Both Gregor’s father and the chief clerk experience shock but the main difference between both men’s reactions would be that the chief clerk in no way wanted to deal with Gregor in that state. Whereas Gregor’s father, although he was taken aback by his transformation, was hostile yet still took a moment to digest this situation. “But the chief clerk had turned his back on Gregor the moment he had begun speaking, and only stared back at him with mouth agape, over his trembling shoulder,” (218) explains Kafka when speaking of the clerk’s reaction to Gregor’s transformation. Describing Gregor’s father’s reaction, Kafka says, “His father was moving forward implacably, emitting hissing sounds like a savage.” (219) Although his dad was approaching him with aggression, the act of his father even moving forward and closer to him to begin with as opposed to running aways means that he is at least trying to understand what stands before his eyes.
Both the charwoman and Gregor’s sister were upset about Gregor’s passing. Upon discovering Gregor’s body, Kafka describes her reaction and says, “When she understood what he situation was, her eyes went large and round,…but tore open the bedroom and loudly called into the darkness.” (239) She seemed to care about Gregor way more than his family ever did however, when Grete learned of Gregor’s death, it seemed to hit her hard. Upon seeing his body, the author describes her reaction by saying, “Grete, not taking her eye off the body, said: ‘Look how thin he had become.'”(240) They shunned him so much that she hadn’t realized how the situation affected him negatively in the days leading to his death.
2 responses so far ↓
v.rodriguez // Mar 26th 2016 at 12:03 pm
I somewhat agree with what you said about Gregor’s sister’s reaction to his death, that she seemed to be affected by it and the state he was in. I think even though they realized how they were treating him by the end of the story had affected him negatively, they were still more relieved than saddned by his death because even his sister who had been caring for him more than anyone else wanted to get rid of him just the night before he died.
I disagree mostly with what you said about the maid being hurt by his death and that she cared about him more than the family. I think she had a weird interest in him and her reaction when finding him dead was more of excitement than sadness. I think her excitement shows more when she tells the family they won’t have to worry about disposing of Gregor’s body because it said that she said it in a way that she had a big surprise for them.
b.martinez2 // Mar 26th 2016 at 12:40 pm
Your post makes sense with the transition of the men’s attitudes and your reasoning to explain their attitudes is good. Both Gregor’s father and the clerk felt shocked and both had different reactions to the situation. There is a misunderstanding and a lot of aggression in this situation. Your analysis on Gregor’s sisters reaction to finding out about the death is true, she was significantlu affected by the situation yet they had a sense of comfort in finding out about the death. I agree with both of your arguments.
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