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Kafka's use of literary elements becomes so complex that the story is almost transformed into a parody of
itself. Unlike most novels where the author uses characterization to show how characters change throughout the course of the
novel, Kafka uses very little characterization due to the fact that the major character transformation is written in the first
sentence of the novella. Also throughout the entire course of the novella, Kafka uses a bleak writing style where most of
the characters are very simple and never really change. However, Gregor's character contains a high degree of complexity.
Gregor tries to be accepted by his family throughout the entire course of the novella, but because of the fact that Gregor
is in fact a very complex and psychologically deep character, unlike the rest of his family, he finds it impossible to connect
with his family and eventually dies because of this. Irony can be found throughout the novella. As the story progresses and
Gregor becomes more beast-like physically, represented by his loss of vision and new eating habits, he becomes more human-like
psychologically. At the start of the book, Gregor considers himself a very business-like man, concerned with the basic, day-to-day
jumble of life, without time to ponder over philosophical nonsense and love. This is seen when he first wakes up and finds
himself transformed into a bug, he tells himself "What if I went back to sleep for a while and forgot all this foolishness."
This shows that Gregor is more concerned with work than his initial first view of himself as an insect. However, later on
in the novella, when his family takes all of the furniture out of his room, the one thing which he desperately throws himself
over to protect is a picture of a lady swathed in furs. This symbolizes love, and the fact that for the first time Gregor
is able to experience and feel love; possibly the most human of instincts. As the story progresses, Gregor apparently becomes
more human, and less of a machine built to provide for his family. From this point of view Gregor could be labeled the only
dynamic character in the book. In the last chapter, Gregor becomes so human that he displays a wonderful appreciation of music.
In the final scene, in which he escapes from his room, he is drawn by his sister's violin. Kafka asks "Was he a beast if music
could move him so?" The reader is obviously supposed to answer that no, he is not really a beast at all; his family is more
beast-ish than he.
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