"The Metamorphosis," written by Franz Kafka

"The Metamorphosis," written by Franz Kafka in 1912, follows several societal patterns that are frequently observed in Kafka's other works. The idea of growth and degradation is one of these patterns. Another is the aspect of human nature that causes deception as a defensive device. Within "The Metamorphosis" these two key patterns come together to create a story that employs magic realism and dream logic to create a drama of illness. It is said in Roy Pascal's book Kafka's Narrators: A study of his stories and sketches that the abstract structure of the story "forces the reader to look be…