Franz Kafka was born in Prague in 1883 into a middle class German-speaking Ashkenazi Jewish family. Back in those days German language was considered the vehicle of social mobility. His father was a very dominant figure with a huge appetite for business. Kafka and his siblings were mostly brought up by governesses and servants. His childhood was a very lonely one. The relationship he had with his father was a troubled one. His father was an authoritarian and extremely demanding and that had a profound influence later on, on Kafka’s writing.

He pursued high education which later led him into respectable employment, to please his father. He found himself being very unhappy working the hours as this was preventing him from having the time to concentrate on his writing.

Metamorphosis is one of his most seminal bodies of work.

In it, the main character Gregor Samsa, wakes up one morning, finding himself metamorphosed into a large monstrous insect like creature. The novel deals with a burden imposed upon the family members to deal with the situation as well as Gregor’s attempts to adjust to this horrific change.

Kafka himself never gave any explanation regarding the transformation and the reasons behind it were never revealed but there are many possible interpretations to it.

There is a great deal of symbolism in Metamorphosis. Maybe he feels alienated and not appreciated by those around him, hence the transformation? Maybe by turning into an insect he prevents himself returning to a job he hates, allowing himself more freedom to do what he actually loves doing? Is it perhaps only a dream or a nightmare? Could it be a form of self-sacrifice? Or even a way to be finally free? Or maybe a sort of a punishment for the family? There is definitely a cause and effect argument going through it. The interpretations are endless and surreal, as the novel itself is. What Kafka produced in Metamorphosis is most certainly way above realism.