Discussion Question or Kafka's The Metamorphosis (Ch. 1, pp. 750-762),

at least 100 words per Discussion question #1, #2, and #3

Discussion Question #1 for Kafka's The Metamorphosis (1915, Ch. 1, pp. 750-762)

Kafka's The Metamorphosis can be read as a parable, "a story that describes concrete and everyday events in order to illustrate an abstract concept or condition" (751). Kafka does not explain what caused Gregor Samsa's transformation into a beetle (a giant bug). In other words, The Metamorphosis requires the reader's active interpretation of Gregor's bodily change to a subhuman being. Why do you think Kafka changed Gregor to a beetle (rather than to an employee who became paralyzed or permanently ill and can no longer work)? What does Gregor, a traveling salesman, dislike about his job? How does Gregor describe his working conditions? Why does he say "Human beings [rather than saying "I"] have to have their sleep" (753)? What is the role of the messenger, who waits at the train station at five o'clock in the morning? After his metamorphosis, Gregor's boss visits his house. What does Gregor think of the roles of the messenger boy and the company's health-insurance doctor? Are they serving employees, like Gregor? What do you make of the manager's reaction to Gregor for not showing up for work on that day?

Discussion Question #2 for Kafka's The Metamorphosis (1915, Ch. 1, pp. 750-762)

Why has Gregor stayed in that job if he disliked the working conditions? Why is he saying that he "was only condemned to work for a firm" (756)? What worries Gregor most after his transformation? Why is he saying to himself, "Just don't stay in bed being useless" (755)? Why does Gregor worry about the loss of his job, rather than his well-being and his changed body? What does it say about Gregor? Do Gregor's parents know/understand how he feels about the job? When does Gregor feel "integrated into human society" (759)? When does Gregor stop being treated as a human being?

Discussion Question 3.

Gregor can still hear what the manager says about Gregor, but the manager cannot understand the words Gregor speaks (even before his transformation, "his boss's being hard of hearing" 754). Similarly, Gregor can still hear what his parents and sister say, but they cannot hear what he says: "No pleas of Gregor's helped, no plea was even understood; however humbly he might turn his head, his father merely stamped his feet more forcefully" (761). What do you think Kafka is trying to convey through this situation? How does Gregor's father react to Gregor's transformation? Does his father worry about Gregor's well-being? Does Kafka depict any similarities between the office manager and Gregor's father when they find out Gregor's changed body into a giant beetle?