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The Existential Paradox and Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis It is the plight of the existentialist to contemplate the intricate nature of human life, and to be overwhelmed with anxiety about the futility of his own existence. Science, and the reasoning, inquisitive human condition makes it such that humans seek out ordered meaning and cause-and-effect in their everyday lives, and causes the existentialist to question the meaning inherent to his existence. The existentialist sees the futility of human actions and decisions, all which end in death, with no real explanation for why it all occurs. The existentialist condition is captured in Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis in the character of Gregor Samsa. One day, Gregor wakes up and finds that he has metamorphed into a giant, hideous bug, for reasons that he himself never ponders. Through the course of the story, we learn that Gregor has lived, from all standpoints, a meaningless life. He has spent his adult life in the home of his parents, working as a salesman--a job he seems to despise, but does merely as a matter-of-course--merely to appease and support his family (we later learn that his father is actually capable of working). He and gives practically every