Gregor Samsa, an unhappy travelling salesman, awakens one morning to discover he has transformed into a hideous beetle-like insect. Once his family and employer discover his regrettable condition, he's left alone, confined to his room, unable to communicate with anyone and left to contemplate his life as the lives of his family go on without him.

One of Franz Kafka's most enduring and most studied works, The Metamorphosis remains a quintessential tale about a man alienated and outcast, and it is through his strange and unexplained transformation, that Gregor contrasts the absurdity of his situation with philosophical contemplation of isolation and impotency.

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