The Metamorphosis is not about Gregor // Braylan Stringfellow

      Starting off I will have to say that this is one of my favorites stories I have read so far in Honors English. I am not sure what exactly makes Metamorphosis one of my favorites but I think I will have to attribute it to how unique this story is. The story is about a guy named Gregor who turned into what I imagined is a giant roach which in turn places a huge burden on his family. His family then has to learn how to exist with this creature and how they are going to survive since Gregor can no longer work. The setting of this story takes place in Gregor’s room and from his perspective, but I do not think the metamorphosis that the story is name after is Gregor turning into a roach, but rather Gregor’s sister’s character changing.

    At the start of the story, Gregor’s sister was just a young seventeen year old girl who had no real responsibilities of her own and would only help around the house. After Gregor’s change, she stepped up her game and started to be the one to take care of him. She was the only one who would feed him and clean up after him. This was the first change in her character; she went from someone with no responsibility to someone with a responsibility of her own. Later in the story, Gregor’s sister is trying to make his living conditions better but he unfortunately gets is the way and causes a huge seen which results in Gregor being injured and his mom passing out. About a month after this incident, we learn that Gregor’s sister now has a job as a salesgirl and she is studying French to get a better position someday (Kafka). The responsibility she learned from taking care of Gregor has now allowed her to have enough discipline to have a job and study French. This is the second change in her life. This new responsibility in Gregor’s sister’s life has caused her to grow tired of taking care of Gregor. He has become a huge burden to her and his care was eventually neglected by her. This is the third change in her character and it is not a good one. The neglect by her cause Gregor to stop eating and become just a shell of his former self. As time passes on, we learn that the rest of the family is trying to keep themselves afloat in life by renting out a few rooms for three men. Things were kind of going all right for them until one night as she is playing the violin for the guest, Gregor comes out of the room, starved for attention from his sister, and messes everything up. The guest notice Gregor and then they do not pay for there room and threaten to sue. This resulted in a breaking point in Gregor’s sisters life and results in her final transformation. She comes to the realization that Gregor is problem and he needs to go; he is the source of their problems and him leaving is the only way for the problems to disappear. She did not plan for this to happen but the next day Gregor died and he was now gone. After all this, the family gets away from their apartment and Gregor’s parents are able to see the transformation in his sister. They were able to notice that the struggles she went through because of Gregor have cause her to have “increasing vivacity” which caused her to “bloom into a pretty girl with a good figure” (Kafka).

Gregor’s sister is definitely a flawed character and I do have some problems with her. She should have never stopped taking care of Gregor, and she definitely reacted too harshly at him at the end. One thing is for sure though, Gregor is the direct cause in his sister’s metamorphosis from an immature girl into a “pretty girl with a good figure”.

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