The Metamorphosis

The way people spoke about this book made me think it was going to be grotesque and hard to read, but I would not describe it that way. When many people would describe this book to me they would say it's a story of transformation, which sure Gregor literally turns into a bug but I wouldn't consider this a grand change by the way it happens. You start the story with Gregor already transformed, and you would think it's because of a curse or folklore or some sort of explanation, but it's never explained. The version of the book I have has a reading comprehension section in which one of the questions asks you why did Gregor turn into a bug, and the answer (according to the answer sheet in the book) is that no one knows nor cares. I don't find that to be a valid answer.

I can't find it valid because it paints a different image to me of how the world works in this particular story. His family sees him as a bug, and they do freak out in the beginning but there is still a humane treatment towards him, especially from his sister. This whole time in the book my interpretation was that this was common, this is something that has happened before. To read that his family doesn't know why he's a bug and they don't care changes my experience reading the book, the way they behave around him makes no sense to me anymore, except Gregor's father.

Because I can interpret that he becomes this bug because of how exploited he is with these expectations as a responsible worker who has never missed a day of work to the point the clerk comes to his apartment so he can get back to work. As a provider to his family that allows them to live comfortably and even spoke of sending his sister to a conservatory. I can interpret that these things made him reach a limit and thus he is now a giant bug, but the story does nothing to answer what made him like this. There isn't much descriptions of Gregor missing work or regretting working so much. We mostly get what has become the new routine, the small pleasures he found as a bug like crawling to the ceiling or what he eats.

The way people describe this book is almost misleading and I can't tell if people are afraid to rate this book different than a five because it's a classic, Kafka's most recognized work or because everyone speaks so highly of it and any other opinion is controversial. Here's what I do like about the book if I ignore the unanswered question of why did he become this way, if that really is the intention of the book: is it a sad story.

Gregor's family is awful as we lead to the end of the story, but in a way that is realistic to me. As I read the book, I kept comparing his circumstances to being similar to taking care of a sick family member. During my grandfather's last months my mom and her siblings took care of him, he suffered with meals and his agonizing felt like eternity to my family, eventually he passed away and all the exhaustion that I mostly saw in my mother came crumbling. Some people read the last pages and think that Gregor's family never really cared about him because of the actions they take after his death, yes it is cruel, however I think anyone who had to intensively care after another person felt understood. My disconnect only occurred when they started to refer to Gregor has ‘it' but it was important to understand the building frustration they had, not only going through a dramatic change of lifestyle but also dealing with a creature they did not understand and making efforts in hopes of the best. If I never read the stupid comprehension at the end I would not be frustrated with the unanswered question but my experience reading Gregor's change and how it affected those around him made it a good read.