Publication of The Metamorphosis

Franz Kafka's novella opens with the salesman Gregor Samsa waking one morning to find himself transformed into a monstrous insect. The story follows his family's growing horror, disgust and neglect, as Gregor loses his job, is confined to his room and slowly withers while his sister and parents change. Kafka wrote it in 1912, and it was first published in the German periodical Die weissen Blatter. Its mix of absurd events told in a flat realistic tone has been read as a study of alienation, family obligation and guilt. It is one of the best-known works of twentieth-century literature.

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