Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka, is a tragic tale of a man, Gregor, who wakes up one morning transformed into human-sized cockroach. Before this, he is the capable breadwinner of his aging parents and younger sister, setting them (and him) up in a nice roomy apartment. After the transformation, there is a brief period of sympathy from his family which rapidly turns to disgust, which prompts them to isolate him in his room. Because the family no longer has their sponsor, they are compelled to take in some unpleasant boarders. The situation declines accordingly in light of the fact that Gregor is unable to reverse the unfortunate species shift.
This is my first reading of Kafka. It was a mercifully short read at 55 pages. How long can one read about the disintegration of a once-productive life? The benefactor becomes a prisoner both in body and soul, losing his liberty on multiple levels, and an outcaste, losing his place in the hearts of his family members. He has no clue as to why this has happened to him and even worse, is incapable of doing anything to change the situation. Gregor was both a sympathetic and doomed figure, and even though his family couldn’t actually do anything to change him back, they became very unlikeable by the end of the story.
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