How Does Gregor Lose Humanity

Gregor, eventually starts losing his humanity as he transforms into a bug, while Rieux continues to keep that humanity as he watches the Plague take over Oran. Midway through The Metamorphosis, Gregor is starting to forget what has been happening to him as his humanity slips away: “Even now he had been on the verge of forgetting and only his mother’s voice, which he had not heard for so long, had shaken him up”(). Gregor is starting to lose his humanity and he starts to fully become the vermin in which his mind now occupies. He starts forgetting where he is and what has been happening to him, and the only way he remembers is because of his mom's voice. For much of the novel, Gregor has been naturally tolerating his situation without doing anything …show more content…
While Gregor loses the humanity that has defined him as a family man, Rieux’s humanity grows stronger as he does what he believes is the right thing for mankind. The final difference between Gregor and Rieux is that when Gregor is in desperation he loses all his strength to go on, but Rieux uses the pain he feels to continue his work. Gregor eventually gets too tired and desperate in his situation and passes out: “...and finally in desperation, as the whole room was beginning to spin, fell down into the middle of the big table”(). Gregor, has not been able to continue in his bug form and just passes out, because he does not have the will to continue. Everything that has been happening to him, from the shock of turning into a bug and the abuse of his parents who can not stand the sight of him, have left Gregor in a dormant state where he is not able to do anything with his body. By staying in his state of tolerance, he starts to accept his mental and physical state and let it take him over. Gregor allows the pain of isolation to take him over instead of using it as a motivational factor to get better, leading to his