Cold shoulder

The following paragraph is an interpretation of a passage of Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis (pg 86-87). The overall theme is Gregor’s struggle with himself whether or not to let his sister and mother move furniture out of his room. One specific quote struck me as important, portraying Gregor’s obsession with a picture verses his relationship to his sister.

“He clung to his picture and would not give it up. He would rather fly in Grete’s face.” – pg. 87

In the first part of the story, the reader learns that before Gregor’s metamorphosis, Gregor used to have a very trusting relationship with his sister. This is shown by the fact that they know about each other’s desires, such as music for Grete. In this passage, their relationship is questioned as he breaks out, which resolves with the words: He would rather fly in Grete’s face. Diction hints to the detachment to his sister at this moment in time. He refers to his family (mother and sister) as ‘the two women, whose existence he had by now almost forgotten’, indicating an impersonal relationship.  While at first Gregor attempts to convince himself that his family’s actions are meant to favor his own good, he soon has a change of heart. The structure accompanying this change, is worth noticing. Firstly his sentences are very long, as he’s hiding under the couch, thinking about his options. As soon as he comprehends that their actions aren’t in his interest, his sentences become short and sharp. This applies to the whole passage. One last thing, implying that Gregor’s relationship to his sister and mother grows smaller everyday is that he uses words such as ‘vast disturbance’, ‘dragged off’, and ‘laboring’ to describe their achievements.

New version of the "Cold Shoulder":

Gregor struggles to let his sister and mother move furniture out of his room. His relationship with his sister suffers under the metamorphosis of Gregor, and attempting to protect his picture from being displaced, he escapes and chooses his obsession over his family:

“He clung to his picture and would not give it up. He would rather fly in Grete’s face.” – pg. 87

In the first part of the story, the reader learns that before Gregor’s metamorphosis, he used to have a very trusting relationship with his sister. This is shown by the fact that they know about each other’s desires, such as music for Grete. In this passage, their relationship is questioned as he breaks out, which resolves in the exclamation: “He would rather fly in Grete’s face”. Diction hints to the detachment to his sister at this moment in time. He threatens his sister and doesn’t think about his mother even though he knows that she’s very fragile when facing him. At first Gregor attempts to convince himself that his family’s actions are meant to favor his own good, but he soon has a change of heart, as shown clearly in the words quoted above.

He refers to his family (mother and sister) as ‘the two women, whose existence he had by now almost forgotten’, indicating an impersonal relationship.  The structure accompanying this change, is worth noticing. Firstly his sentences are very long, as he’s hiding under the couch, thinking about his options. As soon as he comprehends that their actions aren’t in his interest, his sentences become short and sharp. The reader understands that his actions are becoming animalistic. Not only has he changed physically, he is mentally transforming as well. Implying that Gregor’s relationship to his sister and mother weakens every day, is that he uses words such as ‘vast disturbance’, ‘dragged off’, and ‘laboring’ to describe their achievements.

As Gregor’s body had transformed over night, he started to develop a different personality. The consequence is that his human bonds diminish as he lives on. As the provider for his family, he used to be a coward, never thinking about his own good because he hadn’t the strength to do so. Now that he lost the only purpose in his life, he starts to rebel which has a drastic effect on his relationship, eliminating the sole hope of leading a fairly happy life.