Citation

"The Metaporphosis" are commonly called fantasies. Unusual from the start, The Metamorphosis begins with Gregor Samsa's waking up transformed into a beetle. As the story progresses, Gregor appears to accept this fact fairly readily; he never stops to question how such a transformation could realistically occur. This lack of questioning seems very peculiar. One might expect a person who transformed into a beetle over night to inquire about the possibility of such an occurrence. Gregor's apparent lack of concern over his condition begs a query as to whether any physical change actually occurred. Although the story presents the mutation as fact, one might argue that it serves as a metaphor to illustrate the state of the Samsa household. Many critics who approach the story believe that Gregor's transformation is an extended metaphor, carried from abstract concept to concrete reality: trapped in a meaningless job and isolated from the human beings around him, Gregor is thought of as an insect by himself and by others, so he becomes one. In short, he becomes a vermin because of his work. In addition many critics have also offered psychoanalytical interpretations of The Metamorphosis, seeing in the work a dramatization of particularly modern neuroses. For its technical excellence, as well as for the nightmarish and fascinating nature of the metamorphosis itself, Kafka's story has elicited a vast amount of interest, and its various problematic features continue to challenge its readers.