Grete's violin, like the print of the lady with the muff, is one of the story's few objects of beauty. Gregor's deepest desire before his transformation was to pay for Grete to study violin at the Conservatorium. The violin symbolizes their loving bond and shows Gregor's altruistic, sympathetic character. Yet the violin also leads to Gregor's biggest mistake, the night before his death. While Grete plays for the lodgers, Gregor gets so excited and hopeful that he crawls too close. The others misread his gesture as threatening, and his intentions completely fail—though he wanted to enjoy the music and support his sister, he ends up destroying both the evening and the family's income from the lodgers. The violin is closely linked to the themes of family and of intentions vs. outcomes, and it represents both the best parts of Gregor's character, namely his love and support of Grete and his desire to take part in a beautiful experience, and the sad truth that he can never communicate such things again. Trapped in a cockroach body, unable to share the moment of beauty, his life is not worth living.