Gregor's Family And Mental Changes In The Metamorphosis By Kafka

In the story The Metamorphosis by Kafka, a character by the name of Gregor wakes up a cockroach. But, It’s quite possible that this is not what the title of the book entails, and instead, the title of the book refers more to Gregor’s family rather than himself. The Metamorphosis was written during World War One, and a somewhat popular theme in literature was to reflect the ideals of industrialization during the turn of the century. In the book, Gregor is turned into a bug, and the whole family has to adapt to it in different ways. It’s obvious that each of the family members go through their own ‘Metamorphosis’, and although the change may not be physical, it’s obvious that each character goes through a mental change throughout the book.
The …show more content…
Before Gregor’s transformation, the father did not work, and he didn’t really do anything. Much like the rest of the family, he relied on his son’s income. But, when Gregor turned into a bug, he was unable to provide a supporting income. Prior to this, the father was not fit for work. In Gregor’s words “Now the father was certainly healthy, but an old man, who had not worked in five years could not be expected to do much” (Kafka, 29). The father is obviously lazy, and didn’t want to work if it was not required of him. But because of the family’s metamorphosis, he had to change. As Gregor states “Now however he held himself erect dressed in a tight blue uniform. With gold buttons, like that of a bank manager…” (Kafka, 38). Which, in comparison to Gregor’s original description of the father, this is a major change. With this change, came along a change in attitude from his father to Gregor. In the beginning, he want’s nothing to do with Gregor, “When his father gave him a terrific shove from behind and he flew, bleeding profusely, far into the room” (Kafka, 21). He could have killed Gregor then, but at the end of the story, when the sister wanted to kill Gregor, the father said “If only he could understand us… then we might be able to come to some sort of agreement with him” (Kafka, 53). He wanted to make peace with Gregor. And this change could only be properly expressed in Gregor’s own words, …show more content…
Samsa also goes through major changes in the sotry, be it not as drastic as the sister. The sister always loved Gregor, before and after he changed into the bug. She would care for him and help him. Grete brought Gregor food throughout the story, “His favorite drink and surely the reason his sister had let it out for him” (Kafka, 22). This quote being from when his sister had left out milk for him to drink. Before the incident, Grete had to do almost nothing around the house, for they had maids to do everything for them (Which, is pretty impressive considering the only form of income was Gregor, a traveling salesman). However, now she “also had to cook” (Kafka, 26), and help around the house “While the sister cleaned up inside” (Kafka, 31). The sister had to take the family woman role, because the mother also had to work all day long. In the beginning of the story, she felt strongly towards her brother, and she loved him, but at the end the greatest change happened. “It has to go… that’s the only way… we have no brother… it obviously wants to take over the whole apartment” (Kafka, 53). Not only did she refer to Gregor as an “It” rather than her brother, shows how she no longer believes he to be her brother. She wanted to kill him, probably because of the work and pain his absence has brought the family. She even went so far as to say “We have to get rid of it” (Kafka, 52). In conclusion, the greatest change in the book was actually the change in viewpoint of the sister,