"When Gregor Samsa woke up one morning from unsettling dreams, he found .
himself changed in his bed into a monstrous vermin" (433) it is apparent that Kafka .
meant something underneath the surface. Awakening from unsettling dreams could mean .
awakening from an uneasy, labored life by quitting it all. His transformation .
could mean how society can compare him to a cockroach for his giving up on them and .
treat him as if he was less than human. In reading Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka one .
could presume the theme to be a criticism of society. Throughout this story Kafka shows .
how society can be split into different sections. In reading this first portion of .
the story one would be led to believe that Kafka is making a statement of how the .
working man feels that his life, and others would be in jeopardy if he were to stop .
working. It is clear why Gregor gave up working for his family when he turns the key to .
the door and says "They should have called, keep going, at that lock, harder, harder!'" .
(440) what he needed were words of encouragement, words he never received. This could .
believably be a metaphor that the working people in society are way overworked, and get .
very little respect for it.
It is obvious that Gregor appears disgusting to others that see him, when the .
manager runs away at first glimpse of him. This is his punishment for not working. His .
grotesque figure represents what he thinks people think of him. In a way this is saying, .
when the working person stops working, he believes people will see him as a disgusting .
figure, one that can do nothing but live off others. At this point Gregor's position, and .
respect in the household decrease rapidly to a point of near nonexistence. He can't even .
talk to people, this is established early on when the manager says "Did you understand a .
word?" (439). His family locks him in his room, and feeds him old rotting food. They .
completely desert him, and try to move on with their lives.
