At this point, we know that Gregor dies at the end of "The Metamorphosis", but what would have happened if he didn't die? Could he have become human again?
There is a suggestion on page 89 that he could have. When Grete and her mother go into Gregor's room to remove his furniture, the mother suggests that they leave the furniture in place, so that they don't show that they are giving up all hope of his recovery. She went on to say that it would be best if the room stayed the same, "so that when Gregor returns to us ... he can for get what's happened in the meantime all the easier." This implies that she not only believes that Gregor will recover, but that she is certain of it, as pointed to in her using the word "when" instead of "if". Assuming that the same principle of everyone knowing what is happening without seeing evidence (what Mr. Mitchell refers to dream logic) is applicable here, then Frau Samsa's implication that Gregor's condition is temporary should be accurate.
This knowledge that Gregor could eventually become human again might have influenced the way that his family treated him. Instead of killing Gregor immediately, his family cared for him. Grete gave him food in a buffet to see what he liked, because she knew that he would eventually become human again. Only after they got tired and more resentful of his inability to work did they begin to treat him badly. Only then did his father embed an apple in his back, and only then did Grete deny that it was Gregor, and effectively drive him back into his room to die. They were simply fed up with him being an insect, and they were no longer willing to wait for him to recover.
If this condition was temporary, then it would be very interesting to see what would happen if Gregor did not die, but I do not think that the condition is temporary. Gregor has no sign of regaining human traits, if anything as time goes on he starts acting more and more like a bug. It would be a really cool story if the family would figure out how to communicate with Gregor because then they would not be so resentful, but I do not think Gregor turning back into a human is likely.
ReplyDeleteThough it seemed they believed that Gregor could return to his human form, as we got into the later parts of part 3, I thought that his family became increasingly annoyed with him and really saw him as a burden. Seeing this as a temporary condition, though would be really interesting. I would be curious as to what would make him human again. Since Kafka seems to be critiquing work life, family life, and many other societal anxieties during his time, what event or action would still be able to critique these, but also be able to reverse their effects? Nice post!
ReplyDeleteI think that Gregor's condition was permanent and just getting worse. Clearly by the end of the book he is less human on the inside than when the book started. I think when his mother used the word when it was just wishful thinking, convincing herself that Gregor would get better.
ReplyDeleteI think that it is an interesting theory that Gregor could have gotten better, but I also think that as Aidan said, Gregor was getting less and less human as the story went on, so I think the condition was permanent. I also think that Gregor's death was very important to Kafka's style of writing because it makes the story seem even more nightmarish.
ReplyDelete