Summary Of Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis

Many times, what one dislikes most about someone else, is a trait that can be found in oneself. This paradox is illustrated throughout Franz Kafka’s unsettling novella, The Metamorphosis. The Metamorphosis, written by Franz Kafka, was originally published in German in 1905. The novella follows the life of Gregor, a man who wakes up to discover that he has been transformed into a human-sized beetle. As the novella progresses, the reader follows Gregor’s metamorphosis and watch as he slowly loses all of his human qualities and becomes more and more hated by his family. Though upon first glance it may seem like Gregor and his sister Grete are complete opposites, the novella displays many parallels between the two siblings. Gregor and Grete are similar in their caring natures, their feelings and aspirations, and the role that they play to the family.

Before his transformation into a bug, Gregor was the sole source of income for his family. He worked for several years and contributed all of the money to his parents to pay off their debt. Despite the hatred he felt for his job, he continued on with it out of love for and dedication to his family, “If I didn’t hold back for my parents’ sake, I would have quit long ago, I would have marched up to

These similarities can be seen in their caring natures, their feelings and aspirations, and the role that they play to the family. One can interpret The Metamorphosis many different ways and ponder Kafka’s intentions for writing it; nevertheless, one thing that is overwhelmingly apparent is that Kafka intentionally revealed certain similarities between Gregor and Grete as their characters developed and grew. This is one of many lessons one can learn from The Metamorphosis: it is easy to mistake dislike of someone else for dislike of