Metamorphosis

I like this work by Kafka. The theme goes like this. One day Grigor Samsa, a salesman and sole earning member of his family, wakes up to find that he has become a giant insect. He tries to get rid from the bed as he has to reach on time at office, otherwise his overbearing boss will flay him. Besides, he is too concerned about his family and don't want to lose the job for sake of his family. Soon his family and boss finds out about his condition. His family initially takes care of him well. But gradually he becomes more like a nuisance, causing him to withdraw to himself. Then one day he dies. His family, everybody now earning something for themselves, moves on to another house.

The plight of Grigor Samsa has a universal human appeal. Samsa could have been somebody who has gone mentally handicapped or he could have been somebody who is an outcast; the effect would have been same. Yet one cannot blame his family of callousness, for they have to move on and the concern which was there initially, fades away; just a common human trait. But that loneliness and despair of Samsa is something that lingers on the reader's mind.