Franz Kafka wrote the story Metamorphosis in 1912. No one can really know what he intended to accomplish with the story, but it is thought that he wrote it to demonstrate the absurdity of life . The story is written in a very simplistic tone, ignoring how completely ridiculous the situation Gregor Samsa and his family find themselves in is. Metamorphosis is often thought of in the scientific meaning of the word, which according to dictionary.com is a profound change in form from one stage to the next in an organism's life history. It is also defined as a complete change in form, structure, or substance, such as transformation by magic or witchcraft, or any complete change in appearance, character, circumstances, etc. This word is generally reserved to describe how a caterpillar transforms into a butterfly, a good analogy for the process of metamorphosis. He remembers a pleasant event, very different from what Gregor and his family experienced. We readers can only see things through Gregor's eyes. This distorts our understanding of the story, and how do Gregor and Grete's metamorphoses differ, and how are they similar? To fully understand this story, it is important to have some background information about Franz Kafka. He was born in Prague on July 3, 1883 into a German-speaking family. He was the eldest of six children. His father Harmann Kafka was a businessman. His mother Julie Kafka was born into a wealthy family. Kafka viewed the great differences between his paternal and maternal relatives as a “division within himself” (Sokel 1). Kafka felt that "his father's powerful, hypocritical, and totally reckless personality had impressed upon him an ineradicable conviction of his own inferiority and guilt" (Sokel 1). He felt the o...... middle of paper......regor dies, while Grete lives. We readers will never know the real reason behind Kafka's Metamorphosis, but it is a masterpiece. It relates surprisingly well to today's society, even though it was written between 1912 and 1915. The theme of metamorphosis is truly universal, we as humans are constantly changing, growing and evolving. Works Cited Aldiss, Brian W. "Franz Kafka: Overview." St. James's Guide to Science Fiction Writers. Ed. Jay P. Pederson. 4th ed. New York: St. James Press, 1996. Goldfarb, Sheldon. “Critical essay on 'The Metamorphosis'.” Short stories for students. Ed. Jennifer Smith. vol. 12. Detroit: Gale Group, 2001.Ryan, Michael P. "Samsa and Samsara: Suffering, Death, and Rebirth in 'The Metamorphosis.'." The German Quarterly72.2 (Spring 1999): 133-152. Rpt. in Criticism of short stories. Ed. Janet Witalec. vol. 60. Detroit: Gale, 2003