Novella Brief Commentary 

      What makes this novella different, compared to nearly other book that I've read throughout my life, is that the novella immediately jumps into the central issue: Gregor Samsa has transformed from a human to an insect, a shocking occurrence. As the reader, I initially interpreted his transformation as more of a symbolic transformation. I believed that Gregor was dreaming, that he'd wake up, and "POOF!" it'd all be gone and everything would return to normal.

      Going into the book, I had done a little bit of research. Many consider the writing of Franz Kafka to have an existentialist tone. At the core of existentialism is the belief that the world is inherently meaningless and illogical. After reading the first paragraph of the novel, Kafka's existentialist beliefs were clearly vivid, as a human had transformed into a bug, which is completely ridiculous. Although his writing seems illogical, I do believe that Kafka believes there is a point to life, as many of the themes throughout the novella deal with faults in humanity. For example, two of the central themes are alienation and betrayal. Gregor is alienated from society, as soon as he is transformed into an insect. People completely forget about Gregor's personality and who he was as a human. Instead, they only see him as an insect. Even his family members don't treat him nearly the same. I believe that Kafka here is trying to show a major fault in society: the value of appearance. Throughout history, looks have provided people with an opportunity to get by regardless of work and effort. Gregor was appreciated to an extent before he was transformed into an insect. After this transformation, his own family members forgot that he was their brother and son. Kafka also makes this into a point about betrayal. Throughout the novella, Gregor's family members become increasingly mean to him. Gregor has done nothing in his life but support for his family, as after his father's business plans failed, Gregor immediately steps up to work non-stop to ensure that his family can survive. Gregor cares for his sister more than he cares for anything else in the world. He intended on using his extra money to pay for her to go to school for violin. All of Gregor's hard work has seemingly gone for naught, as his family basically asks Gregor to kill himself for the benefit of the family In fact, the first words spoken by Gregor's father after he passes away are "Thank God!"

Throughout the novella, Kafka portrays humanity in a very pessimistic fashion.

Men are too lazy to go to work, people are ungrateful for what they receive, and people value looks over personality. This is very interesting, as most readers enjoy a fairytale ending to every book with everybody being happy. Kafka most likely believes that this view is unrealistic and makes sure that his readers are aware of his belief that not everything will end happily.