TRANSLATION     WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE?
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CONCLUSION

Franz Kafka's dissatisfaction with the ending of The Metamorphosis, described  in the letter quoted above, might also apply to the feelings of translators trying to translate the conclusion of the story. Once again translators must make difficult choices -- in this case, choices that may influence the way in which readers will  interpret the story's ending. 

One of these problem places occurs in the passage where Gregor's sister is telling her parents what she feels must be done with Gregor. The boxes below illustrate two translations of this sentence; as you read them, pay particular attention to the opening words.

You'll note an immediate difference between these two translations: one starts with the pronoun he, the other with it. The original German version uses a pronoun which can be translated either way -- as he or it -- but such a pronoun doesn't occur in English, so translators must decide which one to use. While doing this they must also think about a slightly earlier part of the same conversation where Grete twice says,  
                    We must try to get rid of it. 
This sentence poses no problem because the German pronoun used here definitely means it.  The manuscript of the story shows, in fact, that Kafka originally wrote We must try to get rid of him -- then changed the pronoun him to  it. So there's no doubt that he was fully aware of the significance of Grete's choice of pronoun. 

This leads some translators to conclude that it should be repeated in the later sentence --  It has to go. Others feel that using he is preferable -- He's got to go -- so that Grete won't seem to have completely forgotten that her brother was once human. It's possible that Kafka deliberately chose this ambiguous pronoun to reflect Gregor's dual identity, leaving the reader to decide whether Gregor is, finally, animal or human. Unfortunately for the translator, the English language doesn't allow this ambiguity -- so the translator is forced to make definite what Kafka may have wanted to remain uncertain.    

Finally, let's conclude by looking at the last sentences of the story. You'll see four translations of these sentences in the boxes below; I've highlighted the key words.

You'll note several important differences in these translations. The first involves the way that Grete's physical development is described. For Corngold,  Grete is a good-looking, shapely girl; for the Muirs  a pretty girl with a good figure -- both versions indicating that Grete has become a young woman whom men will find attractive and hopefully will want to marry.  

Freed and Underwood, however, put much greater emphasis on Grete's burgeoning sexuality. Freed describes her as a pretty and voluptuous woman; Underwood as a beautiful, full-bosomed girl. Here she's not just a reasonably good-looking girl but an especially attractive one -- and her sexual appeal increases the likelihood that she'll find a "good" husband. 

The translations also differ in how they present the last words of the story. In Freed's and the Muirs' translations, Grete jumped and sprang to her feet, but for Corngold and Underwood she simply got up first and was the first to stand up. While these aren't major differences, the choice of words does affect the reader's interpretation of the ending of the story. Is Grete so happy at Gregor's removal from her family that she can't wait to start a new life? Or is there still, perhaps, a residue of melancholy at what has happened to her family? The words Kafka originally used can be interpreted in either way, leaving the story as complex and mystifying at the end as it is in its haunting beginning.
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Cynthia Ozick, a highly-acclaimed writer of our own time, has written eloquently about "the impossibility of translating Kafka." The source of this impossibility, she says, is that there is "always for Kafka, behind [the overt] meaning" another meaning that can never be translated (87). There may be some consolation for the translator in recognizing that Kafka shared this sense of impossibility, for he regarded the act of writing as ultimately "impossible" (qtd. in Ozick 82). Mere words, he felt, could never adequately express the unresolvable dilemmas of human existence. Still he dedicated his life to writing, knowing that he would never achieve his unattainable goal. Shortly before his death, he wrote the words quoted below. They serve as a summation of his literary achievement -- and of what he endured to accomplish it.

But what is it to be a writer? Writing is a sweet, wonderful reward, but its price? ... It is the reward for service to the devil. This descent to the dark powers, this unbinding of spirits by nature bound, dubious embraces and whatever may go on below, of which one no longer knows anything above ground, when in the sunlight one writes stories. Perhaps there is another kind of writing, I only know this one; in the night, when anxiety does not let me sleep, I know only this.        -- "Letter to Max Brod." (Qtd. in            Corngold 73)

For further information about Kafka's life and work, the following web sites are good starting points.

  The Kafka Project:   <http://www.kafka.org>
  A Good Person: Franz Kafka (Daniel Hornek web site): <http://www.kafka-franz.com>

Many other Kafka sites on the web are, unfortunately, outdated and have links that don't work.