The Metamorphosis Family Quotes Page 1
Citations follow this format: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph). We used Stanley Corngold's translation.
| Quote #1 With a hostile expression his father clenched his fist, as if to drive Gregor back into his room […] (1.25) |
Mr. Samsa hardly comes out a sympathetic character here. His reaction to Gregor's condition is hostility, rather than patience or empathy.
| Quote #2 No plea of Gregor's helped, no plea was even understood; however humbly he might turn his head, his father merely stamped his feet more forcefully […] he drove Gregor on, as if there were no obstacle […] his father gave him a hard shove, which was truly his salvation, and bleeding profusely, he flew far into his room. (1.30) |
Again, Mr. Samsa's behavior toward Gregor is brutal. Instead of trying to understand Gregor, he's more intent on punishing Gregor.
| Quote #3 [H]e felt very proud that he had been able to provide such a life in so nice an apartment for his parents and his sister. But what now if all the peace, the comfort, the contentment were to come to a horrible end? (2.3) |
In this passage, Gregor contemplates life as it was before his transformation when he was the sole breadwinner for the family. Now that he's a bug, the other members of the family lose both the financial and emotional security associated with his earnings.
