I heard many of my classmates complaining that they found Gregor’s sudden transformation into a cockroach unrealistic. Personally, I couldn’t disagree more. Lets be honest, there was no way for Kafka to realistically transform Gregor into a cockroach without dipping into science fiction and significantly altering his story. So Kafka’s simply did it, he turned Gregor into a cockroach overnight. It kept the story more concise and focused the reader on the isolation, societal pressures, and lack of loyalty that the author was trying to convey. I wish more authors would follow his example.
But that’s not to say I loved all aspects of Kafka’s writing. In fact his writing reminded me of the worst traits of another author’s writing that I have read, Ayn Rand. Throughout “Atlas Shrugged,” Ayn Rand depicts overpowering feelings that the characters experience without any explanation for these intense emotions. Reading “Metamorphosis,” it felt like Kafka used the same style, particularly with Crete. If Crete’s diligence in feeding Gregor was a sign of love, why did she forbid her mother from seeing Gregor and why did she insist that he stay under the bed when she entered? Similarly, after building up what seemed to be a closer relationship between Gregor and her sister, Gregor’s death seems to symbolize the birth of Crete and the flourishing of her beauty and maturity. Why would he do this? There could be a million interpretations, none more right than the rest.
Aside from some of his ambiguity, I found the congruence between Kafka’s life and his story remarkable. Having read up on Kafka’s background before reading the text, I felt as if Gregor himself was the textual embodiment of Kafka. The same depressed and lonely sentiments that seemed to have ruled Kafka’s life as a german speaking jew living in Prague seemed to bemoan Gregor.
writing, “And it felt like a confirmation of their new dreams and their fond intentions when, as they reached their destination, their daughter was the first to get up, and stretched her nubile young body.” (146). While Gregor metamorphoses into a horrible monster, his sister blossoms into a young woman. The ending reminded of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird and how Scout had finally matured by the end of the novel.
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. 🙁
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.
ork for the benefit of their families. I also relate Gregor’s family to vultures because vultures are birds that wait for their prey to die before flying down to grab their meal. This is how Gregor’s family appeared to me because of the way they treated him. They used Gregor and watched as his life drained away while he was a man and allowed him to die as a bug. And from his death they reaped the benefits, like finding jobs of there own and trying to move into a more suitable house.
I wonder what other animals could represent Gregor and his family?
