Abstract: One morning, Gregor Samsa wakes up and discovers that he has turned into a bug. He then proceeds to try to figure out how to get out of bed, so that he will be able to get to work as a traveling salesman. His boss then comes over to his house in order to see why he has not come to work. Gregor then comes out of his room. His boss and family are horrified when they see Gregor. His boss flees, and Gregor's father begins to try to shoo Gregor back into the room. In the process, Gregor was injured. Through the coming days, Grete, Gregor's sister, gives Gregor food and water to eat. She also cleans his room for him. Gregor hides under the couch so that she won't see him when she comes in. During the days, he climbs around the room, listens to his family's activities and conversations, and looks out the window. He not only looks like a bug, but his voice changes and he feels the same emotions as a bug. Gregor was the breadwinner in the family and now that he is unable to work his family must go out and find jobs. Once Grete gets a job, she stops caring for Gregor as much. One day Gregor comes out of his room and when his father comes home after his mom has fainted he becomes mad. Gregor's father begins chasing him throughout the room and then throws apples at him. One of the apples lands in Gregor's back and wounds him. Gregor's mom then chokes his dad begging for her son's life. Gregor then began to lose his appetite. His parents also get lodgers. They move the furniture from the lodgers room to Gregor's room. Gregor becomes completely neglected and is covered with dust and old food. One day Gregor hears his sister playing the violin and he goes into the living room to listen to it. When the lodgers see Gregor, they freak out and leave and don't pay their rent. Grete then says how Gregor is no longer the insect, and they must kill it. Gregor then goes back to his room and dies. His family then seems relieved that he has died. They move houses. One day when they are on a train, they notice how Grete has become a woman during the time that Gregor was an insect.
Response: It is odd how Gregor didn't even question or freak out when he woke up and was a bug. He just accepted it and seemed sort of content with the fact. I feel bad for him. His family doesn't even seem to care about him anymore because he is not the main financial support. They just ignore him. He is also unable to communicate with his family after his transformation because they cannot understand him. This could be similar to his past where maybe he was not the best at communicating with his family or rarely did because he was not home and was working. His family then completely ignores him once they get jobs and even his sister does not treat him how she once did. It seems like Gregor is not even missed and his family is perfectly capable of functioning semi-normally without him. Gregor's transformation into an insect could just be the outward appearance of his change, and his real change was when he began to be the financial support of his family and no longer looked like a member of it, but instead someone to support it and work for it. Gregor also does not even seem to mind that he is by himself. He does not really seem that lonely. His life as an insect just kind of seems like a continuation of his life as a traveling salesman because he stayed by himself many nights and did not really have any close relationships with other people. Gregor also seems more concerned that now his family has to work rather than being concerned with the fact that he is a bug. He feels bad that his sister has to work and his mother and father. He also feels bad about the fact that he was unable to send his sister to school to play the violin. On the other-hand, Gregor seems like a little bit of a procrastinator. He kind of takes his time to try to get up and move at the beginning of the book which is similar to the story about him wanting to send his sister to school, so she could play her violin. He said how he always was going to do it, but in reality he never did. I think at the end when Grete announces that she does not believe that Gregor is really the insect anymore is because he has lost the one thing that Grete identified him with which was working and supporting the family. He is no longer able to support them, so he is dead to them. Gregor also probably felt completely helpless and hopeless that his family would never love or care for him anymore. His family also seemed relieved when he died. They no longer had the burden of Gregor or the fear that he would be discovered. Instead, they could move on with their lives and continue working and living. It is also ironic how at the end of the story Grete has also gone through a metamorphosis which was becoming a woman. Gregor's parents don't alienate her though, but instead are happy about her transformation.
No comments:
Post a Comment