The Metamorphosis: Section 3 Summary & Analysis

The family can't figure out how to relate to the cockroach. Is Gregor inside that body? Or has Gregor transformed in both body and mind? And, most important: even if Gregor is 100% cockroach, does the cockroach still deserve some respect because he was once Gregor? No one believes that some monster cockroach ate Gregor—on some level, everyone knows that he is the cockroach, and therefore is a part of their family. As such, the family struggles with their responsibilities towards him, as all humans struggle with responsibility towards those different from us. Meanwhile, the responsibilities of work that at first enlivened his father now merely exhaust him, just as Gregor's own work seemed to have been exhausting him when he was human. And the family's financial fortune's continue to falter with Gregor's income gone.

The family cares a lot about how they measure up to other people, and their desire to conform and fit in with society's expectations also limits their sympathy for Gregor—he is a source of shame.

This passage shows Gregor's descent into indignation about what he perceives as his family ignoring him. Before his transformation, he was motivated both by being responsible, and by earning recognition for it. Now his family's ignoring him pushes him further into roach-like self-centeredness. He is happier when not thinking about human things.

The amusing character of the charwoman provides a contrast to the family. She's less concerned with class and etiquette, and therefore feels no shame or disgust regarding Gregor—and so is more capable of dealing with Gregor. She also lacks any memory of him as a human, and so she feels no conflict about how to treat or think about him.

Though in Section 2 the family paid a lot of attention to Gregor's room, wanting to clear it out to make him comfortable, now they completely disregard his preferences. As his dependence on them has become a burden, their sympathy has faded. In addition, there is a sense that the lodgers have partially taken the place of Gregor's former human role. It used to be that he provided financial support and then his family would manage he home (clean his room, make his bed, etc.). But now they do that for the lodgers.

Grete resuming her playing of the violin seems to suggest some return of normality Gregor's family (at least for everyone but him). Though her playing also suggests that she and her parents are trying to make the lodgers happy, to "earn" their money and stay afloat. Even as the family pays more attention to the lodgers and less to Gregor, the family's awkward striving paints them in a sympathetic light, preventing them from seeming intentionally evil.

While the family cares passionately about appearances, part of Gregor's transformation is his unconcern with manners. Yet the question he poses about his deep feelings for Grete's playing is essential to the story. By genuinely appreciating the art in a way the other's don't, is he truly more human than the others?

As he experiences the music, and also perhaps as he experiences the "normality" of the scene of Grete playing for her family, Gregor returns to desires that he cared about while he was still a human. He's able to envision a new life, where he could communicate and take on new responsibilities. This is the story's most optimistic point.

The lodgers' changing attitudes demonstrate the importance of conformity. They move as a unit to condemn an unusual event, though they were originally individually amused by it.

There are two disasters in this moment—the disaster of losing the money, and the disaster of the dropped violin, which has taken on a symbolic significance representing the family's vision of a beautiful future and the deep humanity of appreciating art. Gregor's most positive moment while an insect has, it turned out, ruined everything—destroyed his family's dreams and finances just as they were on the verge of being recovered.

Unexpectedly, Grete, the one who cared most for Gregor, is the first to explicitly give up on him. But maybe the strength of her love makes it harder for her to cope with the outcomes of his behavior. She asserts that the cockroach is no longer Gregor, and implies that therefore she no longer has any responsibilities toward him. For once, the father is the most patient—though no one has an open enough mind to actually try to comprehend Gregor. They simply assume he can't.

Grete's assertion that Gregor's noblest action would have been to disappear is another way of saying that because he placed such a burden on the family he could have best helped the family by removing that burden—removing himself. While Grete originally seemed to enjoy the responsibility of caring for Gregor, that enjoyment has turned to resentment. It is fair to note, though, at this point that Gregor is now no more dependent on his family than they used to be on him (though he is more disgusting-looking), and his resentment never led him to try to abandon them. Regardless, Grete now no longer sees Gregor as anything but an insect—and a hostile insect at that—and interprets everything he does as hostile.

Though his family's neglect contributed to Gregor's death, his life ends on a note of love for them. Maybe this animal is more human than those in his family who are to still in their human bodies—willing to be sympathetic, overlook cruelties, and forgive.

Once Gregor has died, Grete, along with her mother and father, are remorseful. When Gregor is not moving, is not threatening them simply through his living presence, they can again think of him as their son. When they no longer have to think about the burden of caring for him, their sympathy returns.

The family drops its concerns about correct behavior, and freely expose their emotions about Gregor. The lodgers' quick departure shows how strong emotions overpower the rules of society and to have regained a sense of dignity in refusing to serve the lodgers any longer. At the same time, they may order the lodgers out because the lodgers own behavior toward Gregor now shamefully reminds them of their own behavior toward the insect who they now acknowledge again as their beloved son.

The charwoman's most unattractive trait is her lack of sympathy and respect towards Gregor. However, with her nosy, goofy, and lower-class attitude, she was more interested in him and less disgusted by him when he was alive than any of his family, who don't want to hear the details of Gregor's insect-hood. The father's comment about bygones suggests that after this brief period of mourning the family is already forgiving itself for their treatment of Gregor, are already moving on.

The family quickly returns to balance. Inevitably, discontent will follow, as it always seems to. But for now in the rush of their freedom from the burdens of caring for Gregor they demonstrate how little they needed or cared about Gregor after all and how much promise has returned to their family now that he is gone. The final moments link to the larger concerns of conformity, beauty, and the way the body determines the kind of life a person can lead, while the suggestion of finding Grete a husband is a hint of a total replacement of Gregor—the husband offers the prospect of a new man in the prime of his life for them all to depend on.