"One morning, when Gregor Samsa woke from troubled dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a monstrous vermin." This striking opening line belongs to one of the most famous stories in modern literature, The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. The story is about the transformation of a travelling salesman named Gregor and his family. After the protagonist changes into an insect and is no longer able to provide for his family, they go through a lot of hardships that changes all of their lives. From the beginning of the story Gregor is presented as a caring person who works hard in order to support his family without expecting anything in return. However when he turns into a bug and family roles are reversed, the limits of sympathy are tested. Accordingly, when we look at author's background we see many …show more content…
A biographer described Hermann as a "huge, selfish, overbearing businessman" (Corngold). In "Letter to His Father" Franz Kafka described him as "a true Kafka in strength, health, appetite, loudness of voice, eloquence, self-satisfaction, worldly dominance, endurance, presence of mind, [and] knowledge of human nature". Hermann was working as a fancy goods and clothing retailer, he was a practical man who did not value literature or creativity. His authoritarian and bullying character caused Franz to always feel ostracized, like he was unworthy and a failure to his family. In my opinion, this is why he portrayed Gregor Samsa as an insect. Of all the animals, author specifically chose the most insignificant and undesirable one. In the original text Gregor's transformed state is called "ungeziefer" meaning "an unclean beast not suited for sacrifice, a vermin" pointing to his alienation from family and society. Like Franz's father, Gregor's father is a vigorous man too, he even went too far to hit him with an apple, causing a permanent