Metamorphosis By Franz Kafka

"It's got to go," shouted Gregor's sister, "that's the only way father. You've got to get rid of the idea that that's Gregor. We've only harmed ourselves by believing it for so long. How can that be Gregor? If it were Gregor he would have seen long ago that it's not possible for human beings to live with an animal like that and he would have gone on his own free will. We wouldn't have a bother anymore, then, but we could carry on with our lives and remember him with respect. [...]"

- Grete Samsa to her Father (Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka)

Personal rating: 5/5💔

Imagine in your sleep, while you are having troubled dreams and and one cool morning you wake up to see that you've turned into a horrible vermin, and you are not even shocked!

Gregor Samsa, a travelling Salesman who barely earns a living, lives with his father, mother and a young sister of seventeen and somehow his whole family is dependent upon him.

The story is very well paced and its more sad and painful than just plain horrifying. The reader will be able to relate alot with Gregor because Kafka very profoundly weaves a web of alienation, existential crisis and just plain human suffering by displaying it through a vermin.

How does the transformation takes place, Kafka doesn't talk about. He rather focus on the problems that come after it.

What fascinated me the most is that Gregor, the character who turns into a vermin, doesn't even realizes at the beginning the changes, he does understand that something is wrong but even as he stares at his tiny feeble legs and a soft belly, he doesn't thing anything out of place, its as if Kafka is trying to say here that its just how a normal person suffers. And Gregor suffers only after his family members start treating him differently. He plunges deep into isolating himself from everyone, locked up in his room, afraid he might scare someone off. And the chief clerk, Kafka used that character to expose the human business and the real crisis when the Chief Clerk comes in knocking to check of Gregor, who never takes a day off, and is always punctual and hardworking, to see why hasn't he come to work after just some hours of his delay.

Kafka very gently weaves the story not adding too much, but explaining ample so that the readers grasp the situation and understand the feeling of utter pain, loneliness and hopelessness.

This story really left a mark in my soul. It is sad.

Thank you for reading it.

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