“Metamorphosis” When Gregor Samsa transforms into a bug, his family, whom he loves unconditionally, reveal their true attitude toward him. In “Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka, Gregor sacrifices everything for his family; in return, they abuse him, lie to him, imprison him and finally, they wish him gone from their lives. Despite this, Gregor's unconditional love for them endures. There are two ways one can love: conditionally, or unconditionally. In a healthy relationship between father and son, the parent usually exhibits unconditional love but in the Samsa household, Gregor is tolerated only when he can pay all the expenses for the household with his salary. Once he metamorphoses and can no longer work, Gregor’s father is furious at the …show more content…
When Gregor crawls out of his room towards the chief clerk, “Gregor's father seized the Chief clerk’s stick in his right hand, picked up a large newspaper from the table with his left, and used them to drive Gregor back into his room.” From that time on, Gregor is a prisoner in his room. However, Gregor's response to his father’s behavior doesn't resemble anything related to anger or revenge; no matter what his father does to him, his unconditional love remains. Instead, Gregor feels it is his fault that he has to impose his condition on his …show more content…
The father’s inappropriate response when he learns of Gregor’s death is “Let's give thanks to G-d for that.” It's disturbing that Gregor waited his whole life for his father to accept him; yet even when he's dead, his father doesn't show any love for his son or appreciation for anything he did for the family. Even though his family didn't reciprocate with the same affection, when Gregor is slowly dying, he dreams of the pleasure it would give him to send his sister to music school. Gregor never hates his family, even though they are not deserving of his love and devotion to