great works ii – 2850 jta 12:25-2:05: love letters from the world

In the story, The Metamorphosis, Gregor faces his father and Chief Clerk after his transformation. Gregor’s father seems hostile when approached by his son: “At any moment the stick in his father’s hand threatened to strike him a fatal blow to the back of the head” ( Kafka 220). The fact that the father is swatting him with a stick shows that he’s grasping this situation with hostility. While the father is angry, the chief clerk seems scared. When Gregor tries to convince the chief clerk that he is still fit to work, the Chief runs away: ” Gregor moved sharply to make sure of catching up to him; The chief clerk must have sensed something, because he took the last few steps at a single bound and disappeared” ( Kafka 219). The chief clerk could not have been as close to Gregor has Gregor’s father was, which is why his reaction proceeded to be filled with fear rather than anger in this particular situation. The Clerk “disappeared” when he sensed Gregory, which indicates the he was too scared to face the situation, which the father was confronting the situation by trying to “strike” Gregory with a stick.