Kafka, "The Metamorphosis" # 1  (pp. 3-20)     Name:                                                                         

(Print off this page to hand in.)

 

1. (p. 3): How do we know that Gregor Samsa has gone through a transformation and was not

always what he is how? What is (was) his occupation? What picture has he recently framed and

hung up in his room?

 

 

 

 

2. (p. 4): How does Gregor feel about his occupation? Why has he not quit this job? What was his plan (regarding the job)?

 

 

 

3. (5): What do we know about Gregor's work record?

 

 

 

4. (6) How does Gregor react to the fact that no one can understand him anymore when he speaks?

 

 

 

5. (10): What was Gregor's social life like?

 

 

 

6. (11-12): How does the office manager treat Gregor when he does not go to work?

 

 

 

 

7. (14-15): The absurdity of Gregor's situation contrasts with the concrete realism of the details and Gregor's attempt to find a logic in a situation that is basically absurd. How does Gregor's father react when he realizes that Gregor is not the son that he wants him to be? How does the new Gregor compare with the Gregor in the photo of his army days?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8. (17): Stanley Corngold says that the transformation is Gregor's decision to devote himself to writing. (In 1915, around the time the story was written, Kafka's father tried to get him to manage an asbestos factory.) Other critics see the dung beetle as representing what Gregor's family has made him into. What do you see as Gregor's conflict between his responsibility to his family's expectations/needs and his responsibility to himself?