【Abstract】As the representative of Kafka’s short story， The Metamorphosis depicts the miserable death of a traveling salesman with many symbols and irony. But the literature value is more than just pointing out the difficulty for the survival of the modern people. The story tries to guide us to think about how to survive in this modern society. So this thesis will analyze this aspect from three points， including personal self-examination， supporting of family members and a good social condition.
　　【Key words】survival； self-examination； family； society
　　Franz Kafka （3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924） was born into a middle-class， German-speaking Jewish family and trained as a lawyer. Kafka was a Modernist and heavily influenced other genres， including existentialism. In The metamorphosis， the story tells us a traveling salesman’s transformation. Through this short story， it’s very difficult for a man surviving in this kind of world. Then how to survive in this modern society？ What should we get from this story？ This thesis is going to discuss it.
　　1. Self-examination
　　If Gregor wants to survive in this complicated world， he should make self-examination. He should think why he always tries to avoid difficulties， why he couldn’t find a job that he enjoys and also can earn money， and why he always sacrifices himself but receives no happiness.
　　1.1 Why Gregor always tries to avoid difficulties
　　Gregor always wants to escape from the reality. Just as the proverb says， God helps those who help themselves. If Gregor really wants to survive in this modern society， he should depend on himself and try to face difficulties and then solve it.
　　Firstly， Gregor could not tolerate his boss who is seeking nothing but profits. So in Gregor’s mind， he wants to transform so that he has no need to work as a salesman and pay his parents’ debt.
　　Secondly， when Gregor wakes up that morning from dreams， he finds himself changed in his bed into a monstrous vermin. He is frightened by himself. At that time， the idea of escaping from reality occurs in his mind. He thinks privately that “how about going back to sleep for a few minutes and forgetting all this nonsense”. （Kafka： 3） So as a person in this material pursuit society， people should always think about themselves again and again. Am I right， or wrong？
　　Thirdly， one day when Gregor in his living room， he sees through the crack in the door，， he finds that in the kitchen the gas has been lit， and all the other room is all still although the apartment certainly is not empty. From the quotations selecting from the story， Gregor’s shortcomings can be found out. Many readers just think highly of his commitment to his family. Actually he is also a person who is willing to escape difficulty instead of solve problems through hardworking.