While Schuld is a standalone noun, it is also a morpheme in compound words. These occurrences of Schuld are not always obvious in an English translation.
The text of Die Verwandlung is relatively short, yet it contains several instances of this morpheme. Early in the narrative, Gregor Samsa is laying in bed, thinking to himself:
Nun, die Hoffnung ist noch nicht gänzlich aufgegeben; habe ich einmal das Geld beisammen, um die Schuld der Eltern an ihn abzuzahlen – es dürfte noch fünf bis sechs Jahre dauern – , mache ich die Sache unbedingt.
In this first use of the word, Kafka shows two aspects of Schuld: It is hereditary, and it is his to pay. The connection to the Biblical concept of original sin is unmistakable.
The morpheme appears a second time, as Gregor ponders the humiliation he experiences when his employer sends someone important to inquire about his absence, instead of sending merely an errand boy:
Genügte es wirklich nicht, einen Lehrjungen nachfragen zu lassen – wenn überhaupt diese Fragerei nötig war – , mußte da der Prokurist selbst kommen, und mußte dadurch der ganzen unschuldigen Familie gezeigt werden, daß die Untersuchung dieser verdächtigen Angelegenheit nur dem Verstand des Prokuristen anvertraut werden konnte?
Here, the qualities of the guilt are reversed: the family is unschuldig, and should be protected in this state. Gregor has so internalized the inherited guilt that he sees the family, who transmitted the guilt to him, as guiltless. If the family is innocent, then perhaps Gregor has become the source of guilt.
A question presents itself about the distinction between being guilty, and being perceived as guilty.
Gregor’s father says that the man from Gregor’s employer wants to enter the room and speak with Gregor personally. To dispel any hesitance of Gregor’s part, the father indicates that the man would certainly overlook any disorder in the room:
Er wird die Unordnung im Zimmer zu entschuldigen schon die Güte haben.
To ‘overlook’ the clutter in the room is to ‘de-guilt’ it: entschuldigen.
Analyzing his family’s actions, he likewise ‘de-guilts’ their behavior, because it’s caused by ‘uncertainty.’ To ‘excuse’ is again to ‘de-guilt’:
Aber es war eben die Ungewißheit, welche die anderen bedrängte und ihr Benehmen entschuldigte.
Once again the family is the locus of guilt, and they need to be ‘de-guilted.’
Gregor’s sister harbors dreams of studying, and when Gregor mentions the topic, which his parents don’t like, he proceeds to defend himself by saying that his comment was guiltless:
Öfters während der kurzen Aufenthalte Gregors in der Stadt wurde in den Gesprächen mit der Schwester das Konservatorium erwähnt, aber immer nur als schöner Traum, an dessen Verwirklichung nicht zu denken war, und die Eltern hörten nicht einmal diese unschuldigen Erwähnungen gern; aber Gregor dachte sehr bestimmt daran und beabsichtigte, es am Weihnachtsabend feierlich zu erklären.
With the next instance of the word, Gregor’s thoughts have come full circle, and the parents are again the locus of guilt. The focus is sharper this time, and the father is the specific bearer of guilt.
This corresponds both to Kafka’s own problematic relationship with his father, and to the classic formulations of original sin, which focus on Adam rather than Eve.
Eigentlich hätte er ja mit diesen überschüssigen Geldern die Schuld des Vaters gegenüber dem Chef weiter abgetragen haben können, und jener Tag, an dem er diesen Posten hätte loswerden können, wäre weit näher gewesen, aber jetzt war es zweifellos besser so, wie es der Vater eingerichtet hatte.
Kafka’s concept of guilt is fluid and ubiquitous. Fluid, inasmuch as source or focus of the guilt seems to alternate between Gregor and his parents. Ubiquitous, inasmuch as it seems to eventually involve everyone everywhere.
When Gregor sees himself as the bearer of guilt, his neurotic imagination hypothesizes that this would perhaps kill his mother:
Gregor war nun von der Mutter abgeschlossen, die durch seine Schuld vielleicht dem Tode nahe war.
Gregor is not the only one thinking about guilt. Gregor seems to have long feared the contents of his father’s thought. The father makes his opinion about Gregor explicit: the father attributes guilt to Gregor.
Gregor war es klar, daß der Vater Gretes allzu kurze Mitteilung schlecht gedeutet hatte und annahm, daß Gregor sich irgendeine Gewalttat habe zuschulden kommen lassen.
Gregor describes the father’s attitude toward the lodgers: he owes them respect. Because ‘guilt’ and ‘debt’ are both Schuld, to ‘owe’ something is the verb schulden.
The three lodgers, with their significant full beards, may be symbols for Judaism. Kafka’s relationship to Judaism was complex. Like the lodgers, Judaism was in Kafka’s environment, in his family. Yet, like the lodgers and their aloof behavior, Judaism remained just out of Kafka’s grasp, un-internalized.
Just as Gregor’s father ‘owes’ respect to the lodgers, Kafka’s fathered owed respect to Judaism. Kafka was disappointed that his father was not pious or observant; he was disappointed that his father hadn’t done a more thorough job of passing this spiritual heritage on to his son.
Der Vater schien wieder von seinem Eigensinn derartig ergriffen, daß er jeden Respekt vergaß, den er seinen Mietern immerhin schuldete.
The final instance of the Schuld morpheme is at the end of the story. Gregor is dead, and family has decided to take a day off, and go outdoors for some recreation.
The father, mother, and sister each write a letter of excuse to their respective employers. A ‘letter of excuse’ is ‘de-guilting letter’:
Und so setzten sie sich zum Tisch und schrieben drei Entschuldigungsbriefe, Herr Samsa an seine Direktion, Frau Samsa an ihren Auftraggeber, und Grete an ihren Prinzipal.
These ten occurrences of the Schuld morpheme are located throughout the narrative, and support the standard reading of Die Verwandlung. Moral guilt, often symbolized by financial debt, remains a principal theme in the text.
