Preview

Grete In Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
716 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Grete In Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis
In The Metamorphosis Gregor Samsa has everything going for him. One day he wakes up and he has turned into a bug. Upon finding him, Gregor’s parents, and sister decide on keeping him locked in his room. His mother cannot bear to see him, and his father is disgraced by him. Gregor’s sister, Grete, is the only one in the house who can stand the sight of him. Grete shows strength, courage, and ultimately disappointment, and shame in The Metamorphosis. Grete is a teenager who is independent and determined. She has a small build and is seen by her parents as a child who needs protection from the world. Grete is a character that people would not notice right away due to the fact that she lacks putting herself out there. Grete is first introduced in the story by knocking of Gregor’s door because she thinks something is wrong. “‘Gregor!’ Gregor!’ At the other side door, however, his sister knocked lightly. ‘Gregor? Are you alright? Do you need anything?’ Gregor directed answers in both directions, ‘I’ll be ready right away.’” Grete’s motivation in the beginning was to help her brother. Grete would feed Gregor and clean his room. She helped him any way she could hoping one day the …show more content…
Gregor's mother could not stand the sight of him, and his father was ashamed by him. Grete had to sneak around her father in order to take care or Gregor. Grete was selfless in the way that she did not care what her father or mother thought she just wanted to help her brother. “In this way Gregor got his food every day, once in the morning, when his parents and the servant girl were still asleep, and a second time after the common noon meal, for his parents were, as before, asleep then for a little while, and the servant girl was sent off by his sister on some errand or other.” Grete showed courage in the fact that she was not afraid to help her

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    He sees how much energy his family puts into him just because of his newfound situation. Gregor does his best to adjust to his new ways of life by learning more about himself, and also about his new form of outward appearance. Gregor not only looks back on himself and his new insect body, but he reflects also on his family relationship, as well as realizing how both him and his parents have now drifted further apart than before, as opposed to him and his sister’s relationship, which remains a strong bond no matter the situation. Gregor changes some of his habits as a repercussion to how he sees his family working hardly to maintain his life. In an effort to not be so much of a burden, Gregor devises a plan so his family does not have to do so much for him.…

    • 1337 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gregor had many feelings towards life and how he viewed it. Not only was he very alone and…

    • 578 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the Metamorphosis,Gregor must work to support his family after they lost the company and lost all their money. One morning he wakes up and discovers he is a vermin. The first thing that occurs to him when he discovers this is how will he get to work and that his boss will come to his house and demand that Gregor come to work, meanwhile Gregor is locked in his room unable to get out of bed because he is a bug. Finally he is able to get out of bed, but the boss is gone the time he gets up. His family sees him and is disgusted and shocked by his transformatio. His sister brings him food and cares for him like no one in his family ever has, but even she becomes disgusted with him after a while. They all ignore Gregor. At one point Gregor is…

    • 329 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Part I of Metamorphosis, Kafka ends the part by illustrating the rejection of Gregor by emphasizing that even before his transformation in an insect; a situation which forces him to hid away from others, Gregor has always been isolated from others. Due to his job as a traveling salesman, Gregor is unable to make any friends or stay close to anyone at all for that matter, turning him into a very reclusive person (though Kafka never states is Gregor has always been this way or if is simply the job that caused this). When we come to the end of Part I, Gregor is also in extreme anxiety due to the fact that he was supporting his family and is now unable to work. This effect Gregor so much that even after he has transformed into a bug, he is still trying to find ways to be able to work. This conflict causes Gregor to feel trapped, like a bug locked in a room, hidden away under the settee.…

    • 465 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    At first, she takes care of her brother Gregor because of sympathy, then ultimately her pity toward Gregor slowly diminished, which then she finds interesting in taking a job to help the family financially. At the end of the story, while looking at Grete, the parents cognize that their daughter turned into a woman, and would soon be able to find a husband, starting a better life. “It seemed to them almost a confirmation of their new dreams and good intentions when their daughter swiftly sprang to her feet and stretched her young body.”(433)The quote inferred that Grete has experienced her metamorphosis of being mature which she will start a new chapter in her life, taking more responsibilities of the family, and stretched her body for the family’s…

    • 651 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Leaving behind his desires as a human being all he will think about was his father’s debt and how much he will have to work to help his family. Gregor had earned so much money that he was able to meet the whole family expenses. We can see evidence in the…

    • 1069 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The family members who used to depend on Gregor to survive changed to the degree…

    • 563 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    To begin, although Gregor has very few human like aspects before becoming a bug. He kept a "huge picture he cut out... it showed a lady fitted out with a fur hat and fur boa... towards the viewer" (1 and 2) throughout Gregors transition this picture remains to be his one…

    • 487 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gregor's mother and Grete had obtained jobs, and Gregor saw how tired and overworked the family was becoming. In the beginning Grete took careful time to feed Gregor and clean his room, but as she worked she hastily shoved food into Gregor's room as she ran off. The bitterness of the family peaked, and Grete even wished for Gregor to die. "And therefore I merely say: we have to try to get rid of it" (page 47). Where previously Gregor had been dying physically he had accepted that he was a burden on the family and he was also dying emotionally. He accepted his face and dies peacefully. When the family finds Gregor dead they are relieved and thankful they don't have to deal with him anymore. Gregor dying had a positive effect on the family because now they were relieved of the burden that they had been…

    • 797 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    What would you do if the only person who provided for the family suddenly turned into a bug? In the novella, The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, the relationship between Gregor and his younger sister, Grete, was incredibly strong before Gregor turned into a bug. Throughout the story, Gregor talks about how much he loves his sister and how strong of a bond they have with each other, but after Gregor turned into a bug, that bond eventually came to an end. Before their bond officially ended, there was a time where Gregor developed feelings for his younger sister, Grete. As the novella grows, Gregor’s love for his sister goes from caring to becoming an obsession. After his bug transformation, Gregor transitions from having human thoughts to thinking…

    • 1276 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The first person to encounter Gregor as a bug is boss whose response is fear. Gregor tries to assure his boss that he should not worry because '"a man might find for a moment that he is unable to work, but that's exactly the right time to remember his past accomplishments'"(15). Gregor's desire to be remembered as he was, instead of as he is, reveals his, and Kafka's, discomfort with their new conditions. The security of Gregor's family is threatened by his inability to work; this factor motivates his family's members reactions to him. Throughout the novel, each time Gregor's father encounters him, he responds with hostile actions. For example, when his father first sees him out of his room, he is eager to push him back in, shoving Gregor so hard that he "[bleeds profusely and flies in]"(19). In another scene, Gregor's father becomes enraged to the point that he throws an apple at Gregor and it stays lodged in his back. Gregor's father's hostility signifies his unwillingness to accept Gregor as a bug and the changes brought with it. Gregor's father's characteristics are shared with Kafka's father, who was insistent on controlling him. Gregor's sister, contrastingly, is initially compassionate towards her brother. It is worth noting that Gregor's sister, Grete, is the only other character in the novel who receives a name; the other…

    • 993 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Some characters do try to include Gregor into society. Grete includes Gregor by trying to speak to him after the father almost beat down Gregor’s…

    • 530 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Term Paper

    • 790 Words
    • 4 Pages

    3. Grete's transformation in the story is significant. At first, Grete was the only one in the family willing to aid Gregor while he was in his transformed state. Grete was so kind to Gregor that "she brought him a wide assortment of things" (24) to find out Gregor's likes and dislikes after she found out Gregor no longer liked milk. Grete's changed from Gregor's acolyte to an independent woman happens at the last line of the book when Grete's parents see that "their daughter got up first and stretched her young body." Now that Gregor is out of the family's life, the parents have hope again and Grete can sprout into a young woman…

    • 790 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The idea that "Humankind is disconnected from reality," is set in stone by Kafka when he writes about the transformation of Gregor's families' lives, and his own. The Samsa's treated Gregor simply as a means to get out of debt, although the reader comes to realize later that the family was not as bad off as Gregor had believed. Also, the father returns back to work after Gregor cannot, which proves that his disability not nearly as severe as he had Gregor believed. Although Gregor is the family member that turns into a bug, he remains the only one of them to retain humanity. The family cannot grasp that the bug in the bedroom is Gregor, their son and brother. They…

    • 1076 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gregor is hiding himself for his sister shows that he believes strongly in sacrifices especially for his family, this symbolizes for how society views outcast or different individuals. In this situation Grete represents society and Gregor represents societies out casts; his society believes that social outcasts are disgusting making everyone who’s different have to hide themselves for the sake of society’s peace of mind. Society will not stop until all different individuals are covered up, not even a little bit of different characteristics conflicting to societies ideal must be covered up. These are extremely hard for an individual to do, become invisible. Society lie Grete has the chose to remove the cover of the out cats since it evident…

    • 200 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays