The Metamorphosis

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Synopsis


Character list:

Gregor Samsa, the Protaonist


Grete, His sister she is at her cusp of adulthood


The Father, The failure and he was emotionally broken


The Mother, Frail and distressed


The Charwomen, she was the cleaning lady




The Metamorphosis is a short story published in 1915, This story 

was about a boy named Gregor Samsa, he is a travels salesman 

who provides for his parents and his sister. One morning Gregor 

had awoken in the form of a bug. Due to Gregors metamorphosis it 

had disabled his ability to work and care for himself.  Since Gregor 

can no longer provide for his family he gets confided into his room 

for the remainder of the story. The only person in the story who 

actually cares for Gregor is his sister. The father on the other hand 

has never cared for Gregor, during the story if the father would see 

Gregor he would miss treat him by throwing apples and trying to 

stomp on him. The mother, could never look at Gregor because she 

was afraid of him. Within the middle of the story Gregor becomes 

more isolated from humanity and starts accepting this new 

formation.  Towards the end of the short story Gregor hears his 

sister and the rest of his family agree that he needs to be killed. So 

Gregor stays in his room and starves himself to death in 

order to please his family from him being their burden. 



The Break Down of The Metamorphosis

     Kafka's short story The Metamorphosis was an interesting piece 

to read because it brought his readers into his world. The 

Metamorphosis when it gets broken down was a story about 

isolation, confinement and lost of humanity. Starting with the 

setting of the story, The whole story takes place inside of Gregor's 

apartment.  When Gregor wakes up to find himself as a human 

sized insect is when everything changed for him. Due to his 

transformation Gregor had to adjust to eating like an insect, 

thinking like an insect  and behaving like an insect. Since Gregor 

begins to act more like an insect he becomes isolated from his 

family and the real world and becomes confined into his 

apartment.  Since Gregor became an insect each member in his 

family one by one started losing faith in him. They 

start referring to Gregor as a monster and it is like Gregor died to 

them. With Gregors family treating him badly it cost him to 

lose his humanity and let his metamorphosis to advance. 

       The Metamorphosis also can be broken down between 

relationships.  The first important relationship is between Gregor 

and his family. Gregors family only saw him as the provider and 

they did not care much that he was unhappy.  Gregor and his 

parents had no communication, basically Gregor has lacked 

communication and connections with anyone.  This lack of 

connection is because of his line of work. The next relationship is 

between the parents and Grete, the sister. There relationship is 

important because after Gregor became useless to the parents they 

began to use the sister the same way. The sister had to quite school 

and work in order to provide for the house.  These relationships 

show that the parents in a way are responsible for Gregor's

transformation.

      This short story is not just about Gregors metamorphosis but it 

is also the other characters growth at the end of the story. The 

sister grows as a women, and Gregor's parents grow by wanting 

better and try to advance in their family life with Grete. Overall 

Gregor becoming a bug is him trying to avoid his unhappy life at 

work. Gregors Metamorphosis was Gregors fate which he tried 

to shrugged off to the side as though it did not exist.  The 

insect Gregor becomes is who Gregor was inside, it was his only 

way of not being subjected to living an unsatisfying life working 

for money.

                                 Works Cited

Schoolworkhelper Editorial Team. “Kafka's The Metamorphosis: 

        Gregor Samsa Analysis.” SchoolWorkHelper, 2017, 

        schoolworkhelper.net/kafkas-the-metamorphosis-gregor-

        samsa-analysis/.

“The Metamorphosis and Other Stories.” The Metamorphosis"        

        (Die Verwandlung)", www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/m/the-

        metamorphosis-and-other-stories/summary-and-analysis/the-

        metamorphosis-die-verwandlung.