The Metamorphosis Character Analysis

Gregor is treated differently than every person in his family and as well as everyone in the world. For example, Gregor is fed trash from the garbage instead of actual food because his sister realizes that Gregor does not want fresh food anymore. He is treated like a vermin in part because he has been treated like one for so long so he starts to feel like an actual bug. His parents did not care about him and they did not give their son the treatment he deserved. Towards the end of the novel

In the first part of the book, Gregor wakes up and has evolved into a huge bug, or so he thinks. Doubting his ability to get out of bed, he looks for answers for the cause, but can not find any. Then, his mom comes to his room and is only concerned at the fact he is late for work and does not ask if he is all right. As said on page 5, by Gregor’s mother, “Gregor—it’s a quarter to seven. Didn’t you want to catch the train?” This is the only thing she asks her son Gregor when he wakes up unusually late. Expectedly Gregor was looking for a careful remark but this shows us that his mom is only concerned about the money Gregor makes instead of his well-being. In accordance, Gregor is starting to feel ashamed of this condition he must deal with, “Just don’t stay in bed being useless” (Kafka, 7). This shows us, Gregor feels useless because he cannot work for his family and help them at all. He made a ginormous effort to get out of his bed to work and yet is family is only worried about him losing his job instead of his well being. As we see, his family doesn’t love him genuinely and do not love Gregor like they should, being his family.

When individuals are rejected by family and society, they tend to feel abandoned and unloved. In Franz Kafka’s, The Metamorphosis, Gregor’s transformation into a “monstrous vermin” (Kafka 1) results in him being psychologically and even physically abused by his family. Rejection from his mother, sister, and father leave Gregor feeling unwanted and feeling as if he is a terrible burden on the family and their well being.

"’You, Gregor!’ cried his sister with raised fist and piercing eyes. These were the first words she had addressed directly to him since his metamorphosis.”(Kafka, 34). There are many different types of betrayal in one’s life, In The Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka, Gregor Samsa was regularly betrayed after his transformation. One day, Gregor suddenly turned into a bug and his family turned their back on him and inevitably betrayed him. Gregor was not a family favorite, this is demonstrated by his family instantly treating him with disregard when he was struck with the unexpected hardship. Gregor cared for his family and made several sacrifices for them in turn made the betrayal even more difficult to cope with. Betrayal is a blatantly apparent theme shown throughout the novel. Betrayal is shown through society betraying Gregor due to him transforming into a bug, Gregor’s family betrayed him by not caring for him in a time of need, and Gregor betrayed himself by ending his own life for the good of the family.

To fully understand the depths of Gregor’s family’s betrayal, it must be mentioned how much he does for his family. His father had once owned a very unsuccessful small business, and when the business went under the family’s financial woes were unimaginable. Gregor saw this and wanted to bring joy to his family again. Kafka states, “At that time Gregor’s sole desire was to do his utmost to help the family to forget as soon as possible the catastrophe that had overwhelmed the business and thrown them all into a state of complete despair” (Kafka 25) He found a job so that

Both of these instances show that Gregor’s father has completely given up on his son to the extent that he would seriously injure him just to get this ugly creature out of his sight. By Gregor’s father never trying to help him from the beginning it shows that he has completely given up on, and ultimately betrayed, him.

Have you ever been betrayed by a close friend or family member? In The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, the protagonist Gregor awakens one morning to find out that he has experienced a physical change into a bug overnight. When Gregor’s family first sees him in this state, there show mixed emotions. Throughout the book, Gregor’s family, one by one, gives up on him and the fact that his life has turned upside down. There is evidence that the family could have provided assistance to Gregor, there was a hospital directly across the street. This proves that they did not want to ruin their reputation or have what may or may not have been their son taken away from them or even killed. In each part of the book, a new character betrays Gregor, beginning with Gregor’s father, then his mother, and finally his sister, Grete. Two forms of betrayal in the novel include Gregor’s family members betraying him when he needed them the most and Grete surrendering her personal values.

But, as time goes on his sister Grete, who had been the one to care for him the most, begins to lose faith in his humanness. She says to her parents, "You must just try to get rid of the idea that this is Gregor. The fact that we've believed it for so long is the root of all our trouble." This same idea is reiterated when Gregor finally dies and his mother says, "Well, now thanks be to God." His family was convinced after a short while that it wasn't even their own Gregor underneath that hard exoskeleton.

So concerned with ensuring his parents and sister were taken care of, he forgot his own needs. It was apparent to everyone that he was no longer thought of as a son or an extension of the family, but merely as a "support system." The tragic fact is that "everyone had grown accustomed to it, his family as much as himself; they took the money gratefully, he gave it willingly but the act was accompanied by no remarkable effusiveness" (Kafka 48). It appears that in the course of his hectic work schedule, he overlooks that in return for dedication to his family, he remains unloved and unappreciated. Yet Gregor still "believed he had to provide his family with a pleasant, contented, secure life" (Emrich 149), regardless of how they treated him.

While the weeks and months passed Grete and his mother and father struggled to give little any compassion or concern for Gregor as their finances plummeted to the ground. Prior to his metamorphosis Gregor was physically alienated from any semblance of a social life due to his job and financial obligation to his family afterward the transformation and he was deemed a burden to his family that he had provided for countless months he was psychologically isolated from them as well. Notably while Gregor had finally been emancipated from his dreaded job as a salesman, he had become a parasitic to his family without being labeled as a provider they slowly began to turn against him only worsening his mental state and exile.

Gregor’s role in his family characterizes him as an altruistic individual whose nature made him ignorant to his family’s manipulation. Gregor endures most of his hardships without complaint and puts the needs of his family firmly above his own. Upon realizing his transformation at the beginning of the novella, his first thoughts were not of alarm but of great concern about being late to work because it is his only means of taking care of his family (Kafka 6). After his father’s business failed, Gregor “work[ed] with special ardor” (27) doing laborious work as a traveling salesman, not only to “pay off [his] parents’ debt”(4), but to also spend what little money he has to give Grete the opportunity to perform violin professionally (26). With all these responsibilities, it’s inevitable for Gregor to be under great stress, which can infer that Gregor’s transformation is a result of his willful desire to escape the pressures his overburdened life. Gregor struggled between remaining a steadfast provider or following his desire for independence, however, his metamorphosis freed him from a job he detests. Now that it is impossible for Gregor to work, Mr.Samsa reveals that “he possessed more money than Gregor knew about” (#). This is a significant event where Kafka uses the motif of betrayal to emphasize the corruption in familial infrastructure represented through Gregor’s sacrifice and interaction with his family, as well as to socially comment about how people in society use

Gregor allowed his family to harass, bully and degrade him, in the same manner that Kafka had allowed his family to do. The similarity of Kafka’s relationship with his father was also portrayed with Gregor and his relationship with his father. Kafka intended to reflect and highlight the decisions that were made by Gregor being influenced by his family, by making them important protagonists within the novel. Gregor expresses from the beginning of the novel how his father intended on raising him, “from the first day of his new life that his father considered only the strictest treatment called for in dealing with him”38, much like Kafka’s father had. Gregor’s father was rather tough on him and his duties, and would take no clear- minded steps into understanding what Gregor, as a bug, did or tried to communicate through the actions he took. As he jumped to conclusions the second he saw Gregor out of his room, and would beat him with a cane trying to pressure him back to staying in his room as if he wasn’t even his son, or throwing apples at him. This provokes Gregor, allowing him to think more rationally, becoming more introverted, yet inside he was suffering with such sadness and crying desperately for some kind of recognition, much like Kafka did.

With all of Gregor dedication in helping his family and at work, he has not once been praised or rewarded. His family and coworker take his dedication for granted, therefore causing selfishness within them. Gregor’s family selfishness really showed when Gregor

Worried about their son, his entire family urges next to the door and demands Gregor to unlock it. At that moment, his manager angrily storms to his house and demands an explanation for his delay. His mother tries to pleads his manager by complimenting Gregor’s devoted and hardworking attitude. She didn’t want her son to lose her occupation as she still perceived him as the successor of the family, and if anything were to happen, it would only disrupt the sustainability of her family. Finally, Gregor opens the door and witnesses the repulsive and scared faces of his family and manager. The horrified office manager backs away, his mother who was "already in tears...yelling" (12-13) passes out, and the father cries. Nevertheless, Gregor “[filled with] assurance and confidence” continued to see himself as his human self, and tries to protect this identity by delivering a long explanation. However, he doesn’t realize that no one saw him as Gregor, and regardless of how strongly he believed in his perception of himself, his family simply saw him as a disgusting creature. Courageously, the father shoves him back into the room and isolates the hideous Gregor into the room.

Gregor is not only isolated from his family but also neglected as well. First, As stated before Gregor was never really loved in his family his father was had a negative influence on him. “With a hostile expression his father clenched his fist, as if to drive Gregor back into his room” Mr. Samsa almost barely comes out a compassionate character here. His reaction to Gregor's condition is aggression, rather than patience or sympathy. Second, His father even attacks him multiple times. The second time he was attacked by his father it was a serious enough wound to be life threatening. Gregor is unable to prevent this injury and obtain any sort of remedy; the family doesn’t seem to care at all, and he is at their mercy. Next,