In his short story, The Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka shows a man's struggle to find the meaning of life. This story starts out with Gregor, the main character, awaking from unsettling dreams to find himself changed into a monstrous vermin. Because of this transformation, Gregor's life is changed. No matter how hard he tries, Gregor can no longer lead a normal life after his metamorphosis. Franz Kafka uses Gregor's self-esteem, his desire for human contact, and his relationship with others to display his struggle to find the meaning of life in The Metamorphosis.
             One of the ways that Kafka shows Gregor's struggle is by displaying his self-esteem. Since Gregor was working to support his family as well as to pay off his parents' debt, he felt good about himself. Kafka describes this feeling by saying that Gregor "felt very proud that he had been able to provide such a life in so nice an apartment for his parents and his sister"(122). By saying this, Kafka presents Gregor as a proud individual. However, Kafka also portrays Gregor as someone with low self-esteem. When Kafka says that Gregor's boss "sits on the desk and talks down from the heights to the employees"(4), he suggests that Gregor feels like less of a person than his boss. After Gregor's metamorphosis, he loses his confidence and slowly deteriorates to death. Gregor's self-esteem is just one of the things Kafka uses to guide the reader through this story.
             Another point that Kafka talks about is Gregor's desire for human contact. After his change, Gregor is often neglected by his family. At one point Gregor "settled into position right by the living-room door, determined somehow to get the hesitating visitor to come in"(22). Kafka points out that Gregor desperately wanted someone to come in his room. Since Gregor is locked in his room all by himself, he often tries t
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