Several publishers realized how good Kafka’s writings were and asked him whether they could publish his works. Kafka reluctantly let a few things be published. One of these works was a story called " Metamorphosis" (German: "Die Verwandlung"). It is about a man called Gregor Samsa (the name “Samsa” means "loner" or "lonely"). Gregor wakes up one morning to find he has changed into a giant cockroach. His family becomes ashamed of him and they stop looking after him so that he slowly dies. Stories like these are a kind of fable. They are full of strange and frightening situations.