Reverse

If you have read Metamorphosis, you may think the story does not have a happy ending. Gregor Samsa died, and the family felt relieved.

However, while I was reading Beetle Boy with Euterpe, I came to realize Kafka did not consider the most horrible scenario: After his family decided to give him up, Gregor woke up the other day and became an ordinary person again.

And that's all too common. His view may have changed, there are basic human needs to satisfy, or he just couldn't stand the loneliness of being regarded as different. His Will (as defined by Arthur Schopenhauer) defeats his Reasons (of Immanuel Kant) and decides to turn himself back to human - rather than enduring the pain before he turns into a butterfly.

The irony is, if he does become a butterfly, he would no longer be regarded as a kind of disgusting bug. All worldly people like him. Unfortunately, that's a rare occurrence. Most of the vermin just take a U-turn to be human again. Others, including Gregor, die as an wounded bug. A few go on and hide themselves forever as pupa.