I read "Samsa in Love" for the first time a couple years ago in Murakami's short story collection "Men Without Women." I remember finding the story a bit confusing, but after reading Kafka's Metamorphosis, I enjoyed "Samsa in Love" much more. It seems that Murakami has taken Gregor Samsa from Metamorphosis and granted him a second shot at humanity. In Kafka's story, Gregor Samsa gave his life to a grueling career as a traveling salesman; because of this, he lost all those things that make us human, such as curiosity and love, and turned into a cockroach (metaphorically I suppose, but also literally?). Eventually, Gregor Samsa's family, who had depended on him for financial support, learn to rely on themselves. Samsa (the roach) becomes a burden to them; this burden is finally relieved at the end of the story when Samsa dies. Pretty depressing.
I enjoyed Murakami's spin-off much better; while Murakami and Kafka are trying to convey similar messages, Kafka's story feels more like a terrifying warning of what happens when you take your humanity for granted while Murakami's story is more of a celebration of the things that make us human. I also felt that Gregor Samsa was a pitiful character in Kafka's story, but an endearing character in Murakami's story. It seemed that Murakami still had hope for this character after reading Metamorphosis even though everyone else in the character's life gave up on him.
Perhaps I am just a romantic, but I enjoyed reading the story of a man learning how to be human much more than the story of a man losing all the things that made him human.
Penny
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