In The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, the author frequently straddles the line between fantasy and reality. The main character Gregor starts the story off as a bug with human qualities. Gregor has a family, a job, an apartment, and concerns about being late for his job as opposed to those of a bug which would more likely include when it would find its next food. He is worried about being fired when his boss comes to the apartment because he has missed work, which is a real concern that most humans would have. He is worried that he will not be able to provide for his family and he has become more of a burden and a shame than a help as most humans would. Gregor is able to hear and understand the conversations his family has, although he cannot respond. He hides when his sister and mother come into his room more out of compassion than fear unlike most bugs. His life basically revolves around his family which is the case for most humans. Gregor has the thoughts of a human, but the lacks the physical characteristics making him seem real.
At the same time as Gregor has human-like thoughts he looks like a bug making the story appear more fantastical than realistic. He just happened to wake up one morning with a "domelike brown belly divided into stiff arched segments".(89) It seems quite unlikely that someone would go to bed a human and wake up a large insect. He scares away people because of his appearance and although humans have the capability to scare others with their appearance it does not usually occur without effort (ex. a clown). Gregor only has an appetite for moldy cheese and other things that would seem unpalatable to a human. It is challenging to imagine a human family hiding a large bug in a bedroom for months, most families would kill it and dispose of it right away because bugs are disgusting. The idea that the family ignored convention by aiding an odd creature in their home shows how fantastical the story is.
Because it is so improbable that a human would turn into a bug, the story is about the metaphorical transformation of a human. Gregor kept himself very distanced from life and the people around him that he almost acted like a bug. Bugs from a human perspective are dirty and disgusting, which is how Gregor was viewed. He felt for his family, but his family did not feel for him. He worried about their well being, but was unable to express this, so it was like he was non-existent with respect to them. Through his metamorphosis, Gregor was able to clearly view other people's perspectives of him. His new view of life from other's perceptions came shortly before death. Gregor died both before his transformation and after as he was of no use to his family after his metamorphosis and he literally physically died at the end.
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I agree with your consensus that Gregor "acted like a bug" being alone all the time especially being a traveling salesman who spends most of his time in hotels and by himself, away from the reality of the world. I found that the story does transition from fantays to realism from when he wakes up and the narrator describes his bug like qualities. Even though the non-chalant attidues he portrays and the lack of curiosity from the family hinder the fact that he might not of even turned into a bug after all, rather a metaphorical depction of what Gregor was his entire life, which was acting like a bug. Great job on the blog, your views expressed the same similarties in my blog and reading yours I realized that your right his perception of life and others came "shortly before his death. he died both before his transofrmation and after as he was of no use to him family after his metamorphosis, and literally died at the end".
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