Do you think that Gregor is more powerful BEFORE or AFTER his metamorphosis? Explain your response.
Before Gregor’s metamorphosis, we understand that he was the breadwinner of the family. He was a traveling salesman who earned a pretty decent amount of money and he was responsible for feeding the family and paying off the debt that his father owed. The text says; “at the time Gregor had bent all his endeavors to helping the family to get over the commercial catastrophe, which had plunged them all into complete despair, as quickly as possible.” (223) This alone signifies how much power he had, because there a type of respect that come with being the provider in the family. After his metamorphosis, he is helpless and cannot work anymore, and he expresses this when he says; “Such—in his present predicament—perfectly useless thoughts crowded his head, while he stuck to the door in an upright position, listening.”(224) The smallest things had to be done for him now, like cleaning his room which makes me conclude that he was definitely more powerful before his metamorphosis.
Look at the final paragraph of the story. How does it shape or alter our understanding of the text?
In the last paragraph, we see that they felt relieved that Gregor had died and was no longer a “burden” to them. The text says; “Sitting back comfortably in their seats, they discussed the prospects for the future;” (241) They moved on so fast, and did not care to mourn the death of Gregor, and it was almost as if he didn’t exist or wasn’t human at a time. Reading the text, it was evident that his father was cold to him as he was mean to him from the very beginning of his metamorphosis. His sister on the other hand was young, and her kindness towards him was bound to change because her parents who she looked up to were not really bothered about Gregor’s condition so why would she care so much. After reading the final paragraph, it made me question if the family really loved Gregor as family member before his metamorphosis, or if he was just the means by which they survived to them.
