The Metamorphosis The Middle Boarder Quotes

"Mr. Samsa!" the middle roomer called to Gregor's father and without wasting another word pointed his index finger at Gregor, who was slowly moving forward […] His father seemed once again to be gripped by his perverse obstinacy to such a degree that he completely forgot any respect still due to his tenants. (3.14)

After Part 1, there is precious little dialogue in the story, and, when there is dialogue, you get moments like these. (It seems that Gregor isn't the only person in the family who has lost the power of speech.) The middle boarder's calling out Mr. Samsa bears a striking parallel to the scene where Grete calls out Gregor's name (see Quote #4). We think of our names as being an integral part of who we are, but in both this quote and in Quote #4 we see names being used not so much to identify a character, but to point out an instance where the character doesn't seem to act like himself. In Quote #4, Grete calls out Gregor's name when Gregor is acting like a gross bug; in this quote, the middle roomer calls out Mr. Samsa when there's a breach in the way the household's run.