Dynamic Character Of Grete In The Metamorphosis

At this point in the story Gregor is completely captivated with Grete, which is an unexpected consequence in her plan of manipulation. Grete began to practice her violin to show her parents just how classy she was even though she was able to take care of Gregor. While entertaining guests and playing the violin Grete captivated Gregor with the sweet sound of music. “On hearing all this, his sister would break out in tears of emotion, and Gregor would climb up to her shoulder and kiss her neck, which, since she had been going out to work, she had keep free without any necklace or collar.” Gregor also feels bad about what has happened with his sister. Due to Gregor’s situation Grete has to work and this is keeping her from wearing her beautiful necklaces. Grete has effectively manipulated her parents and Gregor. In the final paragraph of the novella it talks of Grete and how highly her parents think of her. The novella ends with one final dehumanization of Gregor. The last sentence shows Grete stretching her young body after Gregor has died with a horrid

Although Gregor turned into a bug, the real Metamorphosis occurred before the change and with the whole family. Kafka’s novella The Metamorphosis reflects the ideals about industrialization and existentialism during the turn of the century. In the novella, Gregor turns into a bug, and the whole family has to deal with it in different ways. Many characters go through a metamorphosis in the novella. Although the changes may not be physical the changes occurred greatly in Gregor, Mr. Samsa, and Grete.

Gregor Samsa appears to be the character who transfigures in the short novel called “The Metamorphosis,” but Grete, Gregor’s sister, transforms into a stronger and more independent woman throughout the predicaments in the book. After Gregor dies, a new light shines upon Grete, and her parents see her as a grown woman. The author says, “It struck both Mr. and Mrs. Samsa, almost at the same moment, as they became aware of their daughter’s increasing vivacity, that in spite of all the sorrow of recent times, which had made her cheeks pale, she had bloomed into a pretty girl with a good future”(Kafka 96). The closing words of “The Metamorphosis” prove that the whole novel is showing how the metamorphosis that takes place is referring to Gretes transformation into a stronger woman. Throughout the novel, Grete matures into having a closer relationship with her parents, being more independent, and by not revolving her world around Gregor anymore.

When Gregor first turned into a bug, his sister Grete, showed him kindness by bringing him some food “She brought him, to test his taste, an entire selection, all spread out on a newspaper. There were old half-rotten vegetables, bones from the evening meal, covered with white sauce which had almost solidified, some raisins and almonds, cheese, which Gregor had declared inedible two days earlier, a slice of dry bread, a slice of salted bread smeared with butter… and out of delicacy of feeling, since she knew Gregor would not eat in front of her, she went away very quickly… Gregor could now make himself as comfortable as possible.” (Kafka 153) As the story progresses Grete becomes careless and no longer is sympathetic toward Gregor. In fact she hardly even feds him anymore “But even when the

Grete undergoes a change in perspective to such a degree that by the end of the novella it is she who declares, “we must get rid of it” (84). This change in perspective shows how Kafka believes that members of society often stop sympathizing with the isolated group when it becomes inconvenient for them to continue doing so. Gregor’s mother reacts in an initial manner somewhere between the father and sister since when first seeing him she “went two steps toward Gregor and collapsed right in the middle of her skirts” (23). These conflicting desires continue through the novella, such as when Mr. Samsa tries to kill Gregor, “she begged him to spare Gregor’s life” (65) but at the same time she is repulsed by him. This illustrates how she wants to help him and tries to think of him the same way she did before his transformation, yet is unable to. This resembles the idealists in society who theoretically support the alienated person but often succumb to social pressures when they are forced to face the problem. These three reactions to Gregor’s transformation as a result of the initiation of his isolation by the manager demonstrate the spectrum of reactions. From the immediate acceptance of the hierarchy represented by Mr. Samsa, to the true compassion of Grete and the idealism of Mrs. Samsa, Kafka shows how a wide variety of reactions is expected from society, and how people often change their opinions.

Grete, like her mother, obviously cares very much for Gregor and is also terrified by his new transformation, but unlike her mother, she tries very hard to hide her fear in order to keep feeding and tending to Gregor’s room;

the family representative of Gregor, in a sense, to a mother who does not understand and a father who is hostile and opposing. The father is physically violent toward his metamorphosed Gregor, pushing him through a door in Part I: "...when from behind his father gave him a strong push which was literally a deliverance and he flew far into the room, bleeding freely" (20). Grete appears to concentrate on protecting Gregor from this antagonistic father and an indecisive mother. In Part II, when Grete leads her mother into Gregor's room for the first time, we see the strange way in which Grete has become both the expert and the caretaker of Gregor's affairs (Nabokov 271). She convinces her mother that it is best to remove all of the furniture from his room. Kafka attributes her actions partly to an adolescent zest: "Another factor which might have been also the enthusiastic temperament of an adolescent girl, which seeks to indulge

As a young child, he was a lone Jew attending a German school-which no doubt forced him to learn the "value" of conformity from an early age. As for Gregor, his family refuses to associate with him any longer and casually discards him because he is useless and perceived as different; i.e., dangerous. As such, the family finds this nonconformity almost threatening to their existence. A particularly pivotal and heartbreaking moment in Gregor's life occurs when his own beloved sister is asha! med of Gregor: Things cannot go on any longer in this way...I say only that we must try to get rid of it. We have tried what is humanly possible to take care of it and to be patient...I believe that no one can criticize us in the slightest...it is killing you both. I see it coming. When people have to work as hard as we all do, they cannot also tolerate Cheng 4 this endless torment at home. I just can't go on any more...this animal plagues us. It drives away the lodgers, will obviously take over the entire apartment, and leave us to spend the night in the lane. (Kafka) Basically, Grete is willing to kill her own blood relation purely based upon his unusual, repulsive appearance. However, despite the constant threat of extermination, his thoughts remain surprisingly selfless; he "did not have any notion of wishing to create problems for anyone and certainly not for his sister...he felt a great pride that he had been able to provide such a life in a

Grete’s isolation from society stems from her passion and interest for her loved ones. Grete spends all her time at home caring for her family members. Kafka describes her as “perceptive; she had already begun to cry when Gregor was still lying calmly on his back”

Kafka is able to construct the change in Gregor’s sister, Grete, as the influences of others become more evident in her life. He is able to change the views of the sister, from a person to constantly care about, to one that just wanted to kill him, to just end the burden of Gregor. At the start of the story, Kafka focused on the sister, depicting her efforts to make thing as normal as they can be: “For there stood

Grete Samsa is Gregor’s sister. Grete immediately feels pity for her brother and wants to help him. This continues until near the end of the story when Grete gets a job and takes over the role as the main provider. It seems at this

Grete’s initial reaction to Gregor’s bug transformation is that she “began to weep while Gregor was still lying quietly on his back”(47). This reaction shows that Grete’s level of maturity is not adequate enough to deal with the change her brother is experiencing. Grete is not only showing her emotion and care for Gregor, but proving that his metamorphosis is causing Grete to experience emotional weakness. As Gregor is moving forward in his journey; Grete enters into her stage of exploring just how much power she has over the situation that is occurring within the

He was the son, the sole breadwinner of the family. Before Gregor’s transformation Grete really had no place in the family. Now since Gregor was unable to help the family Grete became important, needed and most of all appreciated. “He often heard them expressing their appreciation of his sister’s activities, whereas formerly they had frequently scolded her for being a somewhat useless daughter”(99). Now Grete’s parents need her for something. Grete by making herself responsible for Gregor gains a certain power over her parents. This however in not presented to the reader clearly because Gregor is unable to grasp the fact that his sister might have ulterior motives.

To Gregor’s family he is no longer even referred to as human or a part of the family. Since this is the first instance that Grete refers to him as an “it”. She no longer sees her brother in Gregor the bug and is trying to convince her parents that they shouldn’t either. I think that she’s just “washing her hands” of a duty that’s difficult by reminding her parents that they had tried. It’s simply to make sure she feels no guilt in throwing her brother to the

Furthermore, Gregor’s descent into social and physical abjection then forces his family to change radically in order to support themselves. In the beginning, Gregor starts off as the provider for his family. He hates his job, but he still goes above and beyond the call of duty to give his family a more comfortable life, even indulging the expensive endeavour of his sisters’ dream of studying the violin. However, after the metamorphosis, he is thrust into the role of a dependant – forcing his family to take responsibility and support themselves. His sister steps up to the plate in the beginning, giving him a selection of foodstuffs to find what he likes and even cleaning up after him. His parents are still in denial at this point, so much so that they refuse to see him at all. But as time goes by, his family begins to accept the situation and even try to help Grete out. His father produces some money from his previous failed business venture and his mother and sister try to make life more comfortable for Gregor. Grete in particular changes the most noticeably; Gregor himself notes at the beginning that her life up till that point had been “enviable”, consisting of “wearing nice