Looking Out the Window

One thing that I found interesting while reading this is how Gregor manages to remain unseen. That is, he spends so much time scurrying around his room, hanging off the ceiling and peering out the windows but draws no attention from passersby. It’s kind of odd that a giant bug doesn’t draw a crowd or any attention for that matter. We are told that it is “a quiet street but still a city street,” implying that many people do pass. Additionally, we are told that there is a hospital across the street. I would assume that someone in the hospital would find themselves staring at a giant insect one day.
This window acts as a sort of barrier from the outside world, forcing Gregor to spend his days watching life while he’s incapable of being a part of it. Slowly, it becomes impossible to even really see outside his window and “things that were even a little way off were growing dimmer to his sight.” The “sense of freedom that looking out of a window always used to give him” has vanished, yet he still spends plenty of time looking out of it. This represents Gregor clinging to his life and acceptance from his family when it has clearly already slipped and faded out of his life. The fact that this oversized vermin remains virtually unseen by people outside of the apartment suggests that he has already fallen out of existence. This plays against the idea that he is like Christ (although I do see many parallels) who spent the end of his life in the public arena with all eyes on him.