The Meowmorphosis is a witty and clever reinterpretation of Kafka's own Metamorphosis. However there is one very interesting and key difference, instead of transforming into a bug , Coleridge's Gregor Samsa is changed into a kitten.

It is exactly this replacement from bug to feline that caused my cat , Snowball, to insist we read it.

So ,in Kafka's original it challenges our emotions when human Gregor wakes up as a bug. Gregor has been used as a meal ticket for his family working exhaustively to

The Meowmorphosis is a witty and clever reinterpretation of Kafka's own Metamorphosis. However there is one very interesting and key difference, instead of transforming into a bug , Coleridge's Gregor Samsa is changed into a kitten.

It is exactly this replacement from bug to feline that caused my cat , Snowball, to insist we read it.

So ,in Kafka's original it challenges our emotions when human Gregor wakes up as a bug. Gregor has been used as a meal ticket for his family working exhaustively to provide for his mother ,father and sister. He is extremely unhappy and unable to locate his own spine to speak out to have family and tell them how he really feels. And one has to wonder ,as we begin to know the characters ,whether they would even care at all. So waking up as a spineless bug presents problems for his greedy family ,as he no longer has any worth to them. And even though ,in essence, he is still their son/brother ,he had no utilitarian use and is repellent to them.

How interesting then to give this classic tale a new spin and instead of waking up as a bug ,Gregor wakes up as a cuddly kitten. How will Gregor the kitten fare , as a creature instantly adorable to many , a tempation to stroke and delight .

However the family behave in fairly the same way in spite of this new furry addition joining the family , better to be a kitten than a much less appealing bug right? Unfortunately not so. Gregor's mother shows some initial warmth and interest in wanting to connect but then as he grows rapidly ,he becomes as repellent as the bug in the original.

The only family member (as in the original) to show him any kindness is his sister ,Grethe, who provides him with food and tries to make his living conditions more comfortable. But the novelty of having a kitten for a brother wears thin quite rapidly. And soon we see that since Gregor can no longer go out to work and provide food and provisions for his family ,he just becomes an unwanted nuisance. And the ugliness to which our human kindness fails to extend becomes horribly apparent. When someone can no longer serve our needs ,how primitive can our attitude be....

Unlike the original ,but also paying homage to Kafka , Gregor escapes and enters a puzzling and nonsensical situation where he is put on trial by a hoard of street cats. This is an unexpected and clever sojourn into Kafka's mindbending Trial and is just as perplexing and surreal.



(spoiler) When Gregor returns home ,he is sorrowfully aware that he will reach his final demise. He feels worthless and alienated from affection. The scene which , for me ,feels incredibly pertinent ,is when Gregor creeps out from his room to listen to Grethe playing the violin for some lodgers staying at the Samsa's house. In spite of being quite violently abused by his father since his transformation and his sister losing all interest as he is not returning to his more useful form ; Gregor in thus scene really glows with the luminosity of love and pride for his sister. In spite of being transformed into a kitten ,he still shows the most positive human emotion. But the lodgers catch sight if the giant kitten and are repulsed demanding a refund.



This scene is the final catalyst that gives Grethe the fuel to decide that Gregor must go and her mother and father agree. Gregor overhears the conversation and soon is found dead.

What is most devastating of all his how quickly they heal from what should be exceptionally traumatic. As in the original we see Grethe blossom and it is she that has metamorphosed. Her parents realise that they believe her to be aesthetically pleasing and ready for marriage. So , Grethe becomes the new meal ticket and based on surface-only reasons.

It's fascinating to read Coleridge's explanation of the original translation of the creature that Kafka transformed Gregor into. So , Coleridge explores this alternate reading in a way that is emotionally evocative ,thought provoking ,witty and ultimately quite depressing. If there is no hope for a furry purry friend in this situation ,on what else can we look to and hope for human sympathy over financial and capitalist greed.

A quirky reimagining. Definitely worth reading!