The first thing I thought of when I started reading Metamorphosis was an abandoned house that looked worn out and dark.
I connected Gregor’s situation to this image, because he was trapped both inside his room and inside his mind. He had no way to escape and he held in all his emotions and buried them deep inside his heart. This image, while looking creepy, also represents how his family cannot go anywhere near Gregor and cannot understand the position he is in. He feels abandoned and helpless with no hope of going back to his normal life.
The relationship between Gregor and his sister made me think of this image:
Grete constantly tried to make the effort to help Gregor, whether that was giving him food a cockroach would normally eat or moving the furniture to give him room to crawl. She was extending her hand out, offering her help. Although Grete helped as much as she could, she was never able to truly reach Gregor’s grasp as his humanity slowly crept away. Every time I read a part where Grete and Gregor interacted, I felt a deep sadness for them because I knew that they cared about each other deeply, but there would be no solution to the situation. It was nice to see a true sibling relationship develop, even in a short story.
Each time I read the mother’s reactions to Gregor, I thought of the sound of rain:
The mother was being suffocated by the idea that her son had completely transformed into a different being. She constantly felt a deep pain in her heart because she knew she lost her first child and that she could do nothing about it. When I thought about her, I imagined her stuck in the rain with no where to go. I felt sorry for the mother and couldn’t picture her anywhere else other than caught in a bad storm without an umbrella. She slowly came to accept the situation, but I know she was the character filled with the most sadness.
I don’t believe that Grete cared as much for her brother as he did for her. If she truly cared for him she’d have attempted to communicate with him, she made absolutely no effort to do so. If one of my parents (I have no siblings) transformed into a vermin one day I’d attempt to seek help for them (somehow) and communicate with them, to see if they are still human inside. Regardless of whether or not they can speak if they can understand me and take directions then they are still human. As a result of this negligence on her part their relationship declines as she sees him as less and less of a human being and more and more as an it, a thing, a mere bug.
I found it very interesting and very clever that you compared the mother to being trapped in the rain. There’s no escaping the fact that her son has transformed into a hideous creature. And yet, Gregor himself never seems to come to terms with this. Even at the time of his demise his mind-frame was more focused on the inconvenience he caused his family, rather then on the physical transformation he had undergone. You stated Gregory feels abandoned with no hope of returning to his former life. However, I do not find this wholly true. Mainly because he displays a sort of ignorance to the true implications of his condition. When I read your idea about the storm the sound of lightning came to my head. The jolt and initial shock of lightning is similar to the reaction of Gregor’s family to his transformation. But eventually, as the lightning continues, it produces less of an impact on the individual. Almost like Gregor’s family becoming familiar and accommodating the new him. I also imagined the mother being physically struck down by lightning, since she first fainted at the site of her son. A storm can be a hindrance just as Gregor’s new body is a hindrance and prevents him from attending work.