Black Swan and the The Metamorphosis by Kafka - A comparison

Recently I re-watched Black Swan and I noticed the many similarities between Kafka's novella The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka from 1912, which I would like to explain in the following.

Black Swan is about the ballet dancer Nina, who is obsessed about perfection. As a result she only focuses on the techniques instead of feeling what she is doing. In addition she is living with her mother who keeps her under control and treats her like a 5-year-old. For her role in Swan Lake she also has to dance the Black Swan and therefore discover her 'dark side'.

The protagonist of The Metamorphosis Gregor Samsa is working in a job he hates for his family and to make a certain lifestyle possible. Even though Gregor is the earner of the family, the father keeps and insists on his role as the patriarch. One morning Gregor wakes up transformed to a beetle, which unveils the relationship of the family members towards Gregor and the family dynamics.

In general it can be said both works deal with a conflict between superego and id.

Nina's identity is totally determined by being a ballerina. All other facets of her personality do not matter to her. This is supported by the dominant role of her mother, who herself was a ballerina, but failed a professional career. In the movie the superego is personalized by the White Swan. For her role as the Black Swan she has to explore her uncontrolled side, which in the movie is often referred to sexuality, which underlines its affiliation to the id.

Gregor Samsa subordinated his life to work and practically has no live as a private person. This is necessary as his father went bankrupt and now Gregor has to care for the family, therefore his personality is determined by the superego as well. One day he wakes up as a beetle, which symbolizes the id. Bugs represent something irrational and archaic, which is the totally opposite of what Gregor was before. Just as Nina's mother does not regard Nina as a person, but a projection, the personality of Gregor does not matter to his family. When he was transformed to a bug and stayed in his room and therefore could not go to work, his family was not really concerned about him being sick or anything like this. Instead they were mad at him for not working and worried he could lose his job.

Both characters fail to build up an ego, but they are torn between those two extremities. The disability to build up and ego and therefore an own personality is shown in both works withing the death of the protagonist. One reason for this is probably also the disturbed relationship between parent and child.

In addition another main motive is alienation. As already mentioned Nina does not feel what she is doing, but only focus on the techniques. Therefore she does not really has a real connection to her only passion and interest. This would also explain why she dances ballet to be perfect, but not to enjoy the activity.

Gregor Samsa is alienated from his work and family. He does not like his job and cannot find any sense in what he is doing, but the economical circumstances force him to keep his work.

The family as an institution falls apart, as it should give support and security, but in Gregor's case he is only the earner, after his metamorphosis, his family does not support him and does not try to be there for him.

As conclusion it can be said that the alienation probably supported the conflict between superego and id, as there was no real relationship of the individual to its environment and its activities and therefore could not help forming an identity which would have been part of the ego.