ight not actually have Gregor to support them. I found this dependence frightening and would probably make me want to turn into a bug, too.Kafka was brilliant in not actually letting his readers know exactly what kind of bug Gregor was. It was obviously intentional. When the book got published, Kafka was actually worried that the publisher would want to illustrate a picture of the bug-like creature. He wrote the publisher explaining that he didn’t want any pictures that depicted what Gregor might have looked like. I like this idea because it really helps the reader of the story use their imagination. One of the worst things in the world is to read a book, get a picture in your head of what characters look and act like, and in the end, flip through pictures generated from another person’s mind. In John Updike’s commentary of Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, he alludes to Gregor maybe being a centipede instead of a beetle or a cockroach. Though Kafka says Gregor has “numerous legs”, I do not necessarily think that means he has to be a centipede. To a human being, numerous legs would be six legs as compared to our normal two legs. Besides, never have I seen a centipede with a “domed-like brown belly”. Also, a cockroach (which would be a fitting choice) does not seem to match the description Kafka gives. I have concluded for myself that the bug that Gregor has sadly turned into is some sort of beetle. The good thing about not knowing Gregor’s true identity as a species is that it will raise levels of imaginations, as well as debates for years to come.It is very striking how the relationship between Gregor and Grete changes throughout the story. It is inferred that before the metamorphosis, the two were very close. It even says that Gregor had plans to send his beloved sister to the conservatory because she was such a wonderful violinist. The bond they had between the two of the...
