Transforming into a bug allegorizes
Gregor's relationship to
his profession.
1. Traveling salesmen like Gregor . . .
are the vermin of the workplace and society
(cf.
p. 14)?
carry disease (cf. p. 4).
sell items that do not belong to them (cf. p.
9).
2. Working means . . .
being looked down on by the boss like a bug
(cf. p. 2, 8, 9).
becoming spineless. "The porter was a
creature of
the chief's, spineless and stupid" (Kafka 2).
succumbing to mistreatment (cf. p. 2, 7) and constant
scurrying
and turning into a 'worker bee' (cf. parts II and III: "twilight,"
"dusk,"
"soon," "later," "daily," "about a month," "two months").
3. Gregor works to . . .
pay off his family's debts to his boss (cf. p.
9).
N.B.: Schuld in German means both debt
and guilt.
keep his parasitic family living in style
(cf. p. 25).