Metamorphosis 2 Essay, Research Paper

Members of a family are often affected when something suddenly changes. Family relationships and special bonds can be changed and sometimes even broken. The attitudes of family members may be altered around the sudden change. In Franz Kafka s The Metamorphosis, a family s bond is broken apart by a sudden change in Gregor Samsa. The author deals with changes in Gregor and within the whole family. The family s attitude changes throughout the book. Gregor s sister, Grete, showed the largest change in attitude. In the beginning she felt sorry

for her unfortunate brother and she continued to show that she still cared about him. She took care of him and fed him when no one else seemed to care. After seeing her changed brother for the first time and being frightened by his appearance, she lost control of herself and slammed the door shut again . Grete still cared for her brother even though he had changed. Grete feeling sorry for Gregor, brought him an assortment of foods, to find out which ones he liked. She also wanted to help him out by removing the furniture from his bedroom so he could have more room to crawl around. Eventually, Grete began to feel annoyed and disgusted by

the presence of her brother. By not caring anymore, she no longer fed nor acknowledged her brother. Grete was the first to announce that the family needed to get rid of Gregor. After his death she was content to go on with the rest of her life, with out the burden of her brother.

Gregor s mother had a very similar attitude towards the change in Gregor. When she first saw him she had great sorrow. In the beginning, she refused to give up hope that Gregor would someday be normal again. She showed her feelings by disagreeing with Grete when she wanted to remove his furniture. She wanted the room untouched, so that when Gregor came back it would be exactly the same and he could easily forget the whole thing. As her attitudes changed in the end, she too became irritated by Gregor.

Gregor s father had the hardest time accepting Gregor. His attitude towards him changed the quickest. He wanted to drive Gregor back into his room the minute he saw him. His father harshly chased him back to his room with a cane. His father injured his leg by shoving him through his tight door way. When Mr. Samsa found out that Gregor had left his room

while he was out, he attempted to kill him. All in all it was the wound his father gave him with an apple that killed Gregor. Mr. Samsa soon regreted hurting his son, and after feeling guilty, he left Gregor s door open in the evenings so he could watch the rest of the family. Although he felt a little guilt, Gregor s father also agreed upon killing him.

The family s attitudes changed in many different ways by the death of Gregor. The family was more then willing to go on with the rest of their lives. After his death they calmly spent the day resting. After his death, the family was more concerned about their futures. They even sought out in finding their daughter a good husband. The family s attitudes changed just

as rapidly as Gregor himself did. Gregor s change in life, reflected on the rest of the family s attitudes towards life.