The Metamorphosis
The Metamorphosis is a novella by Franz Kafka, first published in 1915. It has been cited as one of the seminal works of fiction of the 20th century and is studied in colleges and universities across the Western world. The story begins with a traveling salesman, Gregor Samsa, waking to find himself transformed (metamorphosed) into a large, monstrous insect-like creature. The cause of Samsa's transformation is never revealed, and Kafka himself never gave an explanation. The rest of Kafka's novella deals with Gregor's attempts to adjust to his new condition as he deals with being burdensome to his parents and sister, who are repulsed by the horrible, verminous creature Gregor has become.
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Community Reviews
3.25/5
It's the oldest story in the world, one morning Gregor Samsa wakes up to find that he has been turned into a giant insect. It's not funny he has a job to get to! What if he gets fired? What will his elderly parents and younger sister do now? And so begins the rest of Gregor Samsa's life where he's stuck in an implausible situation while the world around him continues to turn.
I think there's a lot that could be said about this book. In this day and age, I see what happens to him immediately after his transformation as a metaphor for how we're all replaceable labor and your work doesn't care about you. It could also be about chronic illness or mental illness and how it affects not only the person suffering from it but their loved ones. Hell, we could even interpret the family as moochers who jumped ship the second Gregor couldn't provide them his all. I will let all these interpretations and analysis to others smarter than me, and I will say that I enjoyed reading this and it's a classic that has a lot of worth.
I cannot make you understand. I cannot make anyone understand what is happening inside me. I cannot even explain it to myself.
It's the oldest story in the world, one morning Gregor Samsa wakes up to find that he has been turned into a giant insect. It's not funny he has a job to get to! What if he gets fired? What will his elderly parents and younger sister do now? And so begins the rest of Gregor Samsa's life where he's stuck in an implausible situation while the world around him continues to turn.
I think there's a lot that could be said about this book. In this day and age, I see what happens to him immediately after his transformation as a metaphor for how we're all replaceable labor and your work doesn't care about you. It could also be about chronic illness or mental illness and how it affects not only the person suffering from it but their loved ones. Hell, we could even interpret the family as moochers who jumped ship the second Gregor couldn't provide them his all. I will let all these interpretations and analysis to others smarter than me, and I will say that I enjoyed reading this and it's a classic that has a lot of worth.
The first time I read this, I remember feeling depressed for months. Revisiting it now that I'm older makes me go "he's just like me fr" (I am still depressed)
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