Metamorphosis
Metamorphosis - meaning Summary
Domestic Order Upends Self
The poem describes a sudden, thorough domestic makeover—cleaning, repairs, and grooming—done by a girlfriend and service workers. Rather than gratitude, the speaker feels disoriented and depleted, having ended relationships and lost the messy surroundings that matched his habits and identity. Cleanliness becomes a kind of theft: he cannot find a roach to commune with, loses his rhythm, and believes he must wait months to return to his usual disorder and comfort.
Read Complete AnalysesA girlfriend came in built me a bed scrubbed and waxed the kitchen floor scrubbed the walls vacuumed, cleaned the toilet, the bathtub, scrubbed the bathroom floor and cut my toenails and my hair. Then all on the same day the plumber came and fixed the kitchen faucet and the toilet and the gas man fixed the heater and the phone man fixed the phone. Now I sit in all this perfection. It is quiet. I have broken off with all 3 of my girlfriends. I felt better when everything was in disorder. It will take me some months to get back to normal: I can't even find a roach to commune with. I have lost my rythm. I can't sleep. I can't eat. I have been robbed of my filth.
Feel free to be first to leave comment.