I had never read this story before, but I knew how it went: Gregor Samsa wakes up one morning to find he’s been transformed into a giant bug. I’ve always associated this story with the PBS show Arthur, since one of the episodes parodies The Metamorphosis:
But of course, the actual story is almost nothing like the episode.
At the beginning of the story, I actually liked Gregor, and I felt kind of sorry for him. I mean, I know that if I were in his place I’d be absolutely freaking out. But the thing is, Gregor didn’t freak out. He was just desperate to get 
to work, because he was afraid of losing his job and thus his means of supporting his family. I actually thought he was kind of adorable, which is kind of weird seeing as he was a giant cockroach. It was sort of surreal how I wasn’t really wigged out by the thought of a giant cockroach, even though I despise all kinds of insects.
I was annoyed with his family, at least till the end of the story. I mean, I know their son/brother was turned into a bug, and it’s understandable that they’d be terrified and confused, but for some reason I can’t quite explain, I didn’t like them at first. Maybe it had to do with how they never tried to communicate with Gregor, or tried to find some kind of solution.
I felt at one point that maybe the story could be taken as allegory for the way people might sometimes feel when a family member falls seriously ill. I sometimes hear stories of people who get sick and then feel like a burden on their family that has to take care of them; I also hear stories about people who resent their ailing family member for taking up so much time, energy and resources. Additionally, their horror at Gregor’s state and their unwillingness to let him out or go near him seems to mirror the stigma attached to sick people, the fear that they’ll infect everyone around them, even if their disease isn’t contagious.
I felt that became even truer as time went on, and Gregor’s family began to ignore him, and care less about him, and even started to show more of their resentment toward him. Gregor might as well have been absent from their lives, given that he was always kept in his room and not allowed out, and because of their disassociation of the giant cockroach from their son/brother, it was as if Gregor had already died. Because of this, they had to learn to live without his support and to fend for themselves. They also were forced to come together to discuss what they were going to do and how they were going to feed and keep themselves, and it seems as though they became closer as a family once Gregor was transformed and pushed out of the picture.
The family’s quite obvious relief at Gregor’s death, to me, seems to mirror the relief that a family might feel at the death of a sick family member. On the one hand, they seem relieved that Gregor’s condition has finally ended, but their actions suggest that they’re more relieved to not have to care for him anymore.
Wow, I didn’t think of it like that. The whole family resentment due to a member falling ill is an intriguing concept, and although I never want to have to experience I can sincerely see the situation from both sides. I can see myself liking someone less and less if they constantly got all the attention, and can see others liking me less if I never got better if I was ill. Yeah, at first everyone is like “Oh my God! We will never leave your side until you’re better” Then that turns into a visit once every two days, then once a week, and before you know it they stop coming all together. I also like that you touched upon Gregor’s metaphorical death, how he was dead to the family before he even was gone.
You seemed to look at this book from a grave point of view which I respect, because the book is dark overall. The whole relief of the family struck a cord with me as well, how they could breathe easier now that their “infestation” in both literal and figurative sense is gone.
I loved you analysis of Gregor becoming a cockroach as a family member getting sick. I was thinking about this while reading the story as well. Yes, Gregor did become a burden for his family because the family was used to Gregor being the sole provider. They were used to him being healthy and having little sleep and weren’t really grateful for it. When Gregor transformed into the cockroach, it seemed as though his family blamed him for it and were okay with him leaving. On the other hand, I feel like when someone is ill, people tend to offer sympathy and feel bad for the person ill because they don’t consider that to be their own fault. It was frustrating to see how ungrateful the family was and I can relate to the negative view you had of the story. And the relief the family felt almost made me cry.