The Metamorphosis

Summary

Gregory Samsa is a traveling salesman who financially supports his family. He wakes up in the morning to find out he has been transformed into a Dung Beetle. He is in shock after his reality sets in and tries to figure out how he is going to get to work. Although they try to assimilate the change, his family is horrified and keeps Gregory locked in his room. Gregory eventually dies, leaving his family free.

Study Guide

• Chapter 1
• Chapter 2
• Chapter 3

Chapter 1 Summary

The first chapter of The Metamorphosis is the chapter that Gregory Samsa wakes up to find that he has morphed into a bug. The bug is never truly revealed and Kafka wanted it to be that way. Kafka said that a "concrete image would be too distracting and shut off sympathy" (Fleissner 225), so the true identity of the bug is left up to the reader.

Gregory's parents worry about him when he has not gotten up to go to work, so his family goes to his room and then Gregory's chief clerk comes to his house to see why Gregory has not come to work. Gregory hears that that the clerk has come to check on him so he tries to make it out of his room by turning the key with his mouth and when he opens door, he frightens his family and the clerk, sending the clerk running and sends his father into a frenzied state to put Gregory back in his room. Gregory’s mother faints when she sees him. His family stays away from him, careful not to disturb him or disturb themselves. Gregory eventually loses his human voice and takes on all appearances and actions of a bug. The chapter ends when “The door was banged to with the stick, and at last there was silence” (1976). This is when Gregory’s father successfully shoves him back to his room away from the rest of the family for the time being.

Chapter 3 Summary

It has been a month since Gregory’s injury form the apple. He now resembles an “elderly invalid” and has trouble with mobility. Gregory’s parents and sister all have jobs now; his mother works as a seamstress, his father works at the bank and his sister works as a shop assistance. A new maid has also been hired. Gregory spends most of his days and nights sleeping and thinking about his family and his former job. His sister Meg begins spending less time with him and his appetite has begun to deplete. Three lodgers come to stay at his house. While they are there, the door where Gregory can see out of stays shut so he can not see out. One night, Meg plays the violin for the men. The door that is usually shut was left open by the maid and Gregory peeps out. The middle lodger spots him and is grossed out. He gives notice to Gregory’s parents that they will be leaving and that they do not intend to pay for their stay because of the filthy conditions. The next morning, the maid goes in to clean Gregory’s room and finds him dead. She informs his family and they decide to move to a smaller, less expensive apartment. The chapter ends with talk of finding Meg a husband.

Major Themes

Alienation

The theme of alienation plays a major role in the story because Gregory is alienated from his family and society before the metamorphosis occurs and even more so afterwards. Kafka uses the theme of alienation in this story to "comment on the human need to experience love and acceptance" (Hughes). Gregory's mother tells his boss when they first discover that something is wrong, "He's not well, sir, you can take it from me. What else would make him miss his train? Why, the boy thinks of nothing but his work! It makes me quite cross that he never goes out in the evening..." (1970). Before the metamorphosis, Gregory's work is what alienates him from his family and society.

After the metamorphosis, however, it is his distinct features that alienate him. One example of the alienation is that his family locks him in his bedroom. Gregory is not allowed to be a part of the family. Gregory then has to make the adjustment from being a man in the working world and traveling everyday, to being a prisoner in his own bedroom (Hughes). Another way that Gregory's family alienates him is that when they talk about him, they openly talk about his features in front of him because they think that he cannot understand what they are saying. "If he understood what we said...we might be able to come to an arrangement with him. But as things are..." (1995). They refer to Gregory as "it" rather than by his name. "It has to go...it's the only way, father. You must just try to get out of the habit of thinking that it's Gregory" (1995). In this way, the reader finds out that the family has stopped acknowledging Gregory as their son. The family also treats Gregory like an animal by the way that they feed him. Gregory's sister would bring in scraps from the table that the family wouldn't eat to feed him. "She brought him a whole selection of things, all laid out on an old newspaper, to see what he liked. There were some old half rotten vegetables; the bones from supper, covered with congealed white sauce; some raisins and almonds; a piece of cheese...two days old; a slice of dry bread..." (1978). The family treated him like an animal, rather than their son who got sick and needed his family to look after him.

Novella

Technically a theme, but more of a genre so to speak, that is unknown to most of us present day readers of Kafka is novella. "A novella is a short novel; a narrative work of prose fiction somewhat longer than a short story but shorter than a novel. A common length is about 50 to 100 pages. The extra length is generally used for more character development than is possible in a short story, but without the much greater character and plot development of a novel. Novellas often are characterized by satire or moral teaching"(Wikipedia).

Satire: This is clearly evident as "The Metamorphosis is obviously a story about alienation. Gregor's life is dictated by his dead-end job and family responsibilities to the extent that even when he travels to different towns, he prefers to stay in his hotel room studying train timetables rather than experience what the new location has to offer. That isolation is mirrored in his relationship with his family, for whom he is the bread-winner but from whom he locks himself away at night. This alienation becomes so pronounced that, one day, he discovers himself to be literally no longer human. Gregor's earlier sentiment is reciprocated when his family begins locking and bolting the door shut behind him in his room. Late in the story, he briefly considers what it means to be 'human'; if he can be so moved by his sister's music then surely he cannot be an animal. And ultimately, his acceptance that he must go shows an act of genuine humanity" (BBC).

Moral Teaching: Try interpreting the story without Gregor's transformation. "In this interpretation, the other characters in the story would not see a man-sized beetle. Instead, they see a man so alienated from reality that he chooses to reject it totally. He is still a man, the same man they saw the previous day, but now he is crawling awkwardly on the floor and squeaking rather than speaking. He would prefer the shame of living as an insect to the hopelessness of living as a man. He would rather live in squalor and eat scraps from the rubbish than deal with the mind-numbing sameness of his life and accept responsibility for changing it. The abhorrence the family displays upon seeing him would still be the same - perhaps it would be even greater if they still just saw a man. They would be forced to accept the situation in the same way; still hoping Gregor will put himself right before finally admitting the man they knew will never return. As nightmarish as the scenario presented in the book is, maybe the only thing worse than inexplicably transforming into a giant bug overnight is wishing you had" (BBC).

Reversal of Roles

At the begining Gregory is the one who supports his family. He is bringing home the money while his father sits in his chair and sleeps. This may have "crippled the father's self-esteem because he took over the father's position in the family" (Coulehan). After Gregory's transformation, the roles reversed and the father re-assumes his positon as the provider forthe family. Gregory now becomes weak and his father kills him.

Humanity

The theme of humanity is shown in the story by how it is taken away from Gregor. His humanity is slowly taken away from him throughout the story not just by his transformation into a bug. Gregor’s first link to humanity that is taken away was that of him being the bread winner for the family. “Gregors humanity, to the extent that his parents and sister acknowledge it, is inextricably tied to his function as economic provider.” (Rowe). Later in the story more is pulled away when Grete begins taking objects out of his room. This made Gregory reminisce about his human life. “They were clearing his room out, taking everything that was dear to him…”(p.1985). Here the last things that ever tied him to having a human existence were removed.

Characters

Gregory Samsa

A traveling salesman responsible for providing for his family. His metamorphosis into a insect leaves a stuggle between his human mind and insect needs.

Grete

The sister of Gregory Samsa who feeds him and takes care of him.

Study Questions

1. What sort of bug does Gregory Samsa change into overnight?
2. What is the significance of Gregory's job? How does his job effect his family?
3. How does the chief clerk from Gregory's job act towards the Samsa's and in general about the entire situation?
4. What two people does Gregory think would be the "strongest" and most able to help get him out of bed in the morning? What do you think that this signifies?
5. What family member feeds Gregory after he is changed into a bug?
6. What is the outside weather like during the "Metamorphosis"? Does this climate help set the mood at all?
7. What type of relationship does Gregory have with his sister Meg? How would you describe it?
8. How does Gregory die at the end of "The Metamorphosis"?

Works Cited

Hughes, Katherine. "Seperate and Alone: Alienation as a Central Theme in Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Kafka's Metamorphosis." 9 November 2002. 17 April 2006.

Fleissner, Robert F. "Is Gregor Samsa a Bed Bug? Kafka and Dickens Revisited." Studies in Short Fiction. Vol. 22, Issue 2 (1985): p 225.