work "The Waking: Theme of Kafka's 'Metmorphosis" that the hunger which Kafka is feeling is really not a hunger for food, but for love (Talor, 273). There are several instances in which Kafka reveals Gregor's hunger in The Metamorphosis. Gregor's sister, Grete, temporarily extinguishes Gregor's hunger for love when she feeds him. The food that Grete feeds Gregor is a metaphor for the love that she is giving him.
             Another aspect of human relationships that Gregor lacks is understanding. Nobody really knows who his true self really is. William H. Sokel shares in his "Die Erziehung zur Tragik" that Gregor's metamorphosis reveals many of Gregor's subconscious thoughts (Sokel, 173). Lack of understanding between him and his family is evident in his thoughts regarding his new speech. Kafka writes, "It was true that they no longer understood his words, though they had seemed clear enough to him, clearer than before, probably because his ear had grown accustomed to them" (Kafka, 13). The phrase "clearer than before" shows that Gregor only begins to understand himself after his metamorphosis is complete.
             Martin Greenberg mentions in his Kafka's Metamorphosis and Modern Spirituality that Gregor's job doesn't allow him to have real human relationships (Greenberg, 274). As a travelling salesman, Gregor must work very hard and with only artificial human contact. "For instance, when I go back to the hotel before lunch to write up the business I've done, these men are just having breakfast" (Kafka, 4).
             A feeling that Gregor experiences is a need to escape. In The Waking: The Theme of Kafka's 'Metamorphosis', Alexander Talor says there are several indications in the opening thoughts of the story that Gregor doesn't enjoy his job and is forced to do it to support his family (Talor, 273). Gregor says:
             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 ...