Beginning of Essay
Kafka wrote "" in 1912, taking three weeks to compose the story. While he had expressed earlier satisfaction with the work, he later found it to be flawed, even calling the ending "unreadable." But whatever his own opinion may have been, the short story has beco ....

Middle of Essay
.... all, with whom the metamorphosed Gregor has any rapport, suggesting the Kafka intended to lend at least some significance to their relationship. Grete's significance is found in her changing relationship with her brother. It is Grete's changing actions, feelings, and speech toward her brother, coupled with her accession to womanhood, that seem to parallel Gregor's own metamorphosis. This change represents her metamorphosis form adolescence into adulthood but at the same time it marks the final demise of Gregor. Thus a certain symmetry is to be found in "The Metamorphosis": while Gregor falls in the midst of despair, Grete ascends to a self-suff ....