Tildes Book Club - March 2026 - The Metamorphosis by Kafka
This is the third Tildes Book Club Discussion for 2026 and the twenty-third overall. We are discussing The Metamorphosis by Kafka. At the end of April we will discuss The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See.
I don't have a particular format in mind for this discussion, but I will post some prompts and questions as comments to get things started. You're not obligated to respond to them or vote on them though. So feel free to make your own top-level comment for whatever you wish to discuss, questions you have of others, or even just to post a review of the book you have written yourself.
For latecomers, don't worry if you didn't read the book in time for this Discussion topic. You can always join in once you finish it. Tildes Activity sort, and "Collapse old comments" feature should keep the topic going for as long as people are still replying.
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Is this your first time reading this novella? What if anything surprised you or was unexpected?
I first read this one about 15 years ago. I stumbled across a PDF online, and thought, "Why not?". I completed it in one sitting.
Knowing my memory would not be up to the task though, I decided to give this one a re-read for this discussion. This time I listened by audiobook. I normally would go with an established narrator, but I tried a random recording from YouTube and the quality was not half bad.
Being a re-read, I wouldn't say that anything surprised me. Though there are parts that I either missed before, or simply forgot about. For example, the sister undergoes a rapid loss of innocence throughout the story which I wasn't expecting.
She starts naive and optimistic, assigning herself the role of Gregor's keeper. Over time, she is worn down by this burden, receiving little help or appreciation. She then needs to start a real job to help support the family's finances. By the end of the story, her only perceived value is her looks and potential for a husband. Not her musical ambitions or kindness -- those have eroded. Much like Gregor, she is measured only by her usefulness now.
The “swapping” of Gregor for Grete makes the ending dark in a really understated way.
Gregor worked tirelessly to support his family to the point that it might have been the cause of his transformation. He eventually gets discarded by the family, and as soon as he’s out of the picture, Grete’s role changes from “sister” to “daughter” and her parents note her nascent womanhood.
It really feels like Grete is next in line for what Gregor went through, being forced into a narrowly defined lane centered on the parents rather than her own wishes.
I think this is why Gregor continually emphasized that he wanted to pay for her to study music and was sad he missed the opportunity to do so. I don’t know if he was necessarily conscious of it or not, but it seems like that was his way of wanting to break Grete out of the suffocating expectations put on her.
I also think it’s why we see Grete be so kind and thoughtful at the beginning of the story. She, like Gregor, was going above and beyond to try to support her family, planting the parallel for the two characters’ paths.
First time reading (listening, to be accurate), and I enjoyed it. Took me til basically the last sentence to realize who the title was referring to, but I never figure out twists.
It wasn't until I read your comment that I even considered that it could be referring to Grete instead of (or in addition to) Gregor.
It seems so obvious now, but I was genuinely oblivious. Thanks for pointing it out!
I probably said that with too much… firmness? In a sense, everyone majorly changes through the process. I suggest she is the main person in view because she is the one who moves from the teenage to adult form through the experience. Also, the story continues after Gregor’s death with Grete as the focal point in the ending.
I think a question it could potentially raise is if he went actually went through metamorphosis or if his transformation would be considered something else (de-evolution)?
No, I think you’re right on the money!
I did a ctrl+f to check, and “daughter” isn’t used up until the final few paragraphs of the story. Up to that point she had been labeled as “sister.”
I think it’s a confirmation of her transformation as much as it is a dark acknowledgement that Gregor is both gone and forgotten.
(Note: this might vary depending on the version of the story. I’m using the Susan Bernofsky English translation. If we have any German readers here, I’d love to know if this is the case in the original text.)
First time for me. I hadn’t previously read anything by Kafka and the only thing I knew going in was that the word “Kafkaesque” exists.
I started reading We by Yevgeny Zamyatin at about the same time and somehow got the authors switched in my head. I spent the first 15-20 minutes of the audiobook wondering why all the people in this Russian author’s book seemed German.
What did you think about Gregor's experience as the author described it? Were the stages logically correct/fitting given the initial change?
What did you think about how the parents reacted over time?
What did you think of how the sister reacted over time?
What did you think about the reactions of the charwoman?
This isn’t exactly about her reaction, but I figure this is a good place to put a question I’ve been stuck on:
How poor was the family, actually?
We get the sense from Gregor that he was working himself to the bone to keep the family afloat, but also the family could afford hired help? And continued to do so even after Gregor stopped working?
Also their apartment was big enough to have three porters stay with them?
It seems like they were more well off than Gregor might have believed. I’m not sure if this is one of those “different time/culture” things and I’m misjudging the situation, or if the family’s wealth is actually intended to be something that makes Gregor’s situation and sacrifice all the more sad (as in, he didn’t need to work so hard and feel so much pressure, because the family was doing okay financially).
In my head I pictured them as a formerly wealthy (potentially unlanded/petty noble) family on the decline, hence the servants and large apartment, but also the need to rent out their extra rooms and work regular jobs to make ends meet.
In some cultures and time periods, hired help was very cheap. I believe even today in India and Latin America and the Middle East, personal service employees are common for middle class families.
What did you think about the room mate/tenants and how they reacted?
What would you like to say about this story and what impact it had on you?
What I took away was how much of his life Gregor spent trying to be everything for his family. He worked all the time, he didn’t take sick days, and he was miserable. He hated his job and his boss.
Remove Gregor from the equation and gradually his family became overall better off. However, they aren’t willing to take care of him the way he used to take care of them. He’s nothing but a stressor, a burden.
What I got out of all this is unappreciated and probably unnoticed sacrifice. Partners abandoned when they get cancer.
I recently helped out with end of life care for a relative. This was an incredibly kind person who had had a very rough life. The first thing I noticed was how poorly she treated her husband, her former sole caregiver. I later noticed the difference between how kindly she treated me when I first arrived vs a few days later, when she was clearly resentful. My partner damaged his back moving her on or first day there, so was less able to help out. She was nothing but kind to him the whole time. Meanwhile, I heard her tell her husband more than once that he’d get what he wanted soon, when she was dead.
I’m not sure I would gotten the same thing out of this book without that recent experience. When I looked up the themes folks generally talk about, sacrifice as an overall theme never came up.
I immediately thought of families who reject their LGBTq children. All is well for 'normal' family members. : (
I personally interpreted it as an allegory for mental illness. Gregor being a once "productive" member of the family who suddenly became a burden due to depression, and developing severe agoraphobia which rendered him unable to leave his room. But I can totally see how it could be interpreted many different ways, as representing a physical injury leaving someone bed-bound, or even as an LGBT+ person's rejection by their family.
And I think that's actually what makes this story so powerful, and explains why it's remained relevant for as long as it has; It's open to a wide array of perfectly valid interpretations that are influenced by the reader's own direct experiences with, or witnessing, similar circumstances in their own life.
It's also so thoroughly and thoughtfully imagined and described. The sad unfolding of the tale feels 'real' to the reader. I can sympathize with Gregor, but also with the family members who are confronted with an ugly, frightening, mysterious change to their family member. Since the head/face are also transformed, they don't even know for certain that it's him.
Agreed!
The story feels like something you’re looking at without glasses on. There’s a faint, fuzzy shape that’s quite familiar but not immediately recognizable. Depending on how you look at it and what you’re thinking about, you can get several different plausible possibilities for what it might “actually” be.
That's a great way to describe it! I thought of it as being "dreamlike" too, for similar reasons. Although in retrospect it was more "nightmare-like" specifically. :/
Were there any noteworthy transitions or turning points that helped make this a powerful story?
I thought it was interesting that, although Gregor transformed instantly, his mind seemed to transform more slowly. He was still very much in a human mindset initially, worried about returning to work and explaining away his situation. Over time, his mind adapted to that of the creature. He became afraid of people, preferring to scurry under the couch. His instincts seemed to become more primal. Toward the end, he was able to explore more of his feelings and senses, by forgetting the duties of his old life. In some ways, the metamorphosis helped humanize him.
One of these for me is that Gregor clearly expected his family to love and support him in spite of the change.
I read this novel twice I think (original one a decade ago when I read most of his works). The small length really helps :p. I don't think there is one consensus on what Kafka really meant to tell/showcase via this novel. I still don't consider it as good as the Trial (which is unprecedentedly good) and really puts Kafka-esque in the true sense.