Is Kafka’s Metamorphosis a Tragedy or Comedy?

Even though it's an absurd story and there are some kind of elements of comedy in the story, and the way Kafka describes things in detail adds to the comedy of the story—such as him trying to move around and open the door or him talking about the things he likes to do as an insect—in my opinion, Kafka's "Metamorphosis" leans towards the tragic side much more, so I can say that it's more like a tragic, sad story than a comedy.

No matter how absurd and funny turning into a giant cockroach may sound at first, it's a heartbreaking story. It's a story about dependence, about Gregor's physical incapacity. Gregor isn't able to do the things he likes and the things he wants to do anymore, and we see that his family changes towards him in the most cruel way.

In the first part, we learn that Gregor, a commercial traveler, works to pay off his family's debt; he has been working hard for years, and he has to keep working for 5-6 years to do that. Even after he wakes up only to find out that he's not a human anymore, not outside anyway, he still thinks about going to work, and he denies his situation. He's the one who provides for his family, and his family depends on him. Even though he works like a slave to support them, they take his sacrifices and him for granted—which is really tragic. They basically use him. We feel that his life was miserable even as a human; he was living like a beetle: just going to work to support his family, not having a personal life outside of his work, and it's about to get even worse.

While they don't treat him that badly at first and they're concerned about him, maybe because they still have a little bit of hope that everything can be normal again eventually and Gregor keeps providing for them once that happens, things do get worse, indeed.

Another comic aspect of the story is that denial keeps going on and on at first; Gregor even thinks that maybe he just caught a cold and that's just it—he still thinks about catching the train and going to work. Which is a bit funny but also sad at the same time.

Gregor has lost his ability to talk and communicate. That's a story about miscommunication, too. He can't articulate his feelings, and that's the centre of his alienation. He cannot express himself, and other people interpret his actions in the wrong way as they wish. For example, at one point he scares his mother without meaning to by sticking to the wall to protect the photograph of the woman, and his sister raises her fist just like their father—who's a violent person. That photograph is the thing he wants to save the most when they move some furniture from his room, because it's his biggest connection with humanity; he'd like to marry in the future maybe; that's what he signifies, and that's why he holds onto it. But of course, he's misunderstood once again.

We find certain things about the family, and what we find out is both comic and tragic. For example, we learn that his father had kept some money and saved money from what Gregor has earned.  And while he could use that money to pay their debts and he could be grateful for his hardworking son, that's not the case.

Later, we see that they're frightened of having Gregor as a cockroach at home, and every mealtime they talk about him and what they should do, which is a sign that they don't care. They just see him as a burden, a thing. Another tragic thing in the story is how Grete, his sister, changes. She goes from being the one who's the closest to Gregor to the one who thinks they need to get rid of him.

Sweet, dare I say, naive Gregor only changes from the outside for the most part as he retains his sensitive human feelings. He's generous; he cares about his family way too much, and he even blames himself for not being able to work and keep providing for them. He's more human than his family is, no matter how he looks. Meanwhile, his family starts referring to him as "it" now, and as I've stated before, his once lovely sister thinks that they should get rid of "it." They start to neglect him more and more.

In the end, poor Gregor dies with a broken heart and with a rotten apple in his back, which his father has thrown at him before and caused an injury—which makes the story even more sad. We see that his family thinks of the future now that Gregor is no longer alive. They can go out into the countryside, they can finally move into a smaller apartment, and Greta can get married. Through Gregor, through the transformation, they realize they became independent and their situation is not bad; they're free now—unlike Gregor, who was so busy providing for his family that he was never truly free, even when he was a human, which is really tragic.