doing their “business” overseas, protecting and, in essence providing for their families like Gregor was his, has turned what was previously a war supported by most Americans into a war that most reject as an abomination. This feeling is coupled with the fact that many Americans believe that their leaders purposely misled them to pursue their own private agendas. While there are many images brought home to Americans on their televisions and in the newspapers, there are few remnants of the war as dramatic and repulsive as a grotesquely wounded veteran. Some of the reasons more soldiers are coming home deformed and dismembered can be attributed to better medical technology and the use of body armor, but the overall theme is that there are and will continue to be a large amount of gravely wounded veterans, both physically and psychologically, coming back to the United States needing treatment on an already grossly understaffed and under-funded Veteran Affairs administration, which in a way is similar to Grete. Like Grete, the VA cares for the soldiers and wishes to do what it can to help, though it is often exhausted from its efforts and cannot possibly do everything to help everyone coming back.
As Gregor’s condition and the financial strain he put on the family by not working became too large to bear, much like the War on Terror, the family gave up on its hope that the Gregor they knew was ever coming back. This is similar to the veterans in that many refuse to acknowledge that the former soldiers have experienced a terrible metamorphosis. So far, more than 200,000 veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan have been treated at VA medical facilities — three times what the VA projected, according to a Government Accountability Office analysis; of these veterans, more than a third have been diagnosed with mental health conditions, and thousands more have crippling disabilities such as brain and spinal injuries (Bilmes). These soldiers will be put in the dark room, disallowed to participate in normal everyday human activities much like Gregor. Regardless of what the soldiers or Gregor have done for their families in the past, they are completely and permanently changed, whether or not others choose to acknowledge it.
The War on Terror continues to wane in its popularity, and young men and women continue to come back transformed into grotesque shells of their former selves. Like Gregor, they become shunned at home, ignored, and not discussed or acknowledged in anything more than superficial and virtually non-existent ways. While the end of the story on the War on Terror has yet to be written, it remains to be seen whether the American populace will embrace their grotesque legacy, the violent and ugly metamorphosis of their young men and women and the country’s integrity, or whether they will abandon it, mourn the loss, but finally leave the house and let got of their terrible burden.
Works Cited:
Bilmes, Linda. “The battle of Iraq’s wounded.” Los Angeles Times. 5 January 2007. 7 Jul 2008.
<http://ksghome.harvard.edu/~lbilmes/paper/bilmes010507.pdf>.
Kafka, Franz. “Metamorphosis.” Project Gutenberg. Trans. David Wyllie. ebook. 2002 7 Jul
2008. <http://www.gutenberg.org/files/5200/5200-h/5200-h.htm>.
White, Michael. “Iraq Coalition Casualty Count.” iCasualties.org. 7 Jul 2008. 7 Jul 2008.
<http://icasualties.org/oif_a/CasualtyTrends
