The Metamorphosis: Gregor Samsa’s Transformation
The Metamorphosis of Gregor Samsa
A Restless Awakening
One morning, after a restless sleep, Gregor Samsa awoke transformed into a monstrous insect. His numerous legs moved uncontrollably, and everything indicated that it was not a dream. The clock showed half-past six, and his train had left at five. He couldn’t understand how he could have overslept when his alarm clock, loud enough to rattle the furniture, went off every day at four. But this was no time to mourn; he had to get up or lose his job.
Desperate Attempts
Although he had missed his first train, he could still catch the five-to-seven train if he hurried. However, getting out of bed proved impossible. He swung on his massive shell but couldn’t reach the edge. His mother knocked on the door:
“Gregor,” she said, “it’s almost seven. Is something wrong?”
His father and sister, Grete, also called out, but he tried to calm them, saying that nothing was wrong and he would be with them soon. But he couldn’t get up, despite his best efforts. He refused to surrender, claiming he was sick and needed to rest for a day. But it wouldn’t be easy. His boss would send someone to check on him, perhaps even a doctor (who would realize that Gregor wasn’t truly ill), and they would fire him for laziness. Gregor couldn’t lose his job, not now. Maybe in five years, when his father’s debt was paid off, but now, his family needed him.
The Manager’s Visit
He glanced at the clock again; it was seven. He had missed the second train and was definitely in trouble. At that moment, he heard a knock at the door and someone say: “Hello, is Gregor home?” It was the manager’s voice. It was too late to pretend or he would lose his job.
He mustered all his strength and fell off the bed onto the carpet. His perfectly formed legs found the floor, and he walked to the door. The manager, hearing the commotion, berated him:
“I can’t believe this, Mr. Samsa! I trusted you, and you don’t even want to go to work. It’s also very suspicious that yesterday you were supposed to collect payments, and now, instead of bringing the money, you stay home. Very suspicious, Mr. Samsa, very suspicious.”
Misunderstandings and Panic
Gregor was upset. Why was the manager acting like this? He would never steal from his employers, and he had years of impeccable work. But the manager didn’t seem to value that.
“Please, wait a moment,” Gregor said, struggling to get up. “I felt unwell this morning, but I’m fine now and will go to work. Don’t worry.”
On the other side of the door, the manager and Gregor’s family didn’t hear words but monstrous sounds—hisses, grunts, and snorts. Grete went to find a doctor, and the maid ran to get a locksmith to open the door and see what was happening inside the room. But Gregor managed to open the door before they could. He used his jaw, which had no teeth and was badly damaged, to turn the doorknob.
“Finally!” said the manager, entering the room before the others. When he saw the insect, he froze in silence. Gregor’s mother and father fainted, and Gregor threatened the manager with a fist to stay away. The only one who remained calm was the insect.
“Don’t worry,” Gregor said. “I have a slight ailment, but I’ll be fine. In a minute, I’ll get dressed and go to work. I’ll even work doubly hard to make up for my tardiness. Please don’t think I’m lazy.”
Again, what they heard were not words but monstrous babbling. The manager fled, almost running. Gregor went after him, fearing he would lose his job. As he leaned against the door, his wide carapace prevented the manager from closing it. But when Gregor tried to return to his room, he couldn’t fit through the narrow doorway. His father, thinking Gregor would attack the manager, pushed him back into the room with the rage he felt, not noticing that Gregor’s shell was stuck in the doorway. The shell was wounded, and the wounds oozed a greenish liquid.
A New Diet and Isolation
Gregor spent the rest of the day sleeping. When he awoke, he found a tray with his favorite food: milk with bits of bread floating in it. He realized his sister had put it there. He went to eat, excited, but felt disgust at the first sip. He was surprised because milk had never caused that feeling before. He tried again, but it was impossible, disgusting. So he retreated under the couch and spent his first night as an insect, hungry and sleepless.
In the morning, his sister entered the room and saw that Gregor hadn’t eaten. As if guessing his thoughts, she took away the dish of milk and brought him various spoiled foods: vegetables, leftovers, moldy cheese. This time, Gregor was able to eat, and he was surprised because what would have previously been repulsive to him was now delicious. He finished eating and went back into hiding under the couch. Later, Grete removed everything while Gregor hid, but she could see the dark lump under the furniture and avoided looking at him. She felt his presence, and it bothered her. Although she was the only one responsible for caring for Gregor, the situation became increasingly tense. Grete opened the windows wide every time she entered to escape the stench of the insect, but this mortified Gregor, who would have preferred the windows closed and the curtains drawn.
Family Tensions and a New Hobby
One night, Gregor overheard his family’s conversation through the door of his room, which was next to the dining room. The conversations at home were no longer happy or jovial; they hardly talked at all. Everything had entered a state of petrification. The maid had left, and they had hired an older woman. Although only Grete was responsible for Gregor, his mother declared her intention to see her son and check on him, but her husband and daughter prevented her from doing so. Gregor agreed with them; he didn’t want his mother or sister (or anyone) to have a bad time because of him. So, although it took him four hours, he pulled the sheet off his bed and dragged it under the couch, where he hid with it and prevented his sister from being terrified every time she came to clean the room.
During this time, Gregor discovered a new hobby. He found that his slimy paws could cling to the walls and ceiling, allowing him to walk on them. His sister noticed the traces of his feet. It occurred to her that if her brother wanted to walk on the walls and ceiling, the sensible thing would be to remove all obstacles he might encounter: furniture, desk, bed. At that time, she had no help with the task, and since the only one home was her mother, she had to ask her for assistance. Gregor hid under the sheet, and the two women began their work. However, he didn’t want them to remove his belongings. He didn’t feel like an animal and didn’t want to be stripped of the last vestiges of his human appearance in his room. “It’s now or never,” he thought, and he emerged from under the sheet and clung to a table, his belly sticking to the glass of the portrait with its viscous secretions.
A Final Confrontation
When Gregor’s mother returned to the room, she saw the insect clinging to the glass and fainted from fright. Grete tried to help her, unbuttoning her blouse so she could breathe better, while glaring at the insect. Gregor, frightened, detached himself from the glass as best he could and fled into the dining room, climbing the walls and ceiling. But his nervousness betrayed him; he lost his grip on the ceiling and fell heavily onto the table. At that moment, Gregor’s father arrived home from work. When he saw his daughter’s shocked expression, he guessed what had happened.
“Gregor has escaped!” Grete said, hugging her father’s chest. “Mom saw him and fainted, but she’ll be alright.”
Gregor’s father didn’t want to hear more. He threw his hat on the sofa and began to chase the insect. Gregor fled but soon realized it was better to stop running and go to his room to show that he intended to shut himself in. But his father didn’t understand and started throwing apples at him. One of them embedded itself in Gregor’s shell, piercing it. Gregor’s mother ran to stop her crying husband, begging him not to kill their son.
Neglect and Despair
From then on, Gregor’s relationship with his family changed drastically. Everyone in the household had to find a job: the father became a messenger, the mother a seamstress, and Grete found work in a shop. They also had to fire the maid and hired a charwoman who came for a few hours to clean the house. Grete treated Gregor with contempt; they threw food into his room and didn’t clean it. Soon, they abandoned his care altogether and left it to the charwoman, who, unlike everyone else, had absolutely no fear of the insect. She insulted him, poked his shell with a broom, and filled his room with junk. Gregor’s condition deteriorated rapidly. He was covered in dust, living among waste, garbage, and food scraps stuck to his body, with no one who treated him with kindness.