--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: HE WOKE TO discover that he had undergone…" description: "\"“HE WOKE TO discover that he had undergone a metamorphosis and become Gregor Samsa.”\" — Haruki Murakami" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b4/haruki-murakami-21_quote_he-woke-to-discover-that-he-had-undergon_1686693.jpg" --- # HE WOKE TO discover that he had undergone a metamorphosis… ![“HE WOKE TO discover that he had undergone a metamorphosis and become Gregor Samsa.” quote by Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b4/haruki-murakami-21_quote_he-woke-to-discover-that-he-had-undergon_1686693.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b4/haruki-murakami-21_quote_he-woke-to-discover-that-he-had-undergon_1686693.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b4/haruki-murakami-21_quote_he-woke-to-discover-that-he-had-undergon_1686693.jpg) > ““HE WOKE TO discover that he had undergone a metamorphosis and become Gregor Samsa.”” [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Gregor awakens as an insect, symbolizing alienation and loss of humanity, prompting existential reflection on identity. **In simple terms:** He becomes an insect, feeling alienated. Key Takeaway Accept change, seek inner strength. Themes alienation identity transformation Mood surreal thought‑provoking Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - career crisis - personal illness - social isolation - identity crisis Key Concepts existentialism absurdity self recognition Questions to Reflect On - How do you cope with sudden change? - What defines your humanity? A Different Perspective Transformation may be irreversible, causing despair. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Metamorphosis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/metamorphosis/) [Woke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/woke/) ## Related quotes > [I've always gone with Kafka's model of establishing the world from the first line, as in Kafka's famous line from Metamorphosis, "Gregor Samsa woke…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-foos/i-ve-always-gone-with-kafka-s-model-of-establishing-the-world-from/) [Laurie Foos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-foos/) > [I have not come this far in one shot, and I have undergone struggles. My life was built step by step.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shamna-kasim/i-have-not-come-this-far-in-one-shot-and-i-have-undergone-struggles/) [Shamna Kasim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shamna-kasim/) > [All I've undergone I will keep on.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trent-reznor/all-i-ve-undergone-i-will-keep-on/) [Trent Reznor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trent-reznor/) > [I remember telling my second-graders the basic 'Metamorphosis' story, saying, like, 'What about - what if a guy woke up one morning and he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-scieszka/i-remember-telling-my-second-graders-the-basic-metamorphosis-story/) [Jon Scieszka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-scieszka/) > [“Samsa looked down in dismay at his naked body. How ill-formed it was! Worse than ill-formed. It possessed no means of self-defense. Smooth white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/samsa-looked-down-in-dismay-at-his-naked-body-how-ill-formed-it-was/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [When anger is not trampling roughshod through our nervous system, it is sitting sullenly in some unspecified internal organ. 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They are Kafka-creatures, organisms with rich thoughts and emotions but no system for translating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-hauser/most-animals-are-like-the-unfortunate-gregor-samsa-after/) Marc Hauser > [You've got to be like a butterfly and have a metamorphosis.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-markkula/you-ve-got-to-be-like-a-butterfly-and-have-a-metamorphosis/) [Mike Markkula](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-markkula/) > [“Svako živi iza rešetaka koje nosi sa sobom. Zato se sada tako mnogo piše o životinjama. To je izraz čežnje za slobodnim, prirodnim životom.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-janouch/svako-ivi-iza-re-etaka-koje-nosi-sa-sobom-zato-se-sada-tako-mnogo-pi/) Gustav Janouch > [We are somehow the children of the planet, we are somehow its finest hour; we bind time, we bind the past, we anticipate the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/we-are-somehow-the-children-of-the-planet-we-are-somehow-its-finest/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) ## More by Haruki Murakami > [I always feel like I'm struggling to become someone else. Like I'm trying to find a new place, grab hold of a new life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/i-always-feel-like-i-m-struggling-to-become-someone-else-like-i-m/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [If writing novels is like planting a forest, then writing short stories is more like planting a garden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/if-writing-novels-is-like-planting-a-forest-then-writing-short/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“The sad truth is that what I could recall in five seconds all too soon needed ten, then thirty, thena full minute...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/the-sad-truth-is-that-what-i-could-recall-in-five-seconds-all-too/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“Intelligent teenage girls were often instinctively theatrical, purposely eccentric, mouthing highly suggestive words to confuse people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/intelligent-teenage-girls-were-often-instinctively-theatrical/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [Memory is like fiction; or else it's fiction that's like memory. This really came home to me once I started writing fiction, that memory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/memory-is-like-fiction-or-else-it-s-fiction-that-s-like-memory-this/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [The most dangerous creature here would have to be me. So maybe I'm just scared of my own shadow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/the-most-dangerous-creature-here-would-have-to-be-me-so-maybe-i-m/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [If you listen to the radio for a whole hour there's maybe one decent song. The rest is mass-produced garbage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/if-you-listen-to-the-radio-for-a-whole-hour-there-s-maybe-one-decent/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“that one of our problems was our inability to recognize and accept our own deformities”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/that-one-of-our-problems-was-our-inability-to-recognize-and-accept/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“When I look back at myself at age twenty, what I remember most is being alone and lonely. I had no girlfriend to warm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/when-i-look-back-at-myself-at-age-twenty-what-i-remember-most-is/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“There's not a branch of publishing or broadcasting that doesn't depend in some way on advertising. It'd be like an aquarium without water. Why,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/there-s-not-a-branch-of-publishing-or-broadcasting-that-doesn-t/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“One by one, I'll face the tasks before me and complete them as best I can. Focusing on each stride forward, but at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/one-by-one-i-ll-face-the-tasks-before-me-and-complete-them-as-best-i/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“Eleven o'clock had come and gone. I had to find a way to bring this conversation to a successful conclusion and get out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/eleven-o-clock-had-come-and-gone-i-had-to-find-a-way-to-bring-this/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“Some people get a kick out of reading railway timetables and that's all they do all day. Some people make huge model boats out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/some-people-get-a-kick-out-of-reading-railway-timetables-and-that-s/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“When the time comes, everybody’s got to end up where they belong. Only me, I didn’t have a place to call my own. It’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/when-the-time-comes-everybody-s-got-to-end-up-where-they-belong-only/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“You let something out of the bag before yourself knew what it was all about”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/you-let-something-out-of-the-bag-before-yourself-knew-what-it-was-all/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) [Explore all 2,928 Haruki Murakami quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) ## More Metamorphosis quotes > [We are somehow the children of the planet, we are somehow its finest hour; we bind time, we bind the past, we anticipate the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/we-are-somehow-the-children-of-the-planet-we-are-somehow-its-finest/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [“Svako živi iza rešetaka koje nosi sa sobom. Zato se sada tako mnogo piše o životinjama. To je izraz čežnje za slobodnim, prirodnim životom.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustav-janouch/svako-ivi-iza-re-etaka-koje-nosi-sa-sobom-zato-se-sada-tako-mnogo-pi/) Gustav Janouch > [You've got to be like a butterfly and have a metamorphosis.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-markkula/you-ve-got-to-be-like-a-butterfly-and-have-a-metamorphosis/) [Mike Markkula](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-markkula/) > [Most animals are like the unfortunate Gregor Samsa after metamorphosis. They are Kafka-creatures, organisms with rich thoughts and emotions but no system for translating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-hauser/most-animals-are-like-the-unfortunate-gregor-samsa-after/) Marc Hauser > [It is almost banal to say so yet it needs to be stressed continually: all is creation, all is change, all is flux, all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/it-is-almost-banal-to-say-so-yet-it-needs-to-be-stressed-continually/) [Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/) > [Autumn is the very soul of metamorphosis, a time when the world is poised at the door of winter - which is the door…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/autumn-is-the-very-soul-of-metamorphosis-a-time-when-the-world-is/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [For lovers, touch is metamorphosis. All the parts of their bodies seem to change, and they seem to become something different and better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cheever/for-lovers-touch-is-metamorphosis-all-the-parts-of-their-bodies-seem/) [John Cheever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cheever/) > [“Witnessing the moonrise each month, a person cannot resist noting a modest sense of optimism tugging at his or her enclosed capsule of bodily…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/witnessing-the-moonrise-each-month-a-person-cannot-resist-noting-a/) [Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/) > [The speed with which modern society has adapted to accommodate the world's vast spectrum of gender and sexual identities may be the most important…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenna-wortham/the-speed-with-which-modern-society-has-adapted-to-accommodate-the/) [Jenna Wortham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenna-wortham/) > [When anger is not trampling roughshod through our nervous system, it is sitting sullenly in some unspecified internal organ. "She's got a lot of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-tavris/when-anger-is-not-trampling-roughshod-through-our-nervous-system-it/) [Carol Tavris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-tavris/) > [What the philosopher is seeking is not truth, but rather the metamorphosis of the world into man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/what-the-philosopher-is-seeking-is-not-truth-but-rather-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“But sometimes, when you have to change, the metamorphosis is so profound, that the old you can’t look the new you in the eyes.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/k-larsen/but-sometimes-when-you-have-to-change-the-metamorphosis-is-so/) [K. Larsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/k-larsen/) > [The younger and healthier a woman is and the more her new and glossy body seems destined for eternal freshness, the less useful is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/the-younger-and-healthier-a-woman-is-and-the-more-her-new-and-glossy/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [Politics in the United States consists of the struggle between those whose change has been arrested by success or failure, on one side, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-rosenberg/politics-in-the-united-states-consists-of-the-struggle-between-those/) [Harold Rosenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-rosenberg/) > [“There goes a stunning butterfly! Metamorphosis! Fair dinkum! Fair dinkum!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lana-m-rochel/there-goes-a-stunning-butterfly-metamorphosis-fair-dinkum-fair-dinkum/) [Lana M. Rochel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lana-m-rochel/) [Browse all 187 Metamorphosis quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/metamorphosis/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“HE WOKE TO discover that he had undergone a metamorphosis and become Gregor Samsa.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Haruki Murakami" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/he-woke-to-discover-that-he-had-undergone-a-metamorphosis-and-become/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Metamorphosis" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/he-woke-to-discover-that-he-had-undergone-a-metamorphosis-and-become/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b4/haruki-murakami-21_quote_he-woke-to-discover-that-he-had-undergon_1686693.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b4/haruki-murakami-21_quote_he-woke-to-discover-that-he-had-undergon_1686693.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b4/haruki-murakami-21_quote_he-woke-to-discover-that-he-had-undergon_1686693.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“HE WOKE TO discover that he had undergone a metamorphosis and become Gregor Samsa.” — Haruki Murakami", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Haruki Murakami", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“HE WOKE TO discover that he...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/he-woke-to-discover-that-he-had-undergone-a-metamorphosis-and-become/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/he-woke-to-discover-that-he-had-undergone-a-metamorphosis-and-become/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```