Gregor and his Family

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As we've been discussing The Metamorphosis, one thing that I find really interesting is Gregor's relationship with his family. The way they treat him in his insect form and the way that Gregor talks about them shows a lot about what their relationship was like even before Gregor's transformation, and how it has changed since.
It is Gregor's sister, Grete, who primarily takes care of Gregor after his transformation. She brings him food regularly, and even reports back to his parents on the status of his well-being. Although she is clearly repulsed by Gregor's grotesque insect form (as we can see from the way she rushes to open the window every time she enters his room), she makes sure to keep checking up on him. This is a clear role-reversal from the dynamic of Gregor and Grete's relationship before Gregor's transformation. Gregor has reflected on their relationship and commented on how he considers them to be good friends. Before his transformation, he was always the one to look after her, even going as far as making plans to send her to school to study music. He has always been a more protective and supportive figure for her, but after his transformation he depends on her to bring him food everyday and keep him alive and well. Because of his transformation, Gregor and Grete have almost switched roles completely, in that Gregor used to be the one providing for Grete and instead now depends on her for his survival. 
While there was a clear shift in Gregor and Grete's relationship, I wonder if his relationship with his parents really changed all that much after his transformation. Gregor's father never seemed to have hope of Gregor retaining any of his humanity, nor would he entertain the thought of Gregor ever returning to human form. Instead, Gregor's father viewed him immediately as a disgusting creature, and burden to his family, treating him as such throughout The Metamorphosis. While Gregor's mother was not as explicitly repulsed by Gregor's form, she clung desperately to the hope of him returning to human form one day. Although she offered to visit his room and attempted to help move his furniture, she was not nearly as involved as Grete. I wonder if she showed any concern at all for Gregor post-transformation only because she was so sure that he would soon transform back to his original form. 
We know that Gregor is the breadwinner of his family, and that he is working incredibly hard at a job he hates because he is trying to pay off his father's debts. He reflects on how his family's excitement at the money he would bring home to them has faded over time, and has even been stored away instead of being used to pay off the Samsa family's debts. As we discussed in class, I would say that his parents take advantage of him and see him as more of a means of earning money, rather than as their son. Gregor's parents' views of Gregor remained the same even after his transformation, as his father seemed to lose all affection for him after realizing that he would be unable to work anymore. Additionally, I would argue that his mother was only kinder to him because she expected that one day he would become human again and be able to work and earn money again. Had she known that this change was permanent, I think Gregor's parents would have tried to get rid of Gregor in the beginning because he was essentially useless to them, as he could no longer provide financially for them, and was in fact burdening their family by depending on them to keep caring for him. 

Comments

  1. Nic RamkumarOctober 12, 2018 at 10:08 PM

    I think you're making a really interesting point about how Gregor's mother treats him well immediately after his transition and treats him worse once she realizes that he's not changing back. I feel like there's a parallel you can draw between the way that Gregor's mother treats him as less and less human as she makes this realization, while Gregor seems more and more human to the reader the longer he is an insect. When he first transforms, his sole focus is on his work. He only thinks about how the transformation will affect his work and anything else is just an afterthought. The more time he spends as an insect, the less he thinks about work and the more he focuses on his own personal interests.

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