With a title like "The Metamorphosis" you would expect the biggest change would occur in the main character. And it's true that physically Gregor Samsa's transformation into a "monstrous insect" is the most drastic. However, his sister Grete's change, although more subtle, calls for our attention.
We discussed as a class how Gregor was already bug-like before he turned into one. Gregor's main aspect of his life was his work. He had not missed a single day in all those five years at his job as a salesman. His diligence echoes that of a worker bee or ant. Like bees and ants work for their queen, Gregor's work is for the benefit of his family as a whole. He rarely entertains thoughts of rebellion despite the seemingly unfairness of his situation. After his transformation, Gregor's main concern is how his family is going to get along without him. To his surprise, they do just fine.
He is especially surprised by his sister's change. The first time Grete is introduced, she is presented as timid. Gregor justifies all of the work he has to do on the inability of his younger sister. He repeatedly excuses her from things because she is only seventeen. Grete's only real sense of personality comes from her love of the violin. But only then, Gregor describes it as a sort of secret talent. He plans to surprise her by using the money he has saved up to send her to school at the conservatory. His plans sound like Grete is completely dependent on Gregor's benevolence.
But, when Gregor becomes a bug, Grete is the first to take matters into her own hands. She is the first to approach the giant insect and leave him food. When he rejects it, she exchanges it for something she thinks he might like more. After that, Gregor become dependent of Grete in order to eat. Soon, Grete also starts supporting the rest of her family by working as a sales clerk. She shows more ambition and studies French and shorthand so that she might get promoted. When her parents ask her to play her violin she doesn't shy away. After the whole lodger incident, Grete asserts herself and states that they have to do something about the giant insect living in their house. She suggest that it would be best if it were dead and Gregor follows her advice and dies.
At the end of the story, Kafka uses insect imagery again to describe how much Grete has grown up. The last line is of Grete stretching her young body, much like a butterfly would do after emerging from a cocoon. It could be that "the metamorphosis" refers, not to Gregor's, but to Grete's insect transformation.
I like the evidence you have for this! Because—as bad as this sounds—Gregor doesn't really change all that much in nature, does he? But Grete undergoes a pretty drastic change in personality, or at least how she presents herself to the world. I wrote a bit about the Samsa family's transformations in my last post, but I agree that Grete's seems to be the most dramatic.
ReplyDeleteI remember in class that we talked about how the title "Metamorphosis" wasn't solely about Gregor but could extend to include his family as well. I agree that Grete changed the most, she certainly comes out of the novel more educated and confident, like you mentioned, and in all, she displays more change in her character than anyone else in her family, perhaps even Gregor, because she matures not only physically, but mentally and emotionally as well.
ReplyDeleteThe way you describe it here, Gregor barely transforms at all: his inner "insectness" simply is brought into line with an appropriate outward appearance. As a character, you might say, he stays more or less static despite these physical changes. He likes hanging upside down from the ceiling, but in terms of how he views himself in relation to his family (and society at large), he's the same. Grete is the one who really undergoes the slow, gradual transformation/coming-of-age in the novel.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. I noticed throughout the book how much Grete is really running the show, and her personality is definitely the one that is most dramatically changed over the course of the story. I wouldn't say the book is about her -- I still think the primary focus is the implications that arise when we examine Gregor's physical change -- but Kafka seems to have been intending for the term "metamorphosis" to work on multiple levels.
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