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Gregor Samsa Metamorphosis

Decent Essays

Gregor Samsa’s incredible and utterly outlandish circumstance of transforming into a giant bug is told in a straightforward and completely ordinary fashion. Almost as though this strange circumstance is a common occurrence that was almost expected and therefore, unsurprising. The metamorphosis that stood out to me the most, however, was the change in Gregor’s family. More specifically his sister Grete’s drastic change. Grete goes from being a young and caring girl who relied solely on her brother. To a young women who, not only took care of herself, but began to lead decision making for her family. By the end of the book the little girl “ ...had blossomed into a good-looking, shapely girl…”.
As I read the book I could see how Gregor’s transformation …show more content…

Grete is initially still attached to Gregor, though repulsed at the sight of his body. She steps forward as his primary caretaker and his main contact with the outside world for the the majority of the book. However I noticed that as the book progressed she began to see it more and more as a duty and a burden. Where initially Grete did her best to accommodate Gregor’s interests such as bringing him “a bowl filled with fresh milk” and to “...push the chair...” that Gregor liked to lean on “back to the same place by the window each time she had finished cleaning the room”. It later became something that she could not have done “...more hastily…”. This decrease in Gregor’s care seemed to mirror Grete’s own growing independence and maturity. Not only did she get her own job, she also began to take charge in her family as well. I could see this the most in regards to the care of Gregor. She ensured “...that the cleaning of Gregor’s room remain her province” and even became angry at her mother when she cleaned the room herself. Grete fully comes into her role as an adult at the very end of the book when Gregor died and she “stretched her young body”. I felt as though this was her finally metamorphosis and she has broken free of the burden that was her

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