Giant Beetle Man

I just read the short story The Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka. It was awesome. The story is about a man who wakes up and has been transformed into a giant beetle overnight. Though his mental facilities remain intact, he is (understandably so) treated with shock by his family. They keep him in his room, and the only member of his family that helps him is his younger sister, who gives him food and cleans his room. Over the course of the story, the man is cruelly and systematically alienated from his friends, family, and all of humanity. In the end, even his sister says that "the Monster" couldn't be her brother, as it would have left long ago to alleviate the family of his immense burden. That night, the man dies, after starving himself for weeks on end in depression. The story ends with the family being growing back together and being immensly happy and free now that the man is dead.

This is a story about alienation, and one that is extremely powerful and affecting. The story is a self-reflective work about how Kafka feels about his own life. He had a complex relationship with his sometimes-abusive father, and he was very close with his younger sister. The story goes into multiple types of alienation. Obviously, there's the physical aspect; the fact that he is concretely separate from the human race. Beyond that, there is the alienation of himself from his family. They do not realize he can understand them as he cannot speak, so they talk about him when he can hear them. They do not understand him, and they fail to recognize his positive qualities at all.

These are all feelings that many people experience in their lives. Kafka is able to take this extreme example and make it relatable and  applicable to any reader, which is a feat not easily accomplished. I would definitely recommend this short read to anyone interested in reading really awesome stuff.