Why does Gregor cling to the picture of the woman in furs on the wall?

Early on, the narrator
describes Gregor's feelings that his life is not very fulfilling. He has no time to establish or
develop any meaningful relationshipsnot even time enough to eat satisfying foodsbecause he
spends all of his time on the road as a traveling salesman.

When he first
awakens as a bug, he cannot figure out what has happened to him, and it is here that the
narrator first describes the "picture of a woman with a fur hat and a fur boa." He had
cut it out of a magazine and put it into "a pretty gilt frame." It is as though, in
lieu of an actual woman with whom he might have an actual relationship, Gregor can only place
the picture of an attractive and luxuriously-attired woman from a magazine in his frame, because
no such woman exists in his life. When the behavior of his sister, Grete, and his mother
indicate that they may intend to take this framed picture, it represents the likelihood that no
such woman will ever exist, and this is too painful for Gregor to endure. With the removal of
his furniture and this picture, it seems as though the last vestiges of his humanity will be
gone.