TRANSFORMATION Story (1916) The incident that happened to Gregor Samsa is described, in fact, in the very first sentence of the story. One morning, waking up after a restless sleep, the hero suddenly discovered that he had turned into a huge scary insect...

Actually, after this incredible transformation, nothing special happens anymore. The behavior of the characters is prosaic, everyday and extremely reliable, and attention is focused on everyday trifles, which for the hero grow into painful problems.

Gregor Samsa is an ordinary young man who lived in a big city. All his efforts and concerns were subordinated to his family, where he was the only son, and therefore felt an increased sense of responsibility for the well-being of his loved ones.

After serving in the army, Gregor got a job at a trading company and soon received a promotion, becoming a traveling salesman. He worked with great diligence, although the place was ungrateful.

I had to spend most of my time on business trips, get up at dawn and go to the train with a heavy suitcase full of samples of cloth.

The owner of the company was stingy, but Gregor was disciplined, diligent and hardworking. Besides, he never complained. One way or another, his earnings were enough to rent a spacious apartment for his family, where he occupied a separate room.

It was in this room that he woke up one day in the form of a giant disgusting centipede. Woke up, he looked around at the familiar walls, saw a portrait of a woman in a fur hat, which he had recently cut out from an illustrated magazine and inserted into a gilded frame, turned his gaze to the window, heard raindrops knocking on the tin of the window sill, and closed his eyes again. “It would be nice to sleep a little more and forget all this nonsense,” he thought. He was used to sleeping on his right side, but his huge bulging belly was now bothering him, and after hundreds of unsuccessful attempts to turn over, Gregor gave up this activity. In cold horror, he realized that everything was happening in reality. But what horrified him even more was that the alarm clock showed already half past seven, while Gregor had set it for four o’clock in the morning. Didn't he hear the bell and missed the train? These thoughts drove him into despair. At this time, his mother knocked cautiously on the door, worried that he would be late. His mother's voice was, as always, gentle, and Gregor was frightened when he heard the answering sounds of his own voice, which was mixed with a strange painful squeak.

There was already knocking on his room from different sides - and his father and sister were worried whether he was healthy. They begged him to open the door, but he stubbornly did not unlock the lock.

After incredible effort, he managed to hang over the edge of the bed. At this time the bell rang in the hallway. The manager of the company himself came to find out what happened. Out of terrible excitement, Gregor jerked with all his might and fell onto the carpet.

The sound of the fall was heard in the living room. Now the manager has joined the calls of the relatives. And it seemed wiser to Gregor to explain to the strict boss that he would certainly correct everything and make up for it. He began excitedly blurting out from behind the door that he was only slightly ill, that he would still catch the eight o'clock train, and finally began to beg not to fire him because of involuntary absenteeism and to spare his parents. At the same time, he managed, leaning on the slippery chest, to straighten up to his full height, overcoming the pain in his torso.

There was silence outside the door.

No one understood a word of his monologue. Then the manager said quietly: “It was the voice of an animal.” The sister and the maid ran after the locksmith in tears.

However, Gregor himself managed to turn the key in the lock, grabbing it with his strong jaws. And then he appeared before the eyes of those crowding at the door, leaning against its frame.

The mother silently collapsed on the floor. The father shook his fist at him in confusion, the manager turned and, looking back over his shoulder, began to slowly walk away. This silent scene lasted several seconds. Finally the mother jumped to her feet and screamed wildly. She leaned on the table and knocked over a pot of hot coffee. The manager quickly rushed to the stairs. Gregor set off after him, clumsily mincing his legs. He definitely had to keep the guest. However, his path was blocked by his father, who began to push his son back, making some hissing sounds. He nudged Gregor with his stick. With great difficulty, having injured one side on the door, Gregor squeezed back into his room, and the door was immediately slammed behind him.

While in this terrible new guise, Gregor remained the same as he was - a loving son and brother, he silently eavesdropped on the conversations of his relatives. He was tormented by shame and despair, since now the family found itself without funds and the old father, sick mother and young sister had to think about earning money. He painfully felt the disgust that those closest to him felt towards him.

One day his humiliating peace was disturbed, as the women decided to empty his room of furniture.

It was Greta's idea, who decided to give him more space to crawl.

Then the mother timidly entered her son’s room for the first time. Gregor obediently hid on the floor behind a hanging sheet, in an uncomfortable position. The commotion made him feel very ill. He understood that he had been deprived of a normal home - they took out the chest where he kept a jigsaw and other tools, a closet with clothes, a desk where he prepared his homework as a child. And, unable to bear it, he crawled out from under the sofa to protect his last wealth - a portrait of a woman in furs on the wall. The sister who entered the room failed to take the mother away. She “saw a huge brown spot on the colorful wallpaper, screamed, before it dawned on her that it was Gregor, shrilly and shrill,” and collapsed in exhaustion on the sofa.

Gregor was filled with excitement.

He quickly crawled into the living room after his sister, who rushed to the first aid kit with drops, and helplessly stomped behind her, suffering from his guilt. At this time, my father came - now he worked as a messenger in some bank and wore a blue uniform with gold buttons. The father let out a malicious cry, grabbed a vase of apples and began to throw them at Gregor with hatred. The unfortunate man ran away, making many feverish movements. One of the apples hit him hard on the back, getting stuck in his body.

After his injury, Gregor's health worsened. Gradually, the sister stopped cleaning his house - everything was overgrown with cobwebs and a sticky substance oozing from his paws. Guilty of nothing, but rejected with disgust by those closest to him, suffering from shame more than from hunger and wounds, he withdrew into miserable loneliness, going over his entire past simple life on sleepless nights.

One evening he heard his sister playing the violin to three new tenants - they were renting rooms for money. Attracted by the music, Gregor ventured a little further than usual. Because of the dust that lay everywhere in his room, he himself was completely covered with it, “on his back and sides he carried with him threads, hair, remnants of food; his indifference to everything was too great to lie down, as before, for several once a day on your back and clean yourself on the carpet." And now this unkempt monster slid across the sparkling floor of the living room. A shameful scandal broke out. Residents indignantly demanded their money back. The mother broke into a coughing fit.

Early in the morning the maid came and found Gregor lying completely motionless. Soon she joyfully informed the owners: “Look, it’s dead, here it lies, completely, completely dead!” Gregor's body was dry, flat and weightless. The maid scooped up his remains and threw them out with the trash.

Everyone felt undisguised relief. Mother, father and Greta allowed themselves a walk outside the city for the first time in a long time. In the tram car, full of warm sunshine, they animatedly discussed the prospects for the future, which turned out to be not so bad at all. At the same time, the parents, without saying a word, thought about how, despite all the vicissitudes, their daughter had become prettier.

Gregor Samsa is the main character of the novel. Waking up from a restless sleep, a young traveling salesman discovers that he has turned into an insect. “Lying on his armour-hard back, he saw... his brown, convex belly, divided by arched scales...” G. tries not to be surprised by what happened. He considers the transformation to be the result of fatigue and malaise. Having decided to first get out of bed, get dressed, have breakfast, and only then comprehend what was happening, he is faced with great difficulties: “he needed arms to get up; but instead he had many legs that did not stop moving and with which he could not cope." The locked door separating G.'s room and the room where his father, mother, sister Greta and the manager were (his arrival was caused by G.'s lateness for work) prevents clarity in the situation. “It was the unknown that depressed everyone.” Helpless G., trying to open the door, never stops apologizing to his loved ones and thinks with horror about being fired and being unable to support them. “He felt hot with shame” (in front of his family and, above all, in front of his sister, “who had every right to live the same way as before - to dress elegantly, sew until late, participate in modest entertainment and, above all, play the violin”). The manager, horrified by the contemplation of his employee's new appearance, leaves the house. The parents don’t hear G.’s excuses - his voice sounds like an animal moo. It's hard for her sister to believe that the foul-smelling creature spreading sticky mucus around the room is her beloved brother. Soon a “huge bony woman with gray flowing hair” is invited to take care of G. The furniture is taken out of his room, and it gradually becomes a repository for unnecessary things. G. himself becomes unnecessary for those around him. The metamorphosis that happened to G. is a metaphor for rejection and extreme loneliness. Parents want to think that the terrible insect is not their son, “who would have long ago realized that people cannot live with such an animal and would have left on his own.” They exclude him from their lives. But G. the insect did not stop thinking, feeling, and suffering like humans. His experiences of his social failure are replaced by a search for warmth and care from loved ones. Listening to his sister play the violin, he “wants to let her know that she should go into his room with her violin, because no one will appreciate her playing the way he appreciates it”; dreams of how “the door will open and he will again, just like before, take the family’s affairs into his own hands.” Unlike the classic version of the plot development, where transformation makes it possible to enter another space and unite with it, Kafka takes to the extreme the situation of abandonment and rejection of the “other”, his rejection. Everyone perceives G.'s death as a relief.

The mechanical inhumanity of fascism and all totalitarianism in general. The atmosphere of his novels “The Trial” and “The Castle” is perceived as a grandiose metaphor - a metametaphor - of equally soulless and mechanical bureaucracy. The way Kafka showed the absurdity and inhumanity of the total bureaucratization of life in the 20th century is amazing. And surely such a degree of dehumanization of social...

In particular, with the development of philosophy and science, it did not receive its completion (due to the above-mentioned “eternal” harmonizing value of myth) and was periodically interrupted by the processes of remythologization, especially in the 20th century, marked simultaneously by rapid achievements of technical thought and disappointment in rationalistic philosophy, in evolutionism, in straightforward “enlightenment” hopes. ...

In the modern world, just like 100 years ago, a person’s value is determined by the benefit he brings to society. While a citizen works, he is useful and receives a reward in the form of a salary. However, as soon as a person loses the ability to earn money for one reason or another, he becomes a burden to society and his only chance to survive is the support of his relatives. But are they always ready to take on such responsibility? Franz Kafka reflects on this and much more in his controversial story “The Metamorphosis.” Let's find out more about its main character and the misfortune that turned his life upside down.

The insignificant and brilliant Franz Kafka

Before analyzing the image of Gregor Samsa, it is worth paying attention to the creator of this legendary story - the German-speaking Jewish writer Franz Kafka. The fate of this man was very tragic. The sad thing is that he himself allowed her to become exactly this way and was aware of it.

Growing up in the family of a Czech Jew who sold dry goods, Kafka was distinguished by sensitivity and intelligence from childhood. However, his authoritarian father tried with all his might to exterminate this in his son, constantly humiliating him. The mother and other family members were so intimidated that they did not dare to resist the harsh will of the father.

When Franz grew up and realized that he dreamed of becoming a writer, due to pressure from his relatives, he was forced to work as an official in the insurance department.

Only when doctors diagnosed him with tuberculosis, which was fatal in those years, was the writer able to retire and leave with his beloved girl for Berlin. And a year later he died.

Despite such a short (40 years) and uneventful life, Kafka left behind several dozen brilliant works that brought his genius posthumous recognition throughout the world.

The story “Metamorphosis”: plot

This work is one of the most famous in the work of Franz Kafka. This is largely due to his autobiographical nature, because he himself became the prototype of the main character Kafka.

Gregor Samsa (this is the name of the main character of the story, who does not act much as the plot develops, passively accepting the blows of fate) is a modest employee, forced to engage in an unloved occupation in order to pay off his father’s debts and provide his family with a decent life. One morning he wakes up in the body of a giant beetle. Despite the terrible incident, the main thing that frightens Gregor is his inability to continue to provide for his parents and sister.

Meanwhile, it turns out that his relatives are not so poor and helpless. Left without a breadwinner, they gradually settle down well in life, and the terrible insect Gregor turns into a burden for them.

Realizing this, the hero exhausts himself and dies from exhaustion, but his family perceives this not as a tragedy, but as a relief.

Franz Kafka “Metamorphosis”: heroes of the story

The main character of the work is, without a doubt, the insect Gregor, but an analysis of his personality will be a little later. And now it’s worth paying attention to his family.

So, the most important thing in the Samsa family is the father. He was once a successful entrepreneur, but he went broke and is now completely in debt. Despite the fact that he is able to work off the debt himself, he “hangs” this responsibility on his son, dooming him to many years of grueling service. Being an authoritarian person, Samsa Sr. does not tolerate objections, does not forgive weakness, loves to command and is not very clean.

His wife Anna suffers from asthma, so until Gregor turns into a terrible insect, he simply sits at home, without even doing housework (there is a cook and a maid).

Sister Greta is a talented violinist (as it seemed at first). She is the only one in the entire family who treats him more or less condescendingly. But gradually she shows her true colors.

In addition to them, the story also depicts Gregor Samsa's boss. He is a petty, puny man who constantly wants to rise above his subordinates. And not only figuratively, but also literally (when talking with employees, he sits on the desk to look taller). Judging by the fact that Samsa the Elder owes him money, these men probably used to have a common business. Also, perhaps this is a hint that Gregor's father, being an entrepreneur, was the same.

Who is Gregor Samsa: biography and profession of the character before transformation

Having considered the secondary characters, it is worth focusing on the main character of this story - Gregor. This young man grew up in a quite wealthy family. Because of his father's authoritarianism, he is conditioned to subordinate his interests to the needs of others.

As a child, he attended a regular school, then received the education of a merchant. Afterwards the guy entered military service and achieved the rank of lieutenant. After his father's ruin, despite the lack of work experience, Gregor Samsa received a position in the company of his parent's creditor.

The hero's profession is a traveling salesman (travels around cities and sells fabrics). Due to constant travel, Gregor has practically nothing of his own except chronic fatigue and digestive problems.

He is almost never at home (which, by the way, suits his family quite well), he has no time for friends or meeting women, although judging by the picture on the wall, he would like to have a girlfriend.

This hero’s only dream is to repay his father’s debt and finally quit this damn job. Until then, he cannot even allow himself to dream about anything of his own. For this reason, a man focuses all his dreams on the well-being of his sister. He strives to raise money for her studies at the conservatory, not noticing that Greta is untalented.

Characteristics of Gregor Samsa

Almost from the first lines of the story, Gregor seems like a boring and narrow-minded man in the street who has no interests of his own. However, it later turns out that he is a deeply feeling person who loves art and is in dire need of the love and approval of loved ones.

He takes upon himself the burden of caring for his relatives (even though they could provide for themselves), worrying that his parents and sister do not need anything. He loves them faithfully and selflessly and, even becoming a vile insect, forgives them for their callousness and deception.

Gregor Samsa is also an excellent worker; he gets up earlier than everyone else to do more and better. The hero is very observant and smart, but all these qualities have to be used only to earn money for the family.

Another striking feature of the hero is self-criticism. He is aware of the limitations of his horizons and soberly understands that it is the result of his chronic busyness. Strongly contrasting against this background is the limited interests, education and humanity of his relatives, who, through the efforts of Gregor, have enough time to devote to their development. Only Greta, at the end of the story, begins to learn French and shorthand, and then only in order to start earning more, and not because she is interested.

Another feature of the hero named Gregor Samsa is also striking. His characterization would not be complete without mentioning his all-consuming thirst for approval. Understanding at some subconscious level that his family are unable to love anyone but himself, Gregor tries to at least gain their approval. That is why he rents a large apartment for them, pays servants, works off the debt, without even bothering to find out if his father may have some savings left (and he does). Even after becoming a beetle, the hero never stops trying to earn praise from his family and, dying, he hopes that his father, mother and Greta will appreciate his sacrifice, which does not happen.

Why did the transformation happen?

Kafka confronts readers with the very fact of transformation, without explaining its reasons or goals. But who knows, maybe the person Gregor Samsa turned into is not a punishment, but a motivation to start changes in his life? What if, having learned to defend his own interests, the hero would again find a human form, and would not live out his days hungry, sick, a lonely prisoner in his dusty room?

It is noteworthy that if, finding himself in such a deplorable situation, Gregor did not rebel, then it means that he would never have done this in human form, doomed to fulfill the whims of his family for the rest of his life. Therefore, perhaps transformation is a deliverance, not a punishment?

Loss of individuality as a reason for transformation

Gregor's transformation is a consequence of the hero's loss of his individuality, sacrificed to others. The lack of social and personal life leads to the fact that the disappearance of the traveling salesman Samsa, and then his death, is noticed only by his boss.

But a man and a citizen disappeared. And his relatives don’t even bother about his funeral, allowing the maid to throw Gregor out like garbage.

The problem of disability and the hero of "Transformation"

An attentive reader will definitely notice that the description of Gregor Samsa’s state of health is very reminiscent of the condition of a disabled person: it is difficult for him to move, he is unable to control his reflexes and instincts, and is absolutely helpless.

In fact, under the guise of a pseudo-fiction story, Kafka talks about the fate of a disabled person. After all, as you know, even in the most affluent countries of the world, as soon as a person loses the opportunity to work for the good of society, he becomes unnecessary.

Although in civilized countries a pension is allocated to persons with limited legal capacity (as happened with Kafka), it is, as a rule, not enough, because a disabled person always requires 2 or even 3 times more than a healthy person, and there is no return from him.

Not every family, even the most loving one, will be able to take responsibility for such a person. As a rule, disabled people are sent to boarding schools and nursing homes. And those who agree to take on this burden often mock the helpless victims of illnesses who understand everything, but cannot always show it (like Gregor Samsa).

The behavior of the protagonist's relatives fits into the classical scheme: the breadwinner of the family spares no effort and health for his relatives for many years, but, having lost his ability to work, becomes a burden for them, from which everyone dreams of getting rid of.

Who is really to blame for Gregor's death?

At first glance, it seems that the selfishness of the protagonist’s relatives led to his moral and then physical death. But if you look more closely, you will notice that Gregor himself is largely to blame. He always followed the path of least resistance, avoiding conflicts - because of this, he was mercilessly exploited by both his boss and his family.

In the Bible, which people love to quote when urging someone to give up their interests in favor of others, there is this passage: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” In addition to caring for others, this commandment of Christ hints to everyone that, first of all, he must become a person who loves and respects himself. And, only having formed yourself, you need to begin to take care of your neighbors with the same zeal as you take care of yourself.

In the case of the hero of “Transformation,” he himself destroyed everything human in himself; it is not surprising that none of those around him considered him to be a human being.

Parents' attitude towards Gregor before and after the transformation

Kafka took many of the plot lines of the story “The Metamorphosis” from his own sad experience of relationships with his parents. Thus, while providing for his family for many years, the writer gradually noticed that his sacrifice was taken for granted, and he himself was interested in his relatives only as a source of income, and not as a living and feeling person. Gregor's fate is described in exactly the same way.

Before his transformation, his parents hardly saw their son. He was practically never at home because of work, and when he did spend the night under his stepfather’s roof, he left long before they woke up. Gregor Samsa provided comfort to his family without bothering him with his presence.

However, having become a beetle, he forced his parents to pay attention to him. Moreover, he allowed himself unforgivable insolence: he stopped bringing money and began to need their help. Having learned that for some reason his son did not go to work, the first thing the father thought was that Gregor would be fired, and not that he might have gotten sick or died.

Upon learning of the transformation, the father beats his beetle son, taking out his fear of financial problems in the future on him. However, subsequent events show that Samsa Sr. had good savings of his own, and also that he could provide for himself.

As for the mother, although at first she looks like a caring woman, but gradually this mask falls off from her and it becomes clear that Anna Samsa is a complete egoist, no better than her husband. After all, the parents noticed that Gregor did not leave on the day of his transformation only at 6:45, but the hero planned to get up at 4:00 in the morning. This means that the mother was absolutely not worried: whether her son would have a normal breakfast, whether he had fresh clothes and everything he needed for the trip. She didn't even bother to get up just to walk Gregor to work - is this a portrait of a loving mother?

Sister's attitude towards the hero

The only one among his family who treated Gregor well in the first time after his transformation was Greta. She brought him food and sympathized with him. It is noteworthy that it was she who was subsequently the first to talk about the fact that the vile beetle is no longer her brother and it is worth getting rid of him.

Throughout the story, Kafka gradually reveals Greta's disgusting essence. Like her mother, her ostentatious kindness towards Gregor is just a mask that the girl easily discards when she needs to take responsibility for her loving brother.

A Tale in which Nobody Changes, or What is the Future of the Samsa Family

Contrary to the title, the transformation itself is not shown in the story. Instead, Kafka describes the fate of heroes who are unable to truly change, even after realizing their problems.

Thus, observing the neglect of his relatives, the main character forgives them everything and sacrifices himself for their well-being. Not once, even in his thoughts, does he fully express a protest, although during the time spent in the body of an insect, he was able to consider the real essence of his relatives.

And their choice fell on Greta. This is exactly what the ending of the story hints at. After all, before their son’s body has even cooled down, Mr. and Mrs. Samsa are thinking about how best to marry off their daughter. And there is no doubt: hardly anyone will ask her opinion on this matter.

Transformation

The incident that happened to Gregor Samsa is described, perhaps, in one sentence of the story. One morning, waking up after a restless sleep, the hero suddenly discovered that he had turned into a huge scary insect...

Gregor Samsa was an ordinary young man living in a big city.

All his efforts and concerns were subordinated to his family, where he was the only son and therefore felt an increased sense of responsibility for the well-being of his loved ones.

His father went bankrupt and spent most of his time at home, looking through newspapers. The mother suffered from attacks of suffocation, and she spent long hours in a chair by the window. Gregor also had a younger sister, Greta, whom he loved very much. Greta played the violin well, and Gregor's cherished dream - after he managed to cover his father's debts - was to help her enter the conservatory, where she could study music professionally. After serving in the army, Gregor got a job at a trading company and was soon promoted from a minor employee to a traveling salesman. He worked with great diligence, although the place was ungrateful. I had to spend most of my time on business trips, get up at dawn and go to the train with a heavy suitcase full of samples of cloth. The owner of the company was stingy, but Gregor was disciplined, diligent and hardworking. Besides, he never complained. Ino....

After serving in the army, Gregor got a job at a trading company and soon received a promotion, becoming a traveling salesman. He worked with great diligence, although the place was ungrateful.

I had to spend most of my time on business trips, get up at dawn and go to the train with a heavy suitcase full of samples of cloth.

There was silence outside the door.

No one understood a word of his monologue. Then the manager said quietly: “It was the voice of an animal.” The sister and the maid ran after the locksmith in tears.

However, Gregor himself managed to turn the key in the lock, grabbing it with his strong jaws. And then he appeared before the eyes of those crowding at the door, leaning against its frame.

One day his humiliating peace was disturbed, as the women decided to empty his room of furniture.

It was Greta's idea, who decided to give him more space to crawl.

Gregor was filled with excitement.

References

To prepare this work, materials from the site http://http://lib.rin.ru were used

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Franz Kafka

"Metamorphosis"

Gregor Samsa was an ordinary young man living in a big city. All his efforts and concerns were subordinated to his family, where he was the only son and therefore felt an increased sense of responsibility for the well-being of his loved ones.

His father went bankrupt and spent most of his time at home, looking through newspapers. The mother suffered from attacks of suffocation, and she spent long hours in a chair by the window. Gregor also had a younger sister, Greta, whom he loved very much. Greta played the violin well, and Gregor’s cherished dream - after he managed to cover his father’s debts - was to help her enter the conservatory, where she could study music professionally. After serving in the army, Gregor got a job at a trading company and was soon promoted from a minor employee to a traveling salesman. He worked with great diligence, although the place was ungrateful. I had to spend most of my time on business trips, get up at dawn and go to the train with a heavy suitcase full of samples of cloth. The owner of the company was stingy, but Gregor was disciplined, diligent and hardworking. Besides, he never complained. Sometimes he was more lucky, sometimes less. One way or another, his earnings were enough to rent a spacious apartment for his family, where he occupied a separate room.

It was in this room that he woke up one day in the form of a giant disgusting centipede. Woke up, he looked around at the familiar walls, saw a portrait of a woman in a fur hat, which he had recently cut out from an illustrated magazine and inserted into a gilded frame, turned his gaze to the window, heard raindrops knocking on the tin of the window sill, and closed his eyes again. “It would be nice to sleep a little more and forget all this nonsense,” he thought. He was used to sleeping on his right side, but his huge bulging belly was now bothering him, and after hundreds of unsuccessful attempts to turn over, Gregor gave up this activity. In cold horror, he realized that everything was happening in reality. But what horrified him even more was that the alarm clock showed half past seven, while Gregor had set it for four in the morning. Didn't he hear the bell and missed the train? These thoughts drove him into despair. At this time, his mother knocked cautiously on the door, worried that he would be late. His mother's voice was, as always, gentle, and Gregor was frightened when he heard the answering sounds of his own voice, which was mixed with a strange painful squeak.

Then the nightmare continued. There was already knocking on his room from different sides - both his father and his sister were worried whether he was healthy. They begged him to open the door, but he stubbornly did not unlock the lock. After incredible effort, he managed to hang over the edge of the bed. At this time the bell rang in the hallway. The manager of the company himself came to find out what happened. Out of terrible excitement, Gregor jerked with all his might and fell on the carpet. The sound of the fall was heard in the living room. Now the manager has joined the calls of the relatives. And it seemed wiser to Gregor to explain to the strict boss that he would certainly correct everything and make up for it. He began excitedly blurting out from behind the door that he was only slightly ill, that he would still catch the eight o'clock train, and finally began to beg not to fire him because of involuntary absenteeism and to spare his parents. At the same time, he managed, leaning on the slippery chest, to straighten up to his full height, overcoming the pain in his torso.

There was silence outside the door. No one understood a word of his monologue. Then the manager said quietly: “It was the voice of an animal.” The sister and the maid ran after the locksmith in tears. However, Gregor himself managed to turn the key in the lock, grabbing it with his strong jaws. And then he appeared before the eyes of those crowding at the door, leaning against its frame.

He continued to convince the manager that everything would soon fall into place. For the first time, he dared to express to him his feelings about hard work and the powerlessness of the position of a traveling salesman, whom anyone could offend. The reaction to his appearance was deafening. The mother silently collapsed on the floor. His father shook his fist at him in confusion. The manager turned and, looking back over his shoulder, began to slowly walk away. This silent scene lasted several seconds. Finally the mother jumped to her feet and screamed wildly. She leaned on the table and knocked over a pot of hot coffee. The manager immediately rushed towards the stairs. Gregor set off after him, clumsily mincing his legs. He definitely had to keep the guest. However, his path was blocked by his father, who began to push his son back, making some hissing sounds. He nudged Gregor with his stick. With great difficulty, having injured one side on the door, Gregor squeezed back into his room, and the door was immediately slammed behind him.

After this terrible first morning, Gregor began a humiliated, monotonous life in captivity, with which he slowly got used to. He gradually adapted to his ugly and clumsy body, to his thin tentacle legs. He discovered that he could crawl along the walls and ceiling, and even liked to hang there for a long time. While in this terrible new guise, Gregor remained the same as he was - a loving son and brother, experiencing all family worries and suffering because he brought so much grief into the lives of his loved ones. From his captivity, he silently eavesdropped on the conversations of his relatives. He was tormented by shame and despair, since now the family found itself without funds and the old father, sick mother and young sister had to think about earning money. He painfully felt the disgust that those closest to him felt towards him. For the first two weeks, mother and father could not bring themselves to enter his room. Only Greta, overcoming her fear, came here to quickly clean up or put down a bowl of food. However, Gregor was less and less satisfied with ordinary food, and he often left his plates untouched, although he was tormented by hunger. He understood that the sight of him was unbearable for his sister, and therefore he tried to hide under the sofa behind a sheet when she came to clean up.

One day his humiliating peace was disturbed, as the women decided to empty his room of furniture. It was Greta's idea, who decided to give him more space to crawl. Then the mother timidly entered her son’s room for the first time. Gregor obediently hid on the floor behind a hanging sheet, in an uncomfortable position. The commotion made him feel very ill. He understood that he had been deprived of a normal home - they took out the chest where he kept a jigsaw and other tools, a closet with clothes, a desk where he prepared his homework as a child. And, unable to bear it, he crawled out from under the sofa to protect his last wealth - a portrait of a woman in furs on the wall. At this time, mother and Greta were catching their breath in the living room. When they returned, Gregor was hanging on the wall, his paws wrapped around the portrait. He decided that under no circumstances would he allow him to be taken away; he would rather grab Greta in the face. The sister who entered the room failed to take the mother away. She “saw a huge brown spot on the colorful wallpaper, screamed, before it dawned on her that it was Gregor, shrilly and shrill” and collapsed in exhaustion on the sofa.

Gregor was filled with excitement. He quickly crawled into the living room after his sister, who rushed to the first aid kit with drops, and helplessly stomped behind her, suffering from his guilt. At this time, his father came - now he worked as a delivery boy in some bank and wore a blue uniform with gold buttons. Greta explained that her mother had fainted and Gregor had “broken out.” The father let out a malicious cry, grabbed a vase of apples and began to throw them at Gregor with hatred. The unfortunate man ran away, making many feverish movements. One of the apples hit him hard on the back, getting stuck in his body.

After his injury, Gregor's health worsened. Gradually, the sister stopped cleaning his house - everything was overgrown with cobwebs and a sticky substance leaking from his paws. Guilty of nothing, but rejected with disgust by those closest to him, suffering from shame more than from hunger and wounds, he withdrew into miserable loneliness, going over his whole past simple life on sleepless nights. In the evenings, the family gathered in the living room, where everyone drank tea or talked. Gregor was “it” for them - every time his family closed the door of his room tightly, trying not to remember his oppressive presence.

One evening he heard that his sister was playing the violin for three new tenants - they were renting rooms for money. Attracted by the music, Gregor ventured a little further than usual. Because of the dust lying everywhere in his room, he himself was completely covered with it, “on his back and sides he carried with him threads, hair, remnants of food; His indifference to everything was too great to lie down, as before, several times a day on his back and clean himself on the carpet.” And now this unkempt monster slid across the sparkling floor of the living room. A shameful scandal broke out. Residents indignantly demanded their money back. The mother broke into a coughing fit. The sister concluded that it was impossible to live like this any longer, and the father confirmed that she was “a thousand times right.” Gregor struggled to crawl back into his room. From weakness he was completely clumsy and out of breath. Finding himself in the familiar dusty darkness, he felt that he could not move at all. He almost no longer felt pain, and still thought about his family with tenderness and love.

Early in the morning the maid came and found Gregor lying completely motionless. Soon she joyfully informed the owners: “Look, it’s dead, here it lies, completely, completely dead!”

Gregor's body was dry, flat and weightless. The maid scooped up his remains and threw them out with the trash. Everyone felt undisguised relief. Mother, father and Greta allowed themselves a walk outside the city for the first time in a long time. In the tram car, full of warm sunshine, they animatedly discussed the prospects for the future, which turned out to be not so bad at all. At the same time, the parents, without saying a word, thought about how, despite all the vicissitudes, their daughter had become prettier.

One morning Gregor Samsa was horrified to discover that he had been transformed into a huge, ugly centipede. At first it seemed to the young man that this was just a continuation of a nightmare, but everything turned out to be true. The hero is terrified: now, according to the rules, he needs to get out of bed, have breakfast and get ready for the morning train. Gregor works as a traveling salesman, he is hardworking and therefore is in good standing with his superiors. The next thought seemed to paralyze him: who will take care of his mother, father and sister Greta if he remains like this forever? After all, it is thanks to his good salary that they manage to rent a spacious apartment and run a household.

There's a knock on the door. It was his mother who came to find out why he was taking so long to get up. Gregor cannot utter a word, his father and sister join his mother, and soon the boss comes, concerned about his absence. With great difficulty, Gregor manages to crawl out of bed and utter a few words, he tries to assure everyone that he is a little unwell, but very soon everything will return to normal. Silence reigned outside the door, people were horrified by the sound they heard. Gregor manages to open the door and everyone present lets out a scream of horror. He tries to explain something to them, even intends to pursue the fleeing boss, but his father kicks him into the room.

Thus began Gregor's new life. He sat in his room all day long, completely alone, only Greta came to him to clean up the mess and put out a bowl of food. This food was alien to the centipede, he wasted away and weakened, but continued to worry about his family, hoping that this nightmare would end and one day he would wake up again as an ordinary traveling salesman. His mother and father could not see him in this state, and Greta began to visit him less and less. One day, together with his mother, he took out all the furniture from his room so that he would have more space, but this only saddened Gregor: the last grains of his usual life were taken away from him.

Several months passed, and his room turned into a dirty room, where a barely alive, dirty centipede slowly moved along the shabby walls. Gregor heard the music and realized that it was Greta playing the violin for the guests. Gathering his last strength, he moved to the door and crawled to the living room. There was a bright light on, the family was drinking tea and laughing. The mother turned and saw Gregor at the door, followed by a terrible commotion, screams and cursing. Everyone agreed that it was impossible to live like this any longer.

They forgot about Gregor. A couple of weeks later, a maid came into the room and saw his dried body on the dirty floor. She happily informed the family about the death of this monster. Everyone remained indifferent to this news, and Gregor’s body, along with the rest of the trash, immediately went into the trash can.

Mother, father and Greta went for a walk for the first time in a long time. There they discussed their future life and they had the most rosy plans for it. It was also noted that Greta had become an extraordinary beauty. And this despite everything that their family has had to endure recently. But, words to God, everything was resolved successfully!