1 Hines

Ashley Hines

English 114 A

10/29/2018

Accepting the Apple

Throughout our lives we exhibit many physical and emotional transformations,

one of the most prominent is when we fall terminally ill. When going through this

transformation not only are we as an individual greatly affected, but so are our loved

ones that we interact with on a day to day basis, but the one most affected of all is the

loved one who feels the most responsible for us and in turn carrying on the roll of a

caregiver. In the book ‘Metamorphosis’ written by Franz, Kafka; Gregor the main

character transforms into a giant bug overnight, His bug state renders him useless and

in need of constant care from his family. The plot of this book similarly reflects on not

only the emotions of individual battling the illness and or transformation but also how the

family copes and responds to the rolls they are forced into during this confusing and

painful time. Speaking from personal experience and viewing how my family and home

life has shifted because of my aunts Alzheimer's, I can relate to the character

development on a personal level and can clearly see the shifts in behaviors and rolls

every member has begun to take on in response to my aunts illness.

Within a situation of crisis different members of the family will presume different

rolls based off a few core emotions; anger, guilt, disgust, emotional withdrawal, pity and
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or empathy. At their own pace they will each potentially cycle though these emotions,

more commonly known as the grieving process.

Within the first few pages we are bombarded with the amount of pressure and

stress that is placed on Gregor to pay off his family's debts. “The stresses of selling are

much greater work then heading to an office, and, in addition to that, I have to cope with

problems of traveling..” (Kafka pg3) Gregor expresses a heavy dissatisfaction with this

work and thus his life. A bit later in the story we discover that before Gregor’s

transformation he framed a photograph of a model from a magazine. This photograph is

a metaphor for Gregor's dream of a normal life but not being able to obtain it. The model

in the photo is someone he longs after but will never have. He keeps the photo because

it is a reminder of his dream and fantasies of a worry free life. The photo, holds great

significance especially when considering it is one of the few things he defended when

they began to remove his furniture. Gregor so desperately wants to have a life of his

making but, is burdened with the responsibility of carrying his parents debts, causing

him to be emotionally drained and tus turn into a bug. “..When stressors are repeated or

continuous, thats chronic stress. Things like abusive relationships, living in poverty, and

being discriminated against, have all been shown to cause chronic stress. And that

psychological anguish takes a toll physically” (SicShow Psych). Stress can have

numerous effects on the body and long term exposure can lead to more severe lifelong

illnesses. Gregor's transformation into a bug is a more drastic representation of

someone being faced with a crippling illness that is life long and seeming to have no

cure or hope of wellness again. Towards the end of the story we can see how Gregor
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begins to lose his identity and loose cognitive focus, feeding into him becoming the

monster he is depicted as, similarly to one with terminal illness becoming their illness

and losing their sense of self.

Gregor's sister, Grete, is the first to continuously show empathy towards Gregor,

and also presumes a more nurturing roll. We start off the book with her a young and

hopeful but with Gregor's transformation she matures into a caregiver. When the hope

for him healing and becoming her well loved brother again fades she begins to become

frustrated and feeling as if she is putting effort into a lost cause. This is an important

turning point in her character development and the story, out of her frustration she

presented the thought of killing Gregor to her parents, who then turned the idea into

reality. Although she did not directly kill him she still felt extreme guilt after his death

with is not displayed in any other member of the family. She is a very influential

character to our plot. That being said, not only is she one the only characters named,

but phases though almost all the stages of grief and optimism, and is a beacon of hope

for Gregor. She represents the emotions of many people who are burdened to face the

role of caregiver to one they love that has fallen ill. We as the reader watch her hope

and optimism degrade into anger and disgust as time goes and the influence of her

parents negative thought patterns begin to affect her.

Gregor's mother attempts to be a nurturing figure but ultimately is overwhelmed

with disgust and fear and cannot face Gregor. When she first encounters Gregor in his

new state she screams, fleas in horror and faints, this greatly affects him and forces him

to reflect and with time he begins to see himself as a monster. Gregor starting to view
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himself as such only reinforces those aspects of himself, when someone begins to

imagine themselves a specific way they will begin to behave that manner. With his

mother we see the internal conflict of wanting to love and care for her child, but not

being blinded by optimism and viewing him in the reality of the present moment. These

emotions are often faced when coming to the conclusion that caring for your loved one

is much to difficult and draining of a task to maintain in your day to day life, Gregor's

mother reflects the emotions we feel when twarn between or moralities of keeping our

loved one at hand and institutionalizing them.

Throughout the story Gregor's father seemed to only pride in Gregor because of

Gregor's work and income he brought to the family, so naturally with Gregor turning into

a bug and being rendered useless he became upset and resentful towards Gregor.

Gregor’s father is extremely emotionally distant and seems to only love or give approval

when the person is of value to him, and throughout the story we see his resentment

build and see the progression of him determining Gregor as more trouble then is worth.

Because of his cold approach to Gregor, naturally he was the one to end Gregor's life.

His father ended up killing Gregor with an apple, this holds much significance because

an apple is seen as nourishing, this symbolises his father's final attempt to cure Gregor.

Gregor's father is how society views people who institutionalize or euthanize their loved

ones, he also displays a picture of how the caregivers feel before and during the action

of removing our terminally ill loved one.

The caregivers who chose to do this are viewed as, or view themselves as

selfish, cold and unsympathetic, but we must understand how long it took them to reach
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this point of cold heartedness. After weeks or even years of seeing nothing but

deterioration in the loved one you are trying so desperately to assist, is draining to say

the least, and these actions are them surrendering to the situation at hand and

accepting the humility and defeat of what they feel is their incompetence and hoping

that the institutions or death will care for their loved one better than they could.

Continuously throughout the novel we see how Gregor and his family are

affected by his transformation. And in conclusion we can draw the similarities between

there household and that of one suffering with a member that has fallen ill, by looking at

the rolls they have taken on, and the stages of grief they go through throughout the

story.
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Bibliography

Kafka, Franz. ​Metamorphosis.​ Kurt Wolff Verlag, Leipzig, 1915.

Psych, SciShow. ​How Chronic Stress Harms Your Body.​ YouTube, 11 Dec. 2017,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mh4E3xiNGe4.

Psych, SicShow. ​The Truth About the Five Stages of Grief. ​YouTube, 21 Mar. 2018,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LudhllbeXs​.

Roberson, Ritchie. ​Kafka: A Very Short Introduction. ​2004