The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka is a novella about Gregor Samsa, a traveling salesman who wakes up transformed into a giant insect-like creature. The story follows his isolation, shame, physical decline, and changing relationship with his family. Kafka uses the impossible transformation to explore alienation, guilt, labor, dependence, and the fragility of human identity. Gregor’s family first reacts with shock and pity, but gradually comes to see him as a burden. The work combines absurd events with precise psychological realism. It remains one of the most powerful modernist texts about dehumanization and loneliness.