In The Metamorphosis, Gregor’s feelings toward his family shift from adoration to disrespect as his family member’s lifestyles alter from helpless to independent. Gregor’s transformation greatly impacts his family’s feelings toward him and results in a positive change regarding their individual beliefs, actions, and desires. The Samsa family is forced to change as a consequence of while dealing with Gregor’s dramatic transformation. Their transformation is in the way they perceive Gregor’s existence and humanity while trying to deal with becoming independent individuals. In The Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka uses Gregor Samsa’s physical metamorphosis into a bug to capture the awareness of the family’s internal and gradual transformation.
Mr. Samsa, Gregor’s father, begins as a lazy man solely dependent on Gregor to provide and transforms into a harsh man with a job as a bank guard while learning to become more independent. After his business venture fails, he is resentful during his son’s dramatic change because he is the financial support of the family and his metamorphosis leaves him unable to attend work. Instead of expressing comfort to Gregor, he continuously loses his temper and attacks him out of rage, like by throwing an apple at him, as a result of being “divided between active leadership and passively following Gregor” (Whitlark). Mr. Samsa portrays himself “as having no interest to try and engage with or grow more attuned to him as he is” during Gregor’s big change (O’Connor 58). Gregor’s father gains a restoration in his sense of authority due to his new job as a bank messenger and through wearing the uniform. Mr. Samsa is held back and resistant to change due to the family’s “complete hopelessness and the idea that they had been struck by a misfortune like no one else in their entire circle of relatives and acquaintances” (Kafka 54). Although Mr. Samsa continuously mentally and physically hurts Gregor with thoughts of disgust and fear, he learns independence when he is forced to return back to work.
Mrs. Samsa, who is dominated by her husband, initially refuses to give up hope that Gregor would become normal again. She is torn between her love for him and the feelings of terror and repulse towards his new outer appearance. Although Mrs. Samsa loves her son, Gregor’s metamorphosis affects her negatively with her health problems of asthma and fainting from the sight of Gregor. Gregor’s mother suffers from asthma, making “wandering through the apartment” a “great strain” (Kafka 35). In response to Gregor’s inability to work, she begins sewing for a local clothing store and does household chores to try and help to improve their current living conditions. She is very fragile both mentally and physically, but she does her best to provide for their family’s new and upcoming lifestyle. Mrs. Samsa is initially shocked at her son’s transformation into a bug, but she wants to provide sympathy alongside her fear, which creates conflicts in their relationship.
Gregor’s sister, Grete, has a close relationship before Gregor’s transformation, but then becomes the initial family member who is persistent to get rid of him as she turns into a young woman. Initially, Grete “admittedly sought to cover up the awkwardness of everything as much as possible” during her ambition to take care of Gregor (Kafka 36). There is a creation of “fear in Gregor’s sister, as she struggles to avoid her unrecognizable brother,” which is a reminder “of her youth, and thereby her own upcoming transformations” (O’Connor 64). His sister’s “childish defiance and her recent very unexpected and hard won self-confidence” arises while insisting on the removal of Gregor’s furniture to create a more comfortable space for him (Kafka 41). Eventually, Grete is unsure of the amount of humanity remains for him, so she begins to ignore him and stops taking care of Gregor, so she expresses that they “must try to get rid of it” (Kafka 65). Her thoughts toward Gregor turn her into someone who is “horrified by her beast-like brother and condemns him to die rather than changing him back through affection” (Brand). After Gregor’s transformation, their roles reverse as Grete “had taken on a job as a salesgirl, in the evening studied stenography and French,” and begins to think about her future in a mature way (Kafka 52). She transforms from a girl into a responsible young woman who learns to discover independence. Her feelings toward Gregor fully change towards the end of the novel when she loses interest in helping him. Grete ascends into becoming a self-sufficient woman while Gregor falls into a trap of despair with feelings of hopelessness.
In The Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka uses Gregor Samsa’s physical metamorphosis into a bug to capture the awareness of the family’s internal and gradual transformation. The Samsa family’s transformation is shown in the way they perceive Gregor’s existence and humanity while trying to deal with becoming independent individuals. Their sense of relief is the result of the burden that Gregor brings, which is now gone. Gregor Samsa’s metamorphosis greatly impacts his family’s feelings toward him and results in a positive change in what is best for their future regarding their individual beliefs, actions, and desires.