【書評】法蘭茲．卡夫卡 《變形記》（Die Verwandlung）│嚕的文學創作【Book review】Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis (Die Verwandlung)│The Literature of Lu
這是我第二次閱讀法蘭茲‧卡夫卡的《變形記》，最初，我對於卡夫卡先生寫作時戛然而止的風格有些不適，但許多年後再讀又覺得可以接受，每個作家有自己的呼吸和下筆節奏，休閒時放慢閱讀，便能看到其「內容」。
This is my second time reading Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis. At first, I felt somewhat uneasy with Mr. Kafka’s abruptly halting style of writing, but upon rereading it many years later, I find it more acceptable. Every writer has their own rhythm of breath and pace of the pen; when one slows down and reads at leisure, the “content” gradually reveals itself.
.webp "《變形記》封面（擷取自博客來網路書店）")
《變形記》在講述什麼？
What is The Metamorphosis about?
格里高爾‧薩姆沙做了一連串的噩夢，等早上清醒過來的時候，他發覺自己已經變成一隻巨大的蟲子，正在床上躺著。
As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.
這是《變形記》經典又荒謬的開頭，語句帶著戲謔感，且在腦中形成畫面──一隻甲蟲仰躺、掙扎地起床模樣。格里高爾正等待「正常 」來拯救他，隔著房門，外頭的父母親、妹妹與公司代表正等待牠走出房門解釋：「為何他今天早上遲到？」牠也很在乎，拚了命地從床上躍下身──由於自己還沒習慣這副身體──朝門的方向走去。房門外窸率了起來，帶有猜疑與責罵的對話傳遞至牠的耳裡。牠的媽媽深感焦慮，因為兒子以前從來沒發生過這種事，肯定是病了。直到格里高爾倚靠在門邊，吃力地打開房門，怪異與正常開始碰撞，牠的親人無不感到訝異，公司代表甚至驚恐地跑到門邊，格里高爾爬了過去想解釋，卻只是讓對方越跑越遠，周遭升起一股驚異卻帶有責備的氛圍。
This is the classic yet absurd opening of The Metamorphosis. The sentences carry a sense of irony and immediately form a vivid image in the mind—a beetle lying on its back, struggling to get out of bed. Gregor waits for “normalcy” to rescue him. Beyond the closed door, his parents, his sister, and the company’s representative are waiting for him to step out and explain: “Why is he late this morning?” He cares deeply about this as well, desperately throwing himself off the bed—still unaccustomed to this body—and moving toward the door. Outside, uneasy sounds arise, and conversations filled with suspicion and reproach reach his ears. His mother grows increasingly anxious; such a thing has never happened to her son before—he must be ill. When Gregor finally leans against the door and struggles to open it, the strange and the normal collide. His family is stunned, and the company representative even recoils in terror, retreating toward the doorway. Gregor crawls forward, trying to explain, only to drive the man farther away, as an atmosphere of shock, tinged with accusation, rises around him.
往後的日子，牠的妹妹負責照顧牠。說是照顧，也只是早晨時把食物放在門口，傍晚進房清理回收，而格里高爾為了不要嚇到妹妹，老是躲在長沙發下，觀察著一切。老媽憂心匆匆，老爸則是穿回制服準備未來的日子。這段時間，為了維持收入，他們還將部分房間出租，迎來三名房客，同時，也小心翼翼地不讓格里高爾的模樣曝光。妹妹在這個過程中成為格里高爾的主人，媽媽視之為恐怖的存在，爸爸則睜一隻眼閉一隻眼。
In the days that followed, his sister took responsibility for looking after it. To call it care was perhaps too generous: in the mornings she merely left food by the door, and in the evenings she entered the room to clear away what remained. Gregor, in order not to frighten his sister, would always hide beneath the long sofa, watching everything in silence. His mother moved about in constant worry, while his father put his uniform back on, preparing for the days to come. During this period, in order to maintain an income, they even rented out part of the apartment, welcoming three lodgers, all the while taking great care to keep Gregor’s appearance from being seen. In the course of this process, the sister gradually became Gregor’s master, the mother regarded it as a terrifying presence, and the father chose to turn a blind eye.
然而，終有一天，房客還是撞見了這隻大蟲子，他們心中的排斥感中就爆發了出來。格蕾特（妹妹）說道：「我不想用哥哥的名字來稱呼這隻詭異的蟲子。」（pp. 80）他們的厭惡與抱怨盡收格里高爾耳裡，在這場風波後，牠靜靜地、用牠纖細的雙腿爬回了自己的房間，在那個夜晚，牠感覺到了自己的疼痛與虛弱，以及不被家人（或人類）需要的感覺，在清晨的微光照進房間時，牠嚥下了最後一口氣。
而後，老女傭告知了一家人這個消息，他們雖感傷但也確實鬆了一口氣。薩姆沙先生堅定地辭退了三名房客與老女傭，一家人準備迎接全新的生活。
However, one day the lodgers finally came face to face with the giant insect, and the revulsion they had been holding back erupted at once. Grete, the sister, said, “I do not want to call this strange creature by my brother’s name” (p. ?). Their disgust and complaints reached Gregor’s ears in their entirety. After this upheaval, it quietly crawled back to its room on its thin, fragile legs. That night, it felt its pain and weakness, as well as the sense of no longer being needed by its family—or by humanity itself. When the faint light of dawn crept into the room, it swallowed his last breath.
Afterwards, the old charwoman informed the family of the news. Though they felt sorrow, they also experienced a genuine sense of relief. Mr. Samsa resolutely dismissed the three lodgers and the charwoman, and the family prepared to face an entirely new life.
《變形記》讀後感
Reflections on The Metamorphosis
若有一天，我意外變成了不像從前且與你們不相似的模樣，你們會怎麼對待我？會為我流淚？我會為此流淚嗎？
If one day I were to change by accident into something unlike what I once was, something no longer resembling you, how would you treat me? Would you weep for me? And would I weep for that?
這是我看完《變形記》後的感想，卡夫卡用短篇小說的形式提出了這個問題，並給予了答案。在荒誕不經的故事下，潛藏著人類當代的困難──我們選擇最合理的方式對待個體，儘管拉出視角之外，整個故事是如此悲傷。
This is my reflection after finishing The Metamorphosis. Through the form of a short story, Kafka raises this question and provides an answer. Beneath the absurd narrative lies a distinctly contemporary human predicament—we choose the most rational way to treat the individual, even though, when viewed from a wider perspective, the entire story is profoundly tragic.
有趣的是，曾經身為人類的格里高爾從變成糞金龜（老女傭這麼說）的那一刻開始，就開始以他的方式適應周遭環境。牠用觸角摸索和行動，改變了自己的飲食，並仍思揣著家人的行動與心情──渴望理解與被理解。甚至，牠也自我反省當今的處境對家人造成的困擾。遺憾的是，大概只有手足無措的媽媽仍掛心她的兒子，其他人則擔心著所謂的「生活」，而格里高爾的命運注定被排除在外。
不過我想，在這個荒誕悲傷的故事中，還是有許多我們可以引以為鑑的地方。
Interestingly, from the moment Gregor—once human—turns into a dung beetle (as the old charwoman calls him), he begins to adapt to his surroundings in his own way. It explores and moves with its antennae, alters its diet, and continues to contemplate the actions and emotions of its family—longing to understand and to be understood. It even reflects on the distress that its present condition brings upon them. Regrettably, it seems that only the helpless mother still worries about her son; the others concern themselves with what they call “life,” and Gregor’s fate is destined to be excluded from it.
I believe that within this absurd and sorrowful story, there are still many things from which we can draw lessons.
首先，無論你哪天變成什麼模樣，慣性似乎如影隨形。就像格里高爾變成大蟲子的那天早上，他第一個想到的卻是上班會遲到，卡夫卡先生的深刻描述，描繪了人類其實被文化、習俗、社會所制約著，且背離了此的後果是一般人無法承受的。
第二，人類有著無與倫比的適應性──我個人認為生物皆如此。無論自己是生病、殘障、怪異，人都有生存的本能，得以應付社會生活，這透露著人類無論如何不一樣，都有辦法（或至少試著想辦法）讓自己活下去。麻煩的倒不是自己的缺陷，而是周圍看待你的缺陷給予你的壓力，就像格里高爾的家人的反應與行為。
第三，渴望理解的生物。在這個故事中，大部分的時間內，家人們都沒有試圖去理解格里高爾──僅因為他變成了蟲子──因為早在事故發生的前幾天，他們就下了判斷：
既然他說的話沒有人能夠聽懂，家人們便斷定他們所說的話他也不能夠聽懂。（pp. 41）
可實際上，每一字每一句、每一個動作，都盡收牠的感知，那些焦慮、忽略（牠）、放棄（牠），在生命的終點前，像鐘聲不斷地傳進耳朵。最悲傷的是，牠也認為自己是個麻煩。
First, no matter what form one might take one day, habit seems to follow like a shadow. On the morning Gregor turns into a giant insect, the very first thing that crosses his mind is that he will be late for work. Through this striking detail, Kafka vividly depicts how human beings are constrained by culture, custom, and society—and how the consequences of deviating from these structures are often unbearable for ordinary people.
Second, human beings possess an unparalleled capacity for adaptation—I would argue that all living beings do. Whether one is ill, disabled, or perceived as strange, there exists an instinct for survival that enables people to cope with social life. This reveals that no matter how different one becomes, there is always a way—or at least an attempt—to keep oneself alive. The real difficulty is not one’s own deficiency, but the pressure imposed by how others perceive that deficiency, much like the reactions and behaviors of Gregor’s family.
Third, the longing to be understood. Throughout most of the story, Gregor’s family makes no attempt to understand him—simply because he has become an insect. In fact, only a few days after the incident, they had already reached a conclusion:
Since he was no longer able to make himself understood, no one—not even his sister—thought that he could understand them.
In reality, every word, every sentence, and every gesture is fully perceived by it. The anxiety, the neglect directed at it, and the gradual abandonment resound like tolling bells in its ears until the very end of its life. Most tragically of all, it, too, comes to believe that it is a burden.
卡夫卡的《變形記》揭露了人類身為生物的本質，以及在一個社會裡成為「異類」和對待「異類」的困境──由於自我無法控制社會期望的標準，在自我與順應社會之間的掙扎。合理性由於認知的缺陷可能造成悲劇，我想，只有理解才是最終的解方，儘管要把理解寫成理論不可能（不是近乎不可能），在人生的漫漫長路中，還是值得我們這麼做。畢竟，誰，都應該被善待。
Kafka’s The Metamorphosis exposes the biological nature of human beings, as well as the dilemma of becoming an “other” within society and of how society treats those deemed “other.” This dilemma arises from the fact that individuals cannot control the standards of social expectation, and are thus caught in a struggle between the self and conformity. Rationality, when shaped by limitations in perception, may give rise to tragedy. I believe that understanding is the only ultimate response, even though transforming understanding into theory is impossible—not merely nearly so. Still, over the long course of life, it remains something worth striving for. After all, everyone deserves to be treated with kindness.
推薦《變形記》嗎？
Do I recommend The Metamorphosis?
十分推薦《變形記》給所有人看，不僅因為它對人生寓意深遠，也由於它的篇幅較短（海雁文化出版；如下圖，每頁的字數大概如此，總共85頁），對於忙碌工作而沒有時間閱讀的人，更具親和力。
I highly recommend The Metamorphosis to everyone—not only because it carries profound reflections on life, but also because of its relatively short length. The edition published by Haiyan Culture, for example, contains about eighty-five pages, with roughly the same amount of text on each page. This makes the book especially accessible to those who are busy with work and have little time for reading.
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試營運板塊
Trial Run Section
易讀（Readability）：★★★★☆
娛樂（Enjoyment）：★★★★✯
啟發（Inspiration）：★★★✯☆
引用（Citation）：
中文：
嚕（Lu）（2026 年 1 月）。【書評】法蘭茲．卡夫卡《變形記》（Die Verwandlung）。《嚕的文學創作》。https://literatureoflu.blogspot.com/2025/12/BookReview.37.FranzKafka.1.html
English:
Lu. (2026, January). 【Book review】Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis (Die Verwandlung). The Literature of Lu. https://literatureoflu.blogspot.com/2025/12/BookReview.37.FranzKafka.1.html
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