But one night, Gregor hears his sister playing the violin. Gregor himself has stopped eating, and his room is becoming dirty and crowded with unused objects. The servants are dismissed, Grete and her mother find jobs of their own, and three lodgers-“serious gentlemen” with “a passion for order”-come to stay in one of the Samsas’ rooms (127). Over time, the Samsas become resigned to Gregor’s condition and take measures to provide for themselves. This attack on Gregor makes “even his father recollect that Gregor was a member of the family, despite his present unfortunate and repulsive shape” (122). In the midst of this chaos, Gregor’s father arrives home from work and bombards Gregor “with fruit from the dish on the sideboard,” convinced that Gregor is a danger to the family (122). He rushes out of his usual hiding place, sends his mother into a fainting fit, and sends Grete running for help. But when Grete forms a plan to remove Gregor’s bedroom furniture and give him “as wide a field as possible to crawl in,” Gregor, determined to hold on to at least a few reminders of his human form, opposes her (115). He also feels grateful for the caring attention of his sister, Grete, who “tried to make as light as possible of whatever was disagreeable in her task, and as time went on she succeeded, of course, more and more” (113). He develops a taste for rotten food and forms a new hobby-scurrying all over the walls in his room. Soon enough, Gregor’s parents and sister start adapting to a life without Gregor’s earnings, and Gregor adapts to his new insectoid form. Back in his room, Gregor reflects on the fine life he had once provided for his family and wonders “if all the quiet, the comfort, the contentment were now to end in horror” (106).

Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka