Description
Instructions
This reading response is based on Kafka’s “Metamorphosis”. Our focus here is the theme of the story – your understanding of the main idea presented by the author, and any narrative devices (symbols, allusion, irony, epiphany) that support that theme. Please, consider the suggestions below and review any material related to the story before you write your response. As in your first assignments, limit your response to no more than one page (doc.x or pdf. files) and answer the topic as clearly and as precisely as possible. Avoid plot summary and unnecessary generic statements. You should aim at analyzing Gregor’s struggle as deeply into the text as possible. As long as your interpretation of the theme can be supported by the story, please do not hesitate to be creative and original. Your response should be precise, analytical and a complete page of text.
Consider these various interpretive possibilities within the symbolic structure of the story and decide what, in your opinion, is the main theme or themes in “The Metamorphosis”? What makes the most sense to you and why?
“The Metamorphosis” has been studied and interpreted in many ways:
-as an example of existentialist philosophy,
-a depiction of man’s alienated condition in the modern world,
-an anti-hero’s struggle with forces of exploitative capitalist system of profit and expectations of patriarchal structure,
-a presentation of psychological neurosis,
-a nightmarish descent into madness.
Our last module provides both my socio-historical introduction to Kafka and the full text of “Metamorphosis.”-
– Please don’t use any AI my professor can detect it. Please follow all the instructions and let me know if you have any questions:)
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METAMORPHOSIS
FRANZ KAFKA
Translated by David Wyllie
I
One morning, when Gregor Samsa woke from troubled dreams, he found himself
transformed in his bed into a horrible vermin. He lay on his armour-like back,
and if he lifted his head a little he could see his brown belly, slightly domed and
divided by arches into stiff sections. The bedding was hardly able to cover it and
seemed ready to slide off any moment. His many legs, pitifully thin compared
with the size of the rest of him, waved about helplessly as he looked.
“What’s happened to me?” he thought. It wasn’t a dream. His room, a proper
human room although a little too small, lay peacefully between its four familiar
walls. A collection of textile samples lay spread out on the table — Samsa was a
travelling salesman — and above it there hung a picture that he had recently cut
out of an illustrated magazine and housed in a nice, gilded frame. It showed a
lady fitted out with a fur hat and fur boa who sat upright, raising a heavy fur muff
that covered the whole of her lower arm towards the viewer.
Gregor then turned to look out the window at the dull weather. Drops of rain
could be heard hitting the pane, which made him feel quite sad. “How about if I
sleep a little bit longer and forget all this nonsense”, he thought, but that was
something he was unable to do because he was used to sleeping on his right, and
in his present state couldn’t get into that position. However hard he threw himself onto his right, he always rolled back to where he was. He must have tried it a
hundred times, shut his eyes so that he wouldn’t have to look at the floundering
legs, and only stopped when he began to feel a mild, dull pain there that he had
never felt before.
“Oh, God”, he thought, “what a strenuous career it is that I’ve chosen! Travelling day in and day out. Doing business like this takes much more effort than
doing your own business at home, and on top of that there’s the curse of travelling, worries about making train connections, bad and irregular food, contact
with different people all the time so that you can never get to know anyone or
become friendly with them. It can all go to Hell!” He felt a slight itch up on his
belly; pushed himself slowly up on his back towards the headboard so that he
could lift his head better; found where the itch was, and saw that it was covered
with lots of little white spots which he didn’t know what to make of; and when he
tried to feel the place with one of his legs he drew it quickly back because as soon
as he touched it he was overcome by a cold shudder.
He slid back into his former position. “Getting up early all the time”, he
thought, “it makes you stupid. You’ve got to get enough sleep. Other travelling
salesmen live a life of luxury. For instance, whenever I go back to the guest house
during the morning to copy out the contract, these gentlemen are always still
sitting there eating their breakfasts. I ought to just try that with my boss; I’d get
kicked out on the spot. But who knows, maybe that would be the best thing for
me. If I didn’t have my parents to think about I’d have given in my notice a long
time ago, I’d have gone up to the boss and told him just what I think, tell him
everything I would, let him know just what I feel. He’d fall right off his desk! And
it’s a funny sort of business to be sitting up there at your desk, talking down at
your subordinates from up there, especially when you have to go right up close
because the boss is hard of hearing. Well, there’s still some hope; once I’ve got
the money together to pay off my parents’ debt to him — another five or six years
I suppose — that’s definitely what I’ll do. That’s when I’ll make the big change.
First of all though, I’ve got to get up, my train leaves at five.”
And he looked over at the alarm clock, ticking on the chest of drawers. “God in
Heaven!” he thought. It was half past six and the hands were quietly moving
forwards, it was even later than half past, more like quarter to seven. Had the
alarm clock not rung? He could see from the bed that it had been set for four
o’clock as it should have been; it certainly must have rung. Yes, but was it possible to quietly sleep through that furniture-rattling noise? True, he had not slept
peacefully, but probably all the more deeply because of that. What should he do
now? The next train went at seven; if he were to catch that he would have to rush
like mad and the collection of samples was still not packed, and he did not at all
feel particularly fresh and lively. And even if he did catch the train he would not
avoid his boss’s anger as the office assistant would have been there to see the five
o’clock train go, he would have put in his report about Gregor’s not being there a
long time ago. The office assistant was the boss’s man, spineless, and with no
understanding. What about if he reported sick? But that would be extremely
strained and suspicious as in fifteen years of service Gregor had never once yet
been ill. His boss would certainly come round with the doctor from the medical
insurance company, accuse his parents of having a lazy son, and accept the
doctor’s recommendation not to make any claim as the doctor believed that noone was ever ill but that many were workshy. And what’s more, would he have
been entirely wrong in this case? Gregor did in fact, apart from excessive sleepiness after sleeping for so long, feel completely well and even felt much hungrier
than usual.
He was still hurriedly thinking all this through, unable to decide to get out of
the bed, when the clock struck quarter to seven. There was a cautious knock at
the door near his head. “Gregor”, somebody called — it was his mother — “it’s
quarter to seven. Didn’t you want to go somewhere?” That gentle voice! Gregor
was shocked when he heard his own voice answering, it could hardly be recognised as the voice he had had before. As if from deep inside him, there was a
painful and uncontrollable squeaking mixed in with it, the words could be made
out at first but then there was a sort of echo which made them unclear, leaving
the hearer unsure whether he had heard properly or not. Gregor had wanted to
give a full answer and explain everything, but in the circumstances contented
himself with saying: “Yes, mother, yes, thank-you, I’m getting up now.” The
change in Gregor’s voice probably could not be noticed outside through the
wooden door, as his mother was satisfied with this explanation and shuffled
away. But this short conversation made the other members of the family aware
that Gregor, against their expectations was still at home, and soon his father
came knocking at one of the side doors, gently, but with his fist. “Gregor, Gregor”,
he called, “what’s wrong?” And after a short while he called again with a warning
2
deepness in his voice: “Gregor! Gregor!” At the other side door his sister came
plaintively: “Gregor? Aren’t you well? Do you need anything?” Gregor answered
to both sides: “I’m ready, now”, making an effort to remove all the strangeness
from his voice by enunciating very carefully and putting long pauses between
each, individual word. His father went back to his breakfast, but his sister whispered: “Gregor, open the door, I beg of you.” Gregor, however, had no thought of
opening the door, and instead congratulated himself for his cautious habit,
acquired from his travelling, of locking all doors at night even when he was at
home.
The first thing he wanted to do was to get up in peace without being disturbed, to get dressed, and most of all to have his breakfast. Only then would he
consider what to do next, as he was well aware that he would not bring his
thoughts to any sensible conclusions by lying in bed. He remembered that he had
often felt a slight pain in bed, perhaps caused by lying awkwardly, but that had
always turned out to be pure imagination and he wondered how his imaginings
would slowly resolve themselves today. He did not have the slightest doubt that
the change in his voice was nothing more than the first sign of a serious cold,
which was an occupational hazard for travelling salesmen.
It was a simple matter to throw off the covers; he only had to blow himself up
a little and they fell off by themselves. But it became difficult after that, especially
as he was so exceptionally broad. He would have used his arms and his hands to
push himself up; but instead of them he only had all those little legs continuously
moving in different directions, and which he was moreover unable to control. If
he wanted to bend one of them, then that was the first one that would stretch
itself out; and if he finally managed to do what he wanted with that leg, all the
others seemed to be set free and would move about painfully. “This is something
that can’t be done in bed”, Gregor said to himself, “so don’t keep trying to do it”.
The first thing he wanted to do was get the lower part of his body out of the bed,
but he had never seen this lower part, and could not imagine what it looked like;
it turned out to be too hard to move; it went so slowly; and finally, almost in a
frenzy, when he carelessly shoved himself forwards with all the force he could
gather, he chose the wrong direction, hit hard against the lower bedpost, and
learned from the burning pain he felt that the lower part of his body might well,
at present, be the most sensitive.
So then he tried to get the top part of his body out of the bed first, carefully
turning his head to the side. This he managed quite easily, and despite its breadth
and its weight, the bulk of his body eventually followed slowly in the direction of
the head. But when he had at last got his head out of the bed and into the fresh
air it occurred to him that if he let himself fall it would be a miracle if his head
were not injured, so he became afraid to carry on pushing himself forward the
same way. And he could not knock himself out now at any price; better to stay in
bed than lose consciousness.
It took just as much effort to get back to where he had been earlier, but when
he lay there sighing, and was once more watching his legs as they struggled
against each other even harder than before, if that was possible, he could think of
no way of bringing peace and order to this chaos. He told himself once more that
it was not possible for him to stay in bed and that the most sensible thing to do
would be to get free of it in whatever way he could at whatever sacrifice. At the
same time, though, he did not forget to remind himself that calm consideration
3
was much better than rushing to desperate conclusions. At times like this he
would direct his eyes to the window and look out as clearly as he could, but
unfortunately, even the other side of the narrow street was enveloped in morning
fog and the view had little confidence or cheer to offer him. “Seven o’clock, already”, he said to himself when the clock struck again, “seven o’clock, and there’s
still a fog like this.” And he lay there quietly a while longer, breathing lightly as if
he perhaps expected the total stillness to bring things back to their real and
natural state.
But then he said to himself: “Before it strikes quarter past seven I’ll definitely
have to have got properly out of bed. And by then somebody will have come
round from work to ask what’s happened to me as well, as they open up at work
before seven o’clock.” And so he set himself to the task of swinging the entire
length of his body out of the bed all at the same time. If he succeeded in falling
out of bed in this way and kept his head raised as he did so he could probably
avoid injuring it. His back seemed to be quite hard, and probably nothing would
happen to it falling onto the carpet. His main concern was for the loud noise he
was bound to make, and which even through all the doors would probably raise
concern if not alarm. But it was something that had to be risked.
When Gregor was already sticking half way out of the bed — the new method
was more of a game than an effort, all he had to do was rock back and forth — it
occurred to him how simple everything would be if somebody came to help him.
Two strong people — he had his father and the maid in mind — would have been
more than enough; they would only have to push their arms under the dome of
his back, peel him away from the bed, bend down with the load and then be
patient and careful as he swang over onto the floor, where, hopefully, the little
legs would find a use. Should he really call for help though, even apart from the
fact that all the doors were locked? Despite all the difficulty he was in, he could
not suppress a smile at this thought.
After a while he had already moved so far across that it would have been hard
for him to keep his balance if he rocked too hard. The time was now ten past
seven and he would have to make a final decision very soon. Then there was a
ring at the door of the flat. “That’ll be someone from work”, he said to himself,
and froze very still, although his little legs only became all the more lively as they
danced around. For a moment everything remained quiet. “They’re not opening
the door”, Gregor said to himself, caught in some nonsensical hope. But then of
course, the maid’s firm steps went to the door as ever and opened it. Gregor only
needed to hear the visitor’s first words of greeting and he knew who it was — the
chief clerk himself. Why did Gregor have to be the only one condemned to work
for a company where they immediately became highly suspicious at the slightest
shortcoming? Were all employees, every one of them, louts, was there not one of
them who was faithful and devoted who would go so mad with pangs of conscience that he couldn’t get out of bed if he didn’t spend at least a couple of hours
in the morning on company business? Was it really not enough to let one of the
trainees make enquiries — assuming enquiries were even necessary — did the
chief clerk have to come himself, and did they have to show the whole, innocent
family that this was so suspicious that only the chief clerk could be trusted to
have the wisdom to investigate it? And more because these thoughts had made
him upset than through any proper decision, he swang himself with all his force
out of the bed. There was a loud thump, but it wasn’t really a loud noise. His fall
4
was softened a little by the carpet, and Gregor’s back was also more elastic than
he had thought, which made the sound muffled and not too noticeable. He had
not held his head carefully enough, though, and hit it as he fell; annoyed and in
pain, he turned it and rubbed it against the carpet.
“Something’s fallen down in there”, said the chief clerk in the room on the left.
Gregor tried to imagine whether something of the sort that had happened to him
today could ever happen to the chief clerk too; you had to concede that it was
possible. But as if in gruff reply to this question, the chief clerk’s firm footsteps in
his highly polished boots could now be heard in the adjoining room. From the
room on his right, Gregor’s sister whispered to him to let him know: “Gregor, the
chief clerk is here.” “Yes, I know”, said Gregor to himself; but without daring to
raise his voice loud enough for his sister to hear him.
“Gregor”, said his father now from the room to his left, “the chief clerk has
come round and wants to know why you didn’t leave on the early train. We don’t
know what to say to him. And anyway, he wants to speak to you personally. So
please open up this door. I’m sure he’ll be good enough to forgive the untidiness
of your room.” Then the chief clerk called “Good morning, Mr. Samsa”. “He isn’t
well”, said his mother to the chief clerk, while his father continued to speak
through the door. “He isn’t well, please believe me. Why else would Gregor have
missed a train! The lad only ever thinks about the business. It nearly makes me
cross the way he never goes out in the evenings; he’s been in town for a week now
but stayed home every evening. He sits with us in the kitchen and just reads the
paper or studies train timetables. His idea of relaxation is working with his
fretsaw. He’s made a little frame, for instance, it only took him two or three
evenings, you’ll be amazed how nice it is; it’s hanging up in his room; you’ll see it
as soon as Gregor opens the door. Anyway, I’m glad you’re here; we wouldn’t
have been able to get Gregor to open the door by ourselves; he’s so stubborn; and
I’m sure he isn’t well, he said this morning that he is, but he isn’t.” “I’ll be there in
a moment”, said Gregor slowly and thoughtfully, but without moving so that he
would not miss any word of the conversation. “Well I can’t think of any other way
of explaining it, Mrs. Samsa”, said the chief clerk, “I hope it’s nothing serious. But
on the other hand, I must say that if we people in commerce ever become slightly
unwell then, fortunately or unfortunately as you like, we simply have to overcome
it because of business considerations.” “Can the chief clerk come in to see you
now then?”, asked his father impatiently, knocking at the door again. “No”, said
Gregor. In the room on his right there followed a painful silence; in the room on
his left his sister began to cry.
So why did his sister not go and join the others? She had probably only just
got up and had not even begun to get dressed. And why was she crying? Was it
because he had not got up, and had not let the chief clerk in, because he was in
danger of losing his job and if that happened his boss would once more pursue
their parents with the same demands as before? There was no need to worry
about things like that yet. Gregor was still there and had not the slightest intention of abandoning his family. For the time being he just lay there on the carpet,
and no-one who knew the condition he was in would seriously have expected him
to let the chief clerk in. It was only a minor discourtesy, and a suitable excuse
could easily be found for it later on, it was not something for which Gregor could
be sacked on the spot. And it seemed to Gregor much more sensible to leave him
now in peace instead of disturbing him with talking at him and crying. But the
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others didn’t know what was happening, they were worried, that would excuse
their behaviour.
The chief clerk now raised his voice, “Mr. Samsa”, he called to him, “what is
wrong? You barricade yourself in your room, give us no more than yes or no for
an answer, you are causing serious and unnecessary concern to your parents and
you fail — and I mention this just by the way — you fail to carry out your business
duties in a way that is quite unheard of. I’m speaking here on behalf of your
parents and of your employer, and really must request a clear and immediate
explanation. I am astonished, quite astonished. I thought I knew you as a calm
and sensible person, and now you suddenly seem to be showing off with peculiar
whims. This morning, your employer did suggest a possible reason for your
failure to appear, it’s true — it had to do with the money that was recently entrusted to you — but I came near to giving him my word of honour that that could
not be the right explanation. But now that I see your incomprehensible stubbornness I no longer feel any wish whatsoever to intercede on your behalf. And
nor is your position all that secure. I had originally intended to say all this to you
in private, but since you cause me to waste my time here for no good reason I
don’t see why your parents should not also learn of it. Your turnover has been
very unsatisfactory of late; I grant you that it’s not the time of year to do especially good business, we recognise that; but there simply is no time of year to do
no business at all, Mr. Samsa, we cannot allow there to be.”
“But Sir”, called Gregor, beside himself and forgetting all else in the excitement, “I’ll open up immediately, just a moment. I’m slightly unwell, an attack of
dizziness, I haven’t been able to get up. I’m still in bed now. I’m quite fresh again
now, though. I’m just getting out of bed. Just a moment. Be patient! It’s not quite
as easy as I’d thought. I’m quite alright now, though. It’s shocking, what can
suddenly happen to a person! I was quite alright last night, my parents know
about it, perhaps better than me, I had a small symptom of it last night already.
They must have noticed it. I don’t know why I didn’t let you know at work! But
you always think you can get over an illness without staying at home. Please,
don’t make my parents suffer! There’s no basis for any of the accusations you’re
making; nobody’s ever said a word to me about any of these things. Maybe you
haven’t read the latest contracts I sent in. I’ll set off with the eight o’clock train, as
well, these few hours of rest have given me strength. You don’t need to wait, sir;
I’ll be in the office soon after you, and please be so good as to tell that to the boss
and recommend me to him!”
And while Gregor gushed out these words, hardly knowing what he was
saying, he made his way over to the chest of drawers — this was easily done,
probably because of the practise he had already had in bed — where he now tried
to get himself upright. He really did want to open the door, really did want to let
them see him and to speak with the chief clerk; the others were being so insistent,
and he was curious to learn what they would say when they caught sight of him. If
they were shocked then it would no longer be Gregor’s responsibility and he
could rest. If, however, they took everything calmly he would still have no reason
to be upset, and if he hurried he really could be at the station for eight o’clock.
The first few times he tried to climb up on the smooth chest of drawers he just
slid down again, but he finally gave himself one last swing and stood there upright; the lower part of his body was in serious pain but he no longer gave any
attention to it. Now he let himself fall against the back of a nearby chair and held
6
tightly to the edges of it with his little legs. By now he had also calmed down, and
kept quiet so that he could listen to what the chief clerk was saying.
“Did you understand a word of all that?” the chief clerk asked his parents,
“surely he’s not trying to make fools of us”. “Oh, God!” called his mother, who
was already in tears, “he could be seriously ill and we’re making him suffer.
Grete! Grete!” she then cried. “Mother?” his sister called from the other side.
They communicated across Gregor’s room. “You’ll have to go for the doctor
straight away. Gregor is ill. Quick, get the doctor. Did you hear the way Gregor
spoke just now?” “That was the voice of an animal”, said the chief clerk, with a
calmness that was in contrast with his mother’s screams. “Anna! Anna!” his
father called into the kitchen through the entrance hall, clapping his hands, “get a
locksmith here, now!” And the two girls, their skirts swishing, immediately ran
out through the hall, wrenching open the front door of the flat as they went. How
had his sister managed to get dressed so quickly? There was no sound of the door
banging shut again; they must have left it open; people often do in homes where
something awful has happened.
Gregor, in contrast, had become much calmer. So they couldn’t understand
his words any more, although they seemed clear enough to him, clearer than
before — perhaps his ears had become used to the sound. They had realised,
though, that there was something wrong with him, and were ready to help. The
first response to his situation had been confident and wise, and that made him
feel better. He felt that he had been drawn back in among people, and from the
doctor and the locksmith he expected great and surprising achievements —
although he did not really distinguish one from the other. Whatever was said next
would be crucial, so, in order to make his voice as clear as possible, he coughed a
little, but taking care to do this not too loudly as even this might well sound
different from the way that a human coughs and he was no longer sure he could
judge this for himself. Meanwhile, it had become very quiet in the next room.
Perhaps his parents were sat at the table whispering with the chief clerk, or
perhaps they were all pressed against the door and listening.
Gregor slowly pushed his way over to the door with the chair. Once there he
let go of it and threw himself onto the door, holding himself upright against it
using the adhesive on the tips of his legs. He rested there a little while to recover
from the effort involved and then set himself to the task of turning the key in the
lock with his mouth. He seemed, unfortunately, to have no proper teeth — how
was he, then, to grasp the key? — but the lack of teeth was, of course, made up for
with a very strong jaw; using the jaw, he really was able to start the key turning,
ignoring the fact that he must have been causing some kind of damage as a brown
fluid came from his mouth, flowed over the key and dripped onto the floor.
“Listen”, said the chief clerk in the next room, “he’s turning the key.” Gregor was
greatly encouraged by this; but they all should have been calling to him, his
father and his mother too: “Well done, Gregor”, they should have cried, “keep at
it, keep hold of the lock!” And with the idea that they were all excitedly following
his efforts, he bit on the key with all his strength, paying no attention to the pain
he was causing himself. As the key turned round he turned around the lock with
it, only holding himself upright with his mouth, and hung onto the key or pushed
it down again with the whole weight of his body as needed. The clear sound of the
lock as it snapped back was Gregor’s sign that he could break his concentration,
7
and as he regained his breath he said to himself: “So, I didn’t need the locksmith
after all”. Then he lay his head on the handle of the door to open it completely.
Because he had to open the door in this way, it was already wide open before
he could be seen. He had first to slowly turn himself around one of the double
doors, and he had to do it very carefully if he did not want to fall flat on his back
before entering the room. He was still occupied with this difficult movement,
unable to pay attention to anything else, when he heard the chief clerk exclaim a
loud “Oh!”, which sounded like the soughing of the wind. Now he also saw him —
he was the nearest to the door — his hand pressed against his open mouth and
slowly retreating as if driven by a steady and invisible force. Gregor’s mother, her
hair still dishevelled from bed despite the chief clerk’s being there, looked at his
father. Then she unfolded her arms, took two steps forward towards Gregor and
sank down onto the floor into her skirts that spread themselves out around her as
her head disappeared down onto her breast. His father looked hostile, and
clenched his fists as if wanting to knock Gregor back into his room. Then he
looked uncertainly round the living room, covered his eyes with his hands and
wept so that his powerful chest shook.
So Gregor did not go into the room, but leant against the inside of the other
door which was still held bolted in place. In this way only half of his body could
be seen, along with his head above it which he leant over to one side as he peered
out at the others. Meanwhile the day had become much lighter; part of the endless, grey-black building on the other side of the street — which was a hospital —
could be seen quite clearly with the austere and regular line of windows piercing
its façade; the rain was still falling, now throwing down large, individual droplets
which hit the ground one at a time. The washing up from breakfast lay on the
table; there was so much of it because, for Gregor’s father, breakfast was the most
important meal of the day and he would stretch it out for several hours as he sat
reading a number of different newspapers. On the wall exactly opposite there was
photograph of Gregor when he was a lieutenant in the army, his sword in his
hand and a carefree smile on his face as he called forth respect for his uniform
and bearing. The door to the entrance hall was open and as the front door of the
flat was also open he could see onto the landing and the stairs where they began
their way down below.
“Now, then”, said Gregor, well aware that he was the only one to have kept
calm, “I’ll get dressed straight away now, pack up my samples and set off. Will
you please just let me leave? You can see”, he said to the chief clerk, “that I’m not
stubborn and like I like to do my job; being a commercial traveller is arduous but
without travelling I couldn’t earn my living. So where are you going, in to the
office? Yes? Will you report everything accurately, then? It’s quite possible for
someone to be temporarily unable to work, but that’s just the right time to remember what’s been achieved in the past and consider that later on, once the
difficulty has been removed, he will certainly work with all the more diligence
and concentration. You’re well aware that I’m seriously in debt to our employer
as well as having to look after my parents and my sister, so that I’m trapped in a
difficult situation, but I will work my way out of it again. Please don’t make things
any harder for me than they are already, and don’t take sides against me at the
office. I know that nobody likes the travellers. They think we earn an enormous
wage as well as having a soft time of it. That’s just prejudice but they have no
particular reason to think better it. But you, sir, you have a better overview than
8
the rest of the staff, in fact, if I can say this in confidence, a better overview than
the boss himself — it’s very easy for a businessman like him to make mistakes
about his employees and judge them more harshly than he should. And you’re
also well aware that we travellers spend almost the whole year away from the
office, so that we can very easily fall victim to gossip and chance and groundless
complaints, and it’s almost impossible to defend yourself from that sort of thing,
we don’t usually even hear about them, or if at all it’s when we arrive back home
exhausted from a trip, and that’s when we feel the harmful effects of what’s been
going on without even knowing what caused them. Please, don’t go away, at least
first say something to show that you grant that I’m at least partly right!”
But the chief clerk had turned away as soon as Gregor had started to speak,
and, with protruding lips, only stared back at him over his trembling shoulders as
he left. He did not keep still for a moment while Gregor was speaking, but moved
steadily towards the door without taking his eyes off him. He moved very gradually, as if there had been some secret prohibition on leaving the room. It was only
when he had reached the entrance hall that he made a sudden movement, drew
his foot from the living room, and rushed forward in a panic. In the hall, he
stretched his right hand far out towards the stairway as if out there, there were
some supernatural force waiting to save him.
Gregor realised that it was out of the question to let the chief clerk go away in
this mood if his position in the firm was not to be put into extreme danger. That
was something his parents did not understand very well; over the years, they had
become convinced that this job would provide for Gregor for his entire life, and
besides, they had so much to worry about at present that they had lost sight of
any thought for the future. Gregor, though, did think about the future. The chief
clerk had to be held back, calmed down, convinced and finally won over; the
future of Gregor and his family depended on it! If only his sister were here! She
was clever; she was already in tears while Gregor was still lying peacefully on his
back. And the chief clerk was a lover of women, surely she could persuade him;
she would close the front door in the entrance hall and talk him out of his
shocked state. But his sister was not there, Gregor would have to do the job
himself. And without considering that he still was not familiar with how well he
could move about in his present state, or that his speech still might not — or
probably would not — be understood, he let go of the door; pushed himself
through the opening; tried to reach the chief clerk on the landing who, ridiculously, was holding on to the banister with both hands; but Gregor fell immediately over and, with a little scream as he sought something to hold onto, landed
on his numerous little legs. Hardly had that happened than, for the first time that
day, he began to feel alright with his body; the little legs had the solid ground
under them; to his pleasure, they did exactly as h
