Kafka creates a tone of dread and despair in The Metamorphosis. Kafka establishes this tone in the first line of the novella as Gregor awakes from “unsettling dreams” to find himself “changed in his bed into a monstrous vermin” (3). The diction of “unsettling dreams” immediately produces an atmosphere of unease. The imagery of a “monstrous vermin” generates a sense of horror, and the reader understands that Kafka’s Gregor does not present a cheerful protagonist. Kafka describes Gregor’s “many legs” as “pitifully thin” while “waving helplessly before his eyes” (3). The diction and imagery of “pitifully thin” and “waving helplessly” portray a dismal portrait of Gregor’s body, suggesting that Gregor will not be able to cope with his new
