into the woken yet uneasy dreamy state of Gregor, a young commercial traveler. With the rise of Gregor, Kafka describes the dull, gloomy and humid environment that foreshadows the decay and deterioration of Gregor’s life. As soon as Gregor opens his eyes, he finds himself positioned in an uncomfortable manner and transformed into a monstrous vermin or a gigantic insect, a worthless creature, with his hard armor-plated back lying on the bed: “He was lying on his hard, as it were armor-plated, back and when he lifted his head a little he could see his dome-like belly divided into stiff arched segments…” (Kafka 296). With this arresting opening, Kafka has set his mysterious psychological fantasy in motion. He plainly describes Gregor’s uneasiness of keeping himself balanced in his bed. “His numerous pitifully thin legs waved helplessly in the air before his eyes” (296). Just so the readers are not left in confusion, Gregor asserts that “It was not a dream,” and sees for himself, in disbelief, that he is still in his own regular human bedroom, with a collection of cloth samples widespread on the top of the table (296). Slowly and gradually, we notice Gregor’s difficulty in getting up from his bed and his effort to get up safely without hurting hims5elf. This is clearly seen when the narrator says, “If he tried to bend a leg, it first straightened out; and if he finally succeeded in taking charge of it, the other legs meanwhile all kept carrying on, as if emancipated, in extreme and painful agitation” SHAH 3(297). Through this description of his difficulties one can clearly see his miserable suffering and his slowly deteriorating health. The use of lengthy descriptions of the difficulties that Gregor faces probably signifies Kafka’s actual feelings and pains that he suffered within his life, mainly during his childhood. Gregor’s difficultie...
