"The Metamorphosis"

CHARACTER:
Gregor Samsa- a traveling sales man and protagonist in this story. Gregor doesn't like his job though he keeps his job because he feels like he needs to take care of his father's debts and support his family. one morning he wakes up and he has turned into a large bug and spends all his time in his room.
Grete Samasa- Gregor's sister who shows a great concerns towards Gregor though she gets tired of taking care of him eventually. she takes charge of the house after Gregor's transformation
Mother- Gregor's mother is very horrified by Gregor's new look. Grete and the father usually protect mother from Gregor.
Father- after his business had failed, he is very depressed. Since Gregor's new stage, the father is forced to go back to work. he threw an apple to Gregor and it wounded Gregor.
The office manager- he came to Gregor's house to see why he didn't show up to work that morning. as soon as he saw Gregor's metamorphosis look, he flees.
the maid- she is the first maid who was horrified by Gregor's change and bags the family to fire her.
the charwoman- an widow and cleaning lady for Gregor's family. she faces reality of Gregor's change without fear and disgust.

Q. how does the author characterize the maid, sister, Gregor?
 -maid: static character. she doesn't change how she feels about Gregor's metamorphosis in the whole story.
-sister: dynamic character "Butterfly?" She take over the responsibilities after Gregor's change which made mother and father rely on her instead of Gregor. she changes her behavior to more grown-ups.
-Gregor: round character "Bug?"(he feels guilty about not being able to take care of the family; he talks bout how he wanted to send her to music school for violin(pg.2013) even after he was stuck in his room.


Q.Kafka includes many references to hunger and food--what is the significance of these references?
-the hunger and food might refer to sympathy or attention. it is like when Gregor wants food because of his hunger, it reflects to Gregor wants some sympathy on him because is hungry for the attention. 
Q.Identify and discuss some of the themes of "The Metamorphosis" - be sure to refer to your notes about what a theme is and in your discussion identify key passages of the text that support the themes you've identified.
-i think that the theme could be the ugliness of humanity in every situation and how people react to it. Human tend to do forget the bad things to make peace to ourselves. in this story, the situation of Gregor's metamorphosis changed the family. without reading farther into the story, i assumed that family would help him in every way because that's what family would do. however, the mother horrified by Gregor's appearance and the father was frustrated to go back to work. The father didn't have to work because Gregor was the one who was supporting the family. Now that Gregor can not get out of his room nad go to work, father has to step in. In the text, Gregor talks about how everyone wanted to check on him when his room door was closed, and now that the door is open no one wanted to visit him. how sad that no one wants to be around? Grette, Gregor's sister, treated Gregor not exist anymore at one point in the text (pg.2027). it took the hopes from the mother and father that Gregor will comeback to human. i can say that there is limits to people's sympathy. Grete initially took care of Gregor out of sympathy though when she ran out of sympathy she quit giving him food and drinks.