"The Metamorphosis" Close Reading

A turning point in “The Metamorphosis” occurs when Grete announces that the family should get rid of Gregor.  Grete starts the conversation by “striking the table with her hand” (47). This contrasts from the first image of Grete, who appeared as a meek little girl crying in her bedroom. When referring to Gregor, Grete says they “have to try to get rid of it” (47). Instead of referring to Gregor as “him”, Grete chooses the pronoun “it”. Grete has now succeeded in further dehumanizing Gregor. However, this may be purposeful, because it is easier to hate Gregor when he is considered to be a bug rather than a person. Grete claims that they have “tried all that humanly possible to take care of it” (47). This word choice is very ironic, considering tried everything humanly possible to take care of Gregor, who is not human. This represents the fact that his family didn’t truly do everything they could to take care of Gregor, especially as more time continued to pass. Grete continues by saying “when people have to work as hard as all of us, they can’t stand this perpetual torment at home, as well”. Here is another instance of irony. Before his transformation, Gregor was the family member who worked endlessly and came home to an ungrateful family. Gregor was the only family member who worked, and the other members put off working for as long as possible after the transformation. Grete is complaining that they work too hard, yet she has no consideration for the fact that this used to be Gregor’s life. Even now, the family can’t appreciate how hard Gregor was working to support them.

            The father contemplates the idea that Gregor can understand them, yet Grete “shakes her hand violently to indicate that was out of the question” (47). The father happens to be correct, since Gregor can in fact understand what they are saying. Grete, on the other hand, is incorrect, even though she had designated herself to be the authority on Gregor. Grete is too self-confident to even consider that she is wrong in something concerning Gregor.  

            Overall, this passage contains irony in the family’s treatment of Gregor. The family struggles with the contradicting images as Gregor as a person and Gregor as a bug. In the end, the family decides to completely disregard Gregor’s human value, and treat him as a pest which must be removed.