By Part III, all members of the Samsa family have undergone a drastic transformation. Gregor is the most obvious example: he metamorphoses into a beetle! Aside from that though, his personality doesn’t change that much. Even until the end (his death as a result of lack of eating and exercise and an overall will to live), Gregor still thinks of his family with love and devotion. He tries, for the most part, to make his presence the least inconvenient for them. The personalities of the other Samsas change far more than Gregor’s. All three of them get jobs now that Gregor can’t provide for the family, and they are overworked, tired, and a lot less lively at the dinner table and in the evenings. His father has treated Gregor with violence, and his mother can’t stand the sight of him. Finally, Grete, who has treated him with the most kindness out of anyone, stops caring about Gregor over time. She no longer cleans his room, and eventually SHE is the one to suggest that they need to get rid of Gregor and even calls him a monster. The title of the work refers to not only the metamorphosis of Gregor but of the Samsa family as a whole.
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While reading part 3, I thought it was interesting how the more the other family members worked, the more they became the person Gregor was before his metamorphosis. Yet they still never quite care enough about Gregor as much as he loves them, even up until his death. His family took Gregor's hard labor for granted all these years, and finally see the true of the sacrifices he made for them, yet they still see him as an outsider.
I agree, they all defiantly go through their own sort of metamorphosis! I think Gregor may have changed a bit more than just physically, thought. He was able to kind of get in touch with more of his emotions because he wasn't able to follow his mechanical routine. He even became enraged at one point when thinking about how his family used him. He realized what parts of his room meant things to him, and were connected to his humanity. He enjoyed the violin music and was so moved that he ran out of his room (he wasn't able to use his legs very much at all, but the music gave him such strength.) None of the other family members responded in such a way. Though, it is true that in the end, he thinks happily about his family and seems to die with the same personality he started out with. I do think he gained a new perspective on life, though, and in letting himself die, perhaps he wasn't only relieving his family of the "burden" of taking care of him, but was trying to free himself? Which would also be really sad. :(
Oops, I made a typo; I meant "definitely", not "defiantly", hehe!
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