Rotten Apples and Beating Hearts: A Psychological Study of Two Characters

Many great works of literature feature characters dealing with extraordinary circumstances in otherwise ordinary worlds. In a literary context, this is referred to as “magical realism,” wherein, fantastic elements exist without fantastic explanation in a world that is, in other aspects, “normal” (Zamora, 1995, p. 5). However, from a psychological standpoint, this analysis is not appropriate. If one examines characters in these stories, there are often perfectly reasonable, psychological explanations for these peculiarities. Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis and Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tale-Tale Heart” are two stories that feature supernatural elements that can be attributed to specific and recognizable psychological conditions.

Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis is a novella which, on the surface, is about a young man, Gregor Samsa, who awakens one morning to find that he has been transformed into a gigantic cockroach. His mental faculties are still working, and he has a human rationale, but his physical form is that of a giant cockroach. At least, that is what Gregor believes. A psychological analysis of Gregor, however, would likely result in a diagnosis of schizophrenia. The DSM-IV lists certain criteria that, if a patient exhibits a number of, will help identify an individual as having schizophrenia. There are many symptoms, but Gregor’s include, include delusions and disorganized speech. A diagnosis of schizophrenia, according to the DSM-IV, also requires dysfunction related to the social or occupational aspect of the individual’s life. It is not difficult to see how Gregor is exhibiting all of these symptoms in his behavior.

To begin with, Gregor believes wholeheartedly that he has become a giant insect. He is not even particularly upset by this fact. As Barry Smith wrote in his 1981 article, “Kafka and Brentano: a Study in Descriptive Psychology,” Gregor Samsa “doesn't just feel like a noxious insect, he is a noxious insect: that is to say, everything in his external reality is such as to lend support to his belief that this is his new form” (p. 123) This belief is an example of a delusion being experienced by the patient. Delusions are so specific to schizophrenia, that presenting with them as a symptom is a reason enough to be given a diagnosis of schizophrenia, but for Gregor, this is not necessary, because he has many other symptoms as well.

Disorganized speech is another indicator of schizophrenia, and Gregor Samsa exhibits this behavior as well. Throughout the work, Kafka references the fact that Gregor can no longer be understood by other people. Gregor believes this is because he is now an insect, and lacks the biological makeup necessary for speech, but this is can be explained as a result of his delusion. Nowhere in the text does another person refer directly to the fact that Gregor is no longer human; rather, they are just incapable of understanding the words he believes he is saying. At one point, the chief clerk at his office comes to visit. He asks the members of the house, “Were you able to hear him just now? That was the voice of an animal” (Kafka, 1915, p. 96). It is not likely that the chief clerk actually believes Gregor is an animal, merely that Gregor’s speech is unintelligible—which is, of course, another sign of schizophrenia.

Social and/or occupational dysfunction is another indicator of schizophrenia listed in the DSM-IV. Although if Gregor actually had been transformed into an insect, his immobility could be explained by his giant exoskeleton, it is much more likely that it is a result of his mental situation. Gregor believes his death is a result of a rotten apple lodged in his shell, but throughout the work, the reader sees Gregor slowly shut himself off to the world. He remains solely in his room, stuck in his bed, living amongst his dirt and filth. He does not go to work, and attempts to even interact with his family are unsuccessful. Gregor eventually dies because he has given up completely on life. His inability to interact and carry out his day-to-life activities is yet another sign of his schizophrenia.

Franz Kafka may have unintentionally written a cut-and-dried textbook case of schizophrenia, but he is not the only author to present such psychological conditions in his work. Mystery and horror writer, Edgar Allan Poe, is known for his tales of the supernatural. His short story, “The Tell-Tale Heart,” is one of his most famous. It features a narrator who kills his landlord because he feels threatened by the man’s blind eye. The narrator kills the man and buries him under the floorboards of the home. Throughout the work, the narrator exhibits behaviors that are indicative of a paranoid schizophrenia diagnosis. These behaviors include delusions (especially of persecution and grandiosity) and auditory hallucinations (Noll, 2000, p. 304). As the DSM-IV explains, an individual with paranoid schizophrenia differs from someone without the paranoid attachment because he or she does not exhibit disorganized speech or behavior. A study of the narrator in “The Tell-Tale Heart” can quickly reveal an accurate diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia.

It is clear from the beginning that there is something wrong with the narrator of “The Tell-Tale Heart.” He admits this himself, opening the story with, “True!—nervous—very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad” (Poe, 1999, p. 4)? The narrator does not believe he is “mad,” but this is simply a symptom of his disease. One criterion used to diagnose paranoid schizophrenics is the existence of delusion—especially those that are grandiose. The narrator proves that he is exhibiting these in his very next lime, “The disease had sharpened my senses--not dulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all the things in heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell” (Poe, 1999, p. 4). The narrator believes that his hearing is so enhanced that he is hearing what is impossible to hear. He also goes into great detail about what a great job he does plotting to kill his landlord. These are two examples of delusions of grandiosity that help provide a paranoid schizophrenic diagnosis.

One of the most obvious symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia is a patient who presents with auditory hallucinations. Not only does the narrator believe he can hear sounds coming from heaven and hell, but once he murders the landlord and hides him under the floorboards, he believes he can hear his still-beating heart. This serves the diagnosis two-fold. For one, the man is dead—the fact that the narrator believes his heart could still be beating is in line with the earlier delusions he has experienced (Poe, 1999, p. 6). In addition to this, the narrator, in saying he can hear the old man’s beating heart, has shown that he is suffering from auditory hallucinations.

Lastly, an individual is only diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia is they meet the earlier stated criteria, and do NOT exhibit disorganized speech or behavior. The narrator seems to be extremely well-spoken; the officers who come to investigate seem to have no issue communicating with him, and his behaviors are not disorganized either. He is able to bury an old man under floorboards, he answers the door capably and even pulls up the boards to reveal the body beneath (Poe, 1999, p. 8). These behaviors cannot be classified as disorganized.

Overall, using psychology to analyze a work of literature is beneficial in a few ways. It allows the reader to better understand the actions and behaviors of the characters within the works, but it also helps the reader better understand the very many psychological conditions that have been described. Understanding how these conditions manifest and what the behavior of those suffering from looks like, can help the reader better understand various aspects of psychology overall. Examining Kafka’s The Metamorphosis and Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart” gives the reader a better understanding of the works and of schizophrenia than they may have had otherwise.

References—Gregor Samsa

Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-IV-TR. (4th ed.). (2000). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.

Kafka, F., & Hofmann, M. (2008). Metamorphosis and other stories. New York: Penguin Books.

Smith, B. (1981). Structure and gestalt philosophy and literature in Austria-Hungary and her successor states. Amsterdam: Benjamins.

Zamora, L. P., & Faris, W. B. (1995). Magical realism: theory, history, community. Durham,

N.C.: Duke University Press.

References—The Narrator

Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-IV-TR. (4th ed.). (2000). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.

Noll, R. (2000). The encyclopedia of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Facts On File.

Poe, E. A. (1999). The tell-tale heart. Champaign, Ill.: Project Gutenberg. (Original work published 1843)