Gregor Samsa from The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka has turned into a “bug” because of the isolation and struggles Gregor faces, due to this his family is not acknowledging him as part of their family. Gregor’s sister “Grete” is the only person in the family to try and take care of Gregor. She is trying to be a good person and help him, even so, Gregor still repulses her. Gregor before his sister comes into the room must hide himself to protect his sister from seeing him because he does not want to scare her. Furthermore talking about Gregor, Gregor recognizes that he needs to hide from his sister to spare her the sight of seeing him. This is further piling onto the heavy burden Gregor faces. Gregor is so traumatized by this feeling he is …show more content…
According to Michael Rowe, he finds the family is taking the wrong approach when Gregor turned into a bug. “I review critical commentaries on Metamorphosis and then discuss the protagonist’s misfortune and his family’s response to it as a “worst-case scenario” for ill persons and their caregivers” (Rowe). When Gregor notices that his sister found him repulsive, I do not think he ever considered the possibility of his sister, now his only friend, turning on him. Grete later on in the book said, “I won’t pronounce the name of my brother in front of this monster” (48 Kafka). For Gregor, this must have felt horrible to hear, the last person on his side has now even further dehumanized Gregor, and now wants to do something about him. The family sees Gregor as a monster now. Someone who used to work tirelessly for them trying to help them out has now been turned on because he feels confined in the …show more content…
Even though his family has assumed the world and thought that their dear son and brother had been turned into a monster. Gregor still looked out for them, was extremely selfless, and still cared deeply about his family. Even in his isolated, depressed state, he spent hours working on a way to make it so Grete didn’t have to see him. “One day he carried the sheet on his back to the couch this job took four hours” (29). Even after being essentially ignored by his family he still puts himself through strain to make sure that they are taken care of in whatever way he can. It makes the reader feel empathy for this bug. It makes the reader want to go into the same universe Gregor is in and help