Kafka citation

In his story "The Metamorphosis," Kafka presents a the transformation of Gregor Samsa from a human being into an enormous insect. Gregor has changed physical form, but Kafka clearly indicates that his essential being has not changed in any fundamental way. Gregor still has human feelings and needs, he still wishes to relate with his family and other members of society, and he still wishes to be responsible. As this character analysis of Gregor in "The Metamorphosis" by Franz Kafka suggests, his mother, father, and his sister have not changed form, but their metamorphoses are the most profound because they demonstrate how easily one’s beliefs, values, and basic treatment of others can be compromised because of a failure to adapt psychologically. This new development causes them to turn on him. In his new state, Gregor is particularly vulnerable to his family member’s abuses. His parents and sister, the people who should accept him unconditionally and protect him according to the traditional code of family relationships, are those who abuse him the most. His beloved sister concludes that he should be disposed of, because he isn't really Gregor. His father heaves an apple at him with such force that the apple lodges in his back and becomes infected. Eventually Gregor deteriorates and dies. When Gregor woke up as an insect, his essential identity had not changed; he did not begin to change in his heart until other people's attitudes toward him changed as a result of the metamorphosis of his appearance. What ultimately killed Gregor Samsa was not the physical experience of becoming an insect; it was people's cruelty to him as a result.