"The Metamorphosis" by Franz Kafka

The long story The Metamorphosis is one that is very subtle and very delicate, yet at the same time quite disturbing. One doesn't expect to open a book and begin reading a story whose opening line finds the main character awakening to find that he has been transformed into a beetle-like insect. In reading the story I didn't find it to be in any way amusing or comical. Instead I found it to be horrifyingly tragic. It seems to me that in this story there is one disconcerting event after another. Gregor is unappreciated by his family, who depended on him for their happiness. The debts incurred by his parents forced Gregor into his job as a traveling salesman, a job that was extremely tiring and unrewarding. Gregor's loyalty and devotion to his family and their happiness was unappreciated and taken for granted. Even after his death, it is obvious Gregor was there for a cause. The purpose for his existence was to serve his family.…