The Metamorphosis (The Complete German Translation of Kafka's Short and Medium Stories)

The most exciting thing is indeed the first section that was selected into the textbook. When Gregor turned into a beetle, the first thing he did when he woke up was not worrying about his health, but still thinking about work and performance appraisal. This makes the problem of alienation not only embodied in the magical plot of transformation, but also emerges from Gregor's anxiety about work. The next two sections mainly focus on the home. As time goes by, family members become increasingly impatient with a patient who has lost his productivity and social status, and even want him to die - this is another layer of economic pressure that erodes humanity and emotions. Gregor finally lived up to expectations and died. The parents and sister symbolically had red eyes, breathed a sigh of relief, and gathered their energy to run towards the next life. Under the principles of economic rationality and efficiency priority, a person is thrown away and no one cares about his life or death in the future, even his family members, who would feel disgusted even if they visit him. This is Kafka's indifferent modernity.

The protagonist's experience after turning into a beetle is thought-provoking, especially the sentence "He is convinced that he is the most unfortunate person in the world", which is so graphic. This not only shows the helplessness of the character, but also allows us to see the cruelty of reality. It is indeed a masterpiece!

How miserable, Gregor...

It uses behaviorist psychological description to present a complete character in front of us. What I like most about this book is the author's character description, which is very skillful and perfect. I can't help but feel excited because it is the first time I have read this kind of description. It is so amazing.

I've read it twice and I really can't find any profound meaning.

I was so suffocated that the first thing I thought about when I turned into a bug was going to work. What locked Gregor was not the room, but society. In fact, I felt that Kafka was a little impatient when writing later.