What is the name of the protagonist in "The Metamorphosis" by Franz Kafka?

The protagonist in Franz Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis” is Gregor Samsa. He is a traveling salesman who wakes one morning to discover that he has been transformed into a strange insect-like creature.

Gregor’s transformation immediately disrupts the Samsa family’s financial life. Before it, he supports his parents and younger sister, Grete, while also repaying his father’s debts. Once he can no longer work, the family must find employment and gradually begins treating Gregor as a burden rather than a loved one.

A common mix-up is identifying the transformed creature as specifically a cockroach. Kafka’s German description, “ungeheures Ungeziefer,” is closer to “monstrous vermin” and does not name a precise species. The story’s central character remains Gregor even as his family’s attention shifts toward Grete’s future.