Gregor felt that he is losing a part of his identity as a human. For Ivan, lack of furniture and personal articles is a way of life in the barracks of the Guolog. In Ivan's bunk, there are no places to put personal items without being stolen. Ivan created a little pocket in his mattress to hide objects. This is the only way he has personal space to himself. All the other personal items that Ivan has, he keeps on him "Shukhov pulled his spoon out of his boot. He was very fond of his spoon, which had gone with him all over the North" (16). Ivan and Gregor are controlled by the living conditions that are placed upon them; this is just one example of where control is used. .
In The Metamorphosis and One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, selection of food and times when meals are served, are scheduled to occur at the same time everyday. The areas where the meals are served and the food consumed are similar from day to day. If you did not want to go hungry later in the day, half a serving of food was eaten and the rest is saved for later as a snack. For Ivan, the Guolog has set meals selected and controlled by those who are higher up on the ladder such as Camp officials. .
"The gruel didn't change from one day to the next. It depended on what vegetables they"d stored for the winter. The year before they"d only stocked up with salted carrots, so there was nothing but carrots in the gruel from September to June. And now it was cabbage. The camp was fed best in June, when they ran out of vegetables and started using groats instead. The worst time was July, when they put shredded nettles in the caldron" (17). .
Same can be said for Gregor and his meals. The Samsa family has control over Gregor in his bug form, so they have power over what food Gregor consumes. "Gregor was fed each day, once in the morning, when his parents and the maid were still asleep and a second time in the afternoon after everyone had had dinner" (Kafka 25).
