I've read this story a few times, and taught it a couple of times. It always struck me that the type of bug the reader imagines Gregor turned into tends to affect how sympathetically Gregory is perceived. In fact, when I taught this story, I set this question as a discussion prompt, and it generated some of the most engaged and lively discussion sessions in the whole semester.

So, I pose the question to you all: what "bug" do you imagine, and how does it color your feelings for Gregor and his family?

(The idea of this came to me initially because of the different translations I read, and the different cover illustrations I came across.)