Gregor's
life in the years prior to physically turning into a bug was not very
fulfilling. His job as a salesman is especially demoralizing and, for that
matter, dehumanizing. On the morning he wakes up as a bug, he thinks,
Oh God [...], what a grueling job I've picked! Day in, day
out—on the road. The upset of doing business is much worse than the actual
business in the home office, and, besides, I've got the torture of traveling,
worrying about changing trains, eating miserable food at all hours, constantly
seeing new faces, no relationships that last or get more intimate.
Gregor has no opportunities to form satisfying
relationships, certainly no time for intimate ones; he doesn't even get to eat
food that he enjoys. In short, his job means that he doesn't have time for some
of the things that bring human beings their greatest enjoyment in life. His
boss is terrible, always talking down to his employees, and making them feel
like dirt. Gregor "was a tool of the boss, without brains or
backbone." Even Gregor's mother thinks that his life is pretty sad. She
tells his manager, "That boy has nothing on his mind but the business.
It's almost begun to rile me that he never goes out nights." Even his mom
thinks he's kind of a loser, with no life of his own. He has been, in many
ways, the human equivalent of a bug: all he does is work, he is pretty much
only valued for his ability to work, and he really doesn't have much—if
any—identity outside of work. He's like a worker ant.
Therefore, even before Gregor's physical transformation,
he's essentially already made a mental transformation. He lost the easy
confidence he had when he was a soldier; instead, he's become weak and
disempowered, like a bug. It only remains for him to physically transform into
what he's already become in his own mind. In fact, it's possible Gregor doesn't
actually physically transform at all; maybe it's all in his own mind as a
result of the dehumanization he's endured for years.
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