"The Metamorphosis" is my first reading of Kafka. It really was a good novella. At first, I thought it would be a sci-fi novella. It was very amusing at start especially how Gregor tried to please others forgetting all about himself. Yet, when I reached part III, I felt totally sorry and sad for Gregor.
How much considerate he was! He thought of all the things he'd done and would do for his family, especially his sister.
Most interestingly is the behavior of his sister, Grete. She tried to help him at the beginning, then she hated him at the end. She was the one who pronounced his death sentence. She thought of him as a burden.
Gregor's father, too, was very abhorring. He was the reason for Gregor's suffering by forcing him to work, to pay the debts. Also, smashing Gregor with an apple lead to Gregor's slow death. So, the father was responsible for the slow death of Gregor's soul by forcing him to work. Also, He was responsible for his slow physical death by hitting him with an apple. I guess the father is a symbol of Kafka's father who he resented too much.
My reading of the novella is that Kafka wanted to depict how miserable humans are in our today world. Work and materialism control our lives. A person cannot look for his individualism or he would be crushed right away.
