Ap94 P6 The Metamorphosis

naïve. Gregor is quite serious in his intention to send his sister to the conservatory. It is “his secret plan,” which he had intended to reveal at Christmas. He knows it will mean earning extra money, but he is confident he can do it, just as he ably took over the finances for the entire family when necessary. However, his parents dismiss discussions of the conservatory as “innocent talk.” They underestimate Gregor and consider it naïve of him to encourage his sister’s hope that the conservatory might be a possibility. They do not think of Gregor as “playful”; he is clearly serious and is too old to be indulging in childish fantasies. After all, he is the breadwinner for the entire family.

entitlement. The reader is told that the father’s “business misfortune had reduced the family to a state of total despair.” In response, Gregor begins working especially hard, soon advancing to a travelling representative (a job, we have been told earlier, that he despises). Soon, Gregor is able to provide for the entire family. At first, the family is “astonished and delighted,” but before long, they “got used to it,” and although they continued to take the money “with gratitude,” “there was no longer much warm affection given in return.” After a while, the family simply expects Gregor to provide for them; they feel entitled to it. This is why his sudden transformation, which precludes his working, is such a disaster for them.

“pointless” (line 40). The word “pointless” here refers to Gregor’s regrets about not being able to send his sister to the conservatory or provide for his family financially. This does not evoke much sympathy for Gregor’s plight. In fact, perhaps the only “bright side” to his metamorphosis, if such a thing is possible, is that his selfish family members may need to learn to fend for themselves. The other terms, though, describe Gregor’s feelings as he suffers alone in his room. He is “incarcerated,” “tired,” weary, and frequently “shivering” because of his sister’s need for fresh air when she is in the room.

“to his pleasure” (line 50), “thrift and caution” (line 56), and “was certainly better” (lines 58-59). Gregor is completely magnanimous and solicitous toward his family. The reader is probably appalled to learn that while Gregor slaved night and day for the family, his father had, unbeknownst to him, kept back money from his own failed business and also money “left over” from what Gregor has given them. Meanwhile, Gregor had kept “only a little for himself,” never dreaming his father had set aside some of the money Gregor brought in, and this money had even earned interest. However, Gregor’s reaction to this revelation is completely magnanimous; he is relieved that his family has a bit of a financial cushion. Gregor learns “to his pleasure” that “there was still some money available from the old days.” He is enthusiastic and pleased about his father’s “unexpected thrift and caution,” although the noun the reader would probably apply would be “greed.” Gregor realizes that, had he known about the money, “the day when he could have freed himself from that job would have come much closer,” but rather than becoming bitter about this, he reasons that, given the present circumstances, his father’s way of doing things “was certainly better.” Given every reason to be resentful, Gregor instead is pleased that his father has hidden money away that can help the family out now.

the physical realities resulting from Gregor’s metamorphosis. Gregor’s sister may be sad about her seemingly lost hope of attending the conservatory (although she had not yet learned that Gregor had a real plan to send her there), and she is certainly aware of the financial realities the family faces. But these things do not cause feelings of “repugnance” in the sister. She cannot help being repulsed, though, when she enters Gregor’s room. This is evidenced by the fact that, as soon as she enters his room, she runs to the window and opens it “almost as if she were suffocating”; obviously, Gregor has developed an overwhelmingly unpleasant smell. Even though she knows the open window causes Gregor to shiver, she has to stay at the open window, “breathing deeply for a little while.” In Gregor’s present situation, “it was impossible for her to be in the same room with him with the windows closed.”

begrudging his daughter a chance to get out of the house for a while. The sister asks her father whether he would like a beer, “hoping for the chance to go and fetch it herself.” All three family members are virtual prisoners in their house, continually aware of the unspeakable change that has occurred to Gregor. When her father does not respond to her offer, she amends it “so that he would not feel selfish” and suggests that the housekeeper could be sent for the beer. The implication is that the father might feel selfish for keeping the sister in the house rather than allowing her to get out for a while. To prevent this, the sister implies that her only concern is that her father might like a beer, not that she is actually hoping for a temporary escape. She does this by suggesting that the housekeeper run the errand.

Gregor’s sister’s kindness. Gregor’s sister, despite her revulsion at the smell in his room, shows kindness toward him. She comes into his room twice a day and, once she notices his efforts at pushing a chair over to the window, is careful to return the chair to its place so that he does not have to exert the effort again. She even opens the inner pane of the window so that he can look out. Gregor thinks that if only he had been able to thank her for her kindness, “it would have been easier for him to bear it.” Since he cannot speak, though, “it caused him pain.” The “it,” in context, refers to his sister’s kindness, although the other choices are things that are painful for Gregor as well.