1. In Franz Kafka's "The Metamorphosis", Gregor Samsa, our protagonist, is transformed into a giant bug. We all know this. But what was Kafka trying to tell us by turning the hero into a big bug? First, it was to emphasize what we discussed in Chapter 1's review, that Gregor was being dehumanized by his family and peers. Next, it is to show how we are often scared and unaccepting of new things, especially if we do not understand them. Once Gregor becomes a bug, he is treated as lesser, even though he is still the same person inside. Kafka is also trying to demonstrate how citizens of society, once they are deemed "unsuitable" in any way, are immediately outcast, and eventually forgotten. Society has given up on these people and forsaken all hope of them ever getting better, just like Gregor's family. And just like Gregor's Family, once they realized that they have destroyed a life, they just ignore the consequences and more on.
Hopy shit, that was really philosophical.
2. Sure, it might be interesting to consider how "The Metamorphosis" would have been different if Gregor had been transformed into something like a frog, I don't think that it would have actually ended up in the story. I don't think that any animal other than a cockroach was ever in consideration for Gregor's new form. There wasn't some big list of ugly, hard-to-manage animals that Kafka was narrowing things down from. My guess is that from the moment he had the idea, it was always "Cockroach." His real considerations in writing were mainly things like "How will this Metamorphosis affect Gregor and the people around him?" So the sentence "One morning, as Gregor Samsa was waking up from anxious dreams, he discovered that in his bed he had been changed into a monstrous verminous amphibian" would never have even crossed his mind, let alone his pen.
White text is fun.
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