Dear Diary,

To be honest, when I first heard that we were going to read this book, I was a bit hesitant, and yes, kind of scared, because like most teenage girls, I am deeply terrified of bugs.        A lot of my friends read this story in high school, and I remember clearly sighing from relief because my class had a different curriculum. I guess my impression of the book is directly from the plot itself, a man turns into a giant cockroach. I always expected I would be reading about the process of the metamorphosis, rather than the after-effects of it, so after reading the first two paragraphs of the story, I was surprised (kind of glad though). I don’t know if I would be able to handle reading a book about how a man’s limbs gradually become cockroach legs. 🙁

But anyway, as the story progresses, I felt a wide range of emotions toward Gregor. At one point, I was incredibly upset with him because I felt like he had no emotions towards his new change. Almost to the point where he just accepted the fact that he’s a bug. I mean, A BUG. If I were in his shoes, I’d be freaking out. I felt disconnected from him because I kept thinking, “Is he a robot??” In addition, what kind of person in his/her right mind still thinks about work?? When they’ve become a bug! I was really frustrated with him, and actually disliked him because of how calm and collected he was. I felt like slapping the senses back into him. But later on, I felt really bad for him because of the way his family treated him, in particular, the way his father treated him. His father was downright abusing him, both physically and mentally. In his mind, he basically disowned Gregor, even after all that Gregor has done for his family. As for Grete, in the beginning, yes, she cared for him, and although many may dislike her because later on, she started doing less and less for him and whatnot, at least she put in an effort, right? I actually felt a really strong connection with Grete. It may have been because she was around the same age as us, but I understood what she was going through. If I were in her position, I honestly don’t know if I could have done much better than what she did. I don’t think I would be able to treat a big cockroach as my big brother, as if nothing happened, so I actually commend her, A for effort. For Gregor’s mother, it pained me to even think about what was going through her mind. She, of the whole family, of everyone, cared about Gregor the most. Even though physically she was unable to see her son, while reading the story, one could definitely tell that she really wanted to go into his room and take care of him. A mother will always love her child.

There were some parts of the book that really stuck to me. One for example is when Grete and her mother were clearing out Gregor’s room so he could have more crawl space, Gregor stays on his favorite photo, and doesn’t let them take it away. To me, it was really meaningful. This part of the story kind of represented the transition of when he was really, truly being dehumanized. He wasn’t even going to have any of his possessions anymore. And him holding onto that photo was like he was holding on to his manhood, desperately trying to salvage at least one thing from his former life.

Overall, I kind of disliked the ending because to me, it was kind of plain. I mean, yes, his passing does solve all the family’s problems, but I guess that is just the type of person he is. One that works non-stop and does everything for his family, neglecting even himself.