Interpretation of The Metamorphosis Excerpt

In this excerpt Grete comes into Gregor’s room to notice that he has not drank the milk that she had set out for him. In response to this, she brings him an array of food, but in this whole process, a lot of light is shed on the story. Firstly, Gregor thinks, “not with her bare hands, true.” This says a lot about the character as it shows that he has resigned to his faith of being ostracized. He, only after two days of being a bug, finds it normal that his sister is afraid to touch anything that he has. The single word “true” says a lot as it shows where Gregor thinks he stands in the world. Furthermore, the bowl which is used to give Gregor milk is the same that is used to give him water. “[The bowl] was apparently to be reserved for his exclusive use.” Once again, there are things that separate Gregor from his family.
Secondly, this passage shows Gregor’s overall transformation from human to bug. When describing the array of food that Grete brings, he states that the cheese she brings would have been “inedible two days ago.” When Grete leaves the room, the first thing he goes for is the cheese. His preference in food shows how he is changing. As a bug, he finds the fresh food unbearable as he would not have before. Also, when describing how quickly he healed as compared to his injuries before, he does not dwell on the past of how he used to be human. Moreover, he says “only the day before yesterday” and does not recognize it as the day in which he transformed. However, the change into bug is paradoxical.
The verbs used to describe Gregor’s actions are not that of a bug, rather, they are of a human. He “sucked greedily” and had “tears of satisfaction.” As a human, Gregor’s life was mundane. As described in part one, the only joy he got came out of a jigsaw puzzle. Moreover, Gregor seldom took money for his own purpose. He always gave his money to his family as his whole life revolved around them. Not until this scene in the novel has Gregor doing something greedily for himself been shown. Before in the novel, Gregor tried to ease in his family members and make them comfortable with him, but now he is showing his insect like instincts and he seems to be happy with them. It might be possible that Gregor’s shift was one of that of a switch. As a human he had a human exterior but an interior of a bug. He was constantly stepped on and abused, and was for the most part oblivious of it. Now as a bug, he has an exoskeleton but more importantly, he is living as a human! He is doing things for himself without thinking about the implementations on others. However, this change in attitude may only be ephermal as later in the book there are many instances in which Gregor has characteristics of his human self. There are many times when he tries to help the other members of the family such as when he tries to help Grete fetch medicine for their mother. Yet, it is possible that this scene marks a shift in Gregor’s attitude. After this point, he begins to do things more for himself and less for his family. Although it is detrimental and ugly to them (as he is in the form of a cockroach now), it is the beginning of a positive change. There is always a first time for everything as for the first in the novel, the only thing on Gregor’s mind is his own satisfaction.


Number 2!


In Franz Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis” the protagonist Gregor goes through a paradoxical change. The personality, cravings, and exterior of Gregor change into those of a beetle, but his emotions develop into those that are more human than they were before:
“… sucked greedily at the cheese, which more than any of the other delicacies attracted him at once, and strongly. One after another, and with tears of satisfaction in his eyes, he quickly devoured the cheese, the vegetables, and the sauce; the fresh food, on the other hand, had no charm for him, he could not even stand the smell of it and actually dragged away to some little distance the things he wanted to eat.” (Kafka, 75)
There is a clear contrast between the food Gregor is eating and the emotions portrayed while he is eating. While the food he is consuming belongs to a bug’s palate, the words used to describe his feelings while eating are entirely human. Gregor feels happy, greedy, and disgusted all because of this food, something that his normal apathetic self did not feel in full human form. Before his metamorphosis, Gregor has notorious for his complacency to the extent that he lived his life in order to provide support for his under appreciative family. In short, he did not live for himself as even his job was prescribed onto him. However, now he is being selfish and doing things for himself. When he finds some food unappetizing, he moves the food he wants away from it. This is a very selfish act, but one could argue that it is also very human. On the other hand, the food that Gregor finds such satisfaction from is not one that a normal human would find happiness in. It might be possible that Gregor’s shift was one of that of a switch. As a human he had a human exterior but an interior of a bug. He was constantly stepped on and abused, and was for the most part oblivious of it. Now as a bug, he has an exoskeleton but more importantly, he is living as a human. He is doing things for himself without thinking about the implementations on others. The metamorphosis of Gregor is paradoxical as on the exterior he becomes more bug like while on the inside he becomes more human. The food that pleases him the most a piece of cheese that “Gregor would have pronounced inedible two days ago…” (Kafka, 74). Now Gregor “no longer feels incapacitated…” (Kafka, 75). Although this is used to describe how easily the new Gregor can overcome physical ailments, it is all encompassing. Before the metamorphosis, he was “still suffering from the wound only the day before yesterday.” (Kafka, 75). The “day before yesterday” was the day before his metamorphosis, therefore, Gregor felt hindered by life before he transformed. Furthermore, it is evident that Gregor knows that he has changed as he understands that Grete is uncomfortable in his presence. “… not with her bare hands, true…” (Kafka, 74). He understands that he is a bug and that on the outside he is ugly. With this said, it is plausible that Gregor is not aware of the other half of his transformation. He is not consciously aware of the selfish things that he is doing but once again, this just proves the point that he is acting human. While eating his food, he does not stop once to think about others or about how he is only doing things for himself, rather it has started to become his own nature. Gregor’s transformation into a bug is a very good thing as although his exterior turns into that of a beetle, his emotions and personality becomes one of a human, something that he lacked when he was in human form.