Metamorphosis is a unique book. Gregor is a traveling salesman who provides for his family, and one day wakes up as a bug. It starts with this bizarre event which sets the plot in some impossible world. The chance of waking up as a bug is not something that anyone has ever documented. Once this happens Gregor’s life completely changes for obvious reasons. He can’t go into work and so spends most of his time in his room. The weird thing in this story is that his family treats this event as a random occurrence. As a reader we have no reason to believe the Gregor is being punished because he is shown as a good person.
As the story goes on we see how his family has to start supporting themselves as Gregor is no longer eligible to work. The way this story is set up is that all the characters have sense of calmness in this event. This shows the reader that this story takes place in an unusual universe. In addition his sister Grete starts to show the most compassion for Gregor with his mom following afterwards. She tries to find out what foods he likes. This relates to the theme of Gregor’s mind being different than himself. His new body likes different foods and environments than Gregor’s human body. He wants to move the furniture out of he room and doesn’t like milk, which was his favorite before the transformation.
Soon Gregor is causing stress within the family, especially afterthe caretaker forgot to close the door to his room and the tenants saw the mess. In the end it is ironic because Grete is the one who decides that they must get rid of Gregor. The story has a major theme of literal and mental alienation. Gregor’s transformation initiates the cycle of alienation from his family and the human race. However as you read through the story you notice how the alienation started before he transformed. He notices a strained type of relationship because of his job that involved traveling, and his pride to support his family fading as they relied and moreover expected his support. It can be inferred that the metamorphosis started even before the physical transition.
