Samsa attacks Gregor believing he hurt Mrs. Gregor tries to save the image of the woman in furs.Gregor leans to climb the walls and they take the furniture out of the room.Grete feeds Gregor and he discovers he loves rotten food.The family is confronted by Gregor’s new form.Gregor’s family and boss come to check on him.Gregor wakes up and discovers that he’s been transformed into a giant insect.His generosity was not repaid.Īnalysis of Key Moments in The Metamorphosis He cares about the responsibility he has to his family, to pay off his father’s debts and support his sister and mother.Ī reader should also consider what responsibility his family has for him after his transformation and how they didn’t fulfill it.

The first pages of the novel are devoted to Gregor’s struggle to force his new body to do what his old one could easily. He worries immediately that he’s not going to be able to get to work on time and is going to lose his job. When Gregor first discovers that he’s no longer in his human body, his first thought is for his family. It is from there, separate from the family, that he listens to their lives carry on without him. Gregor is also physically alienated in his prison cell-like room. Gregor is alienated from his former humanity, generally, as well as his former personality and role, specifically. The main one being the separation from his family, job, and previous role as the main breadwinner. Gregor’s transformation brings with it a series of emotional transitions and obstacles that he has to overcome. It becomes easier for the family to ignore the fact that Gregor exists than to continue caring for him. But as time goes on, Grete grows older and her priorities change. At first, she cares for Gregor’s needs, feeding and visiting him. It is seen most prominently in Grete, his sister. He finds sanctuary in dark places, joy in crawling on the ceilings and the walls, and is only able to stomach rotten food.Īdditionally, there is the transformation that his family members undergo. As the novel progresses, Gregor struggles to hang onto his humanity, it slips from him as he turns to the things that bring him pleasure in his new form. There is the primary transformation in the novel, that of Gregor, a human man, into a large insect, but there are several others as well. The first and most important theme in The Metamorphosis is transformation. Such themes in Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis touch on what it means to be human and what happens when those around you stop regarding you as such.

The metamorphosis franz