The Metamorphosis – Franz Kafka

"As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect."

Gregor Samsa, a traveling salesman who supports his family, wakes up to find he has become a monstrous vermin. The story details his physical adaptation to his new form and the changing reaction of his parents and sister—from horror to resentment and finally to a desire to be rid of him.

Kafka's novella is a masterpiece of existential dread. It is a grotesque and heartbreaking allegory about alienation, the burden of duty, and the fragility of human connection.