ray the unreasonable hierarchy existent in the capitalist society, represented by the lodgers and their relation with the Samsas. They regard the Samsas as inferiors, simply because they have better financial conditions, treating the Samsas with contempt, demanding immaculate neatness in the house and showing disrespect for their efforts to please them. Kafka is once again re-enforcing the idea that all that matters in the capitalist society is money, and we are forced to agree with his views because of the way Kafka describes the situations, as our principals instruct us to judge people on who they are as a person, and not on their material possessions.Kafka’s choice of words might also have been very significant in his depiction of the capitalist society, and a lot of it is lost in the translation – Ungeziefer, for example, the word that is commonly translated into ‘bug’, is actually better translated as ‘vermin’, a much more negative word. Historians have found evidence that in the past, this word has been used by capitalists to describe communists, making Kafka’s choice of word very noteworthy. Perhaps Gregor could, once transformed into a ‘vermin’, represent communism in the view of capitalism, who are disgusted and terrified of it. We can see these two reactions from the sister, while she serves Gregor his food with a cloth, and from the mother who is terrified Gregor and can’t even bear to see him. This possibly could also have a historical link, as the book as written slightly before the First World War, and the mutual fear between communism and capitalist democracy was emergent.Another interesting play on words can be found in the description of Gregor’s habit of locking all doors before sleeping. We are told that this habit was acquired from the travelling in his job, and in the course of the story this detail makes perfect sense. Though if we consider the doors...
