Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis” is written in 1912, just two years before the outbreak of the first world war, and in the midst of the rise of imperialism as a global economic system, and it is deeply influenced by the social, economic, and political contexts of its time.
Although on the surface, the story seems merely a fantastical tale, it clearly offers a critique, whether as allegory or as theme, of the horrors of capitalism, and the ways in which it reaches into the very depths of our psyches and imaginations.

Directions: Choose one and only one of the following questions and write no more than 500 words. 
Question #1 What is Gregor’s initial response to being transformed into a bug in the first section? What is he most concerned about? How does this contribute to the larger meaning of the work? As always be sure to choose at least one passage from the text to discuss as support for your argument.

Question #2 What happens to Gregor over the course of the story? How does he change? How does his relationship with his family, particularly his sister, change? What does this mean in terms of the overall theme or meaning of the work? As always be sure to choose at least one passage from the text to discuss as support for your argument.

Question #3 Kafka famously said that the ending of the story was “unreadable” and that the story was “Imperfect almost to its very marrow.” Why do you think Kafka said this? What is with the ending of the story anyway? How does the ending effect the way we understand the rest of the story in retrospect? As always be sure to choose at least one passage from the text to discuss as support for your argument.

Question #4 Kafka's story is clearly an allegory, but of what? In other words, what is Kafka's story really about? Or is it about nothing at all?