In five pages this essay considers family breakdown in communication depicted by Franz Kafka in his classic short story. There are no other sources listed.
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the form of a giant bug. While this alarming image dominates the story, Kafka makes it clear that Gregors situation is also due to the failure of his family to
communicate in a meaningful way. This failure in communication incapacitates the various members of Gregors family, causing them harm, just as it robs Gregors of his basic humanity. Before
becoming a giant bug, Gregors life was very bug-like, in that it was repetitive and dehumanizing. He supported himself and his entire family by working as a traveling salesman. He
worked diligently in order to repay a debt owed by his parents to his immediate supervisor. Gregor plans to quit when he has saved enough money to pay back his
parents debts, which at the beginning of the story would have taken anther five to six years (Kafka, 2002). When Gregor wakes and finds that he has transformed into something
resembling a giant cockroach, he is remarkable unconcerned. His first thoughts are toward the train he is supposed to catch and how much he hates his job. The underlying
theme of the narrative accounts for Gregors attitude. Kafka makes it clear that Gregor has lived a bug-like existence for years -- going through the same hated routine, with no
real motivation or interest. Therefore, to have his body match the way that he has felt about himself for a long time does not greatly shock Gregor. His determination to
make his train, the fact that he would even consider such a possibility, shows how much his bug-like existence has engrained repetitive behavior. Of course, since the narrative opens
with Gregors transformation already complete, the reader does not know first-hand how the family communicated or failed to communicate prior to his metamorphosis. However, a great deal about prior communication