Riassunto
Riassunto di Metamorphosis
A chi è rivolto
This book suits readers who like strange, vivid short fiction, close family drama and stories that stay in the mind. It also rewards anyone curious about work, duty and how families treat those who depend on them.
Che cos’è questo libro
Metamorphosis is a novella by Franz Kafka, first published in 1915. It begins with one of the strangest openings in fiction: a traveling salesman named Gregor Samsa wakes up in his bed and finds that he has become a giant insect. The story never explains why. Instead, it follows what happens next, step by step, in a small apartment where a family must decide how to live with the change.
In about twenty thousand words, Kafka gives you a quiet, close look at work, money, duty and love inside one household. You meet a son who has supported everyone, a sister who first cares for him, a mother who cannot bear the sight of him, and a father who shows a hard side. Along the way you will see how fast a family can shift when the one who provides can no longer do so. The first key point is the morning itself, and the odd calm with which Gregor faces it.
In questo riassunto
- 1A salesman wakes as an insectFree
- 2Gregor opens the door
- 3Grete becomes his careful keeper
- 4The family changes around him
- 5Work, worth and who counts as family
- 6A strange event told in plain words
Punto chiave 1 di 6
A salesman wakes as an insect
Gregor Samsa wakes on a rainy morning in his small room and finds that he has turned into an enormous insect. He lies on a hard, armor-like back and sees a domed brown belly and many thin legs waving before his eyes. He knows at once that it is not a dream. The room around him is quite ordinary, with cloth samples spread on the table and a magazine picture of a woman in furs hanging in a gilded frame that he cut out himself.
What troubles Gregor most is not his body but his job. He is a traveling salesman, and he thinks of his work as a tiring life of early trains, poor meals and people who come and go without ever becoming friends. He stays in the post only because his parents owe money to his employer. He reckons that five or six more years will pay off the debt, and then he plans to quit and tell his boss exactly what he thinks.
The alarm clock shows that he has overslept and missed his train. Gregor imagines the scolding he will get, and he knows that calling in sick will look suspicious, since he has not been ill once in five years. His mother knocks gently on the door, then his father, then his sister Grete, each asking whether he is well. When he answers, his voice comes out with a painful squeak mixed in, so he keeps his words short and says he is getting up.
Getting out of bed turns into a struggle. His legs will not do what he wants, his body is too broad, and every plan for swinging himself to the floor carries a risk of injury. Gregor keeps thinking like a worried employee, telling himself that the change in his voice must be the start of a cold. Then the doorbell rings, and the visitor is the chief clerk of the firm himself, which makes everything far more serious.
That’s 1 of 6 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Who’s who
- Gregor Samsa
- A travelling salesman who supports his parents and younger sister, Gregor awakens transformed and unable to communicate with them.
- Grete Samsa
- Gregor's younger sister initially brings him food and tries to understand his changed needs within their family home.
- Gregor's father
- Gregor's financially dependent father responds to his son's transformation with fear and force as the household's circumstances change.
- Gregor's mother
- Gregor's mother loves her son but struggles with alarm and distress at his transformed appearance.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 19,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 1 h 15 min
- Listening time2 h 10 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary; paperback, hardcover and large print at cost
- LanguagesEnglish and 11 other languages
Questions about Metamorphosis
What is Metamorphosis by Kafka about?
It follows Gregor Samsa, a traveling salesman who wakes up as a giant insect, and shows how his family, his employer and his own mind respond over the following weeks inside the family apartment.
Why does Gregor Samsa turn into an insect?
The story never gives a reason. Kafka states the change in the first sentence and then concentrates on its effects, which leaves readers to find meaning in Gregor's work, family duty and isolation.
Who is Grete in Metamorphosis?
Grete is Gregor's younger sister, seventeen years old, who plays the violin. She is the first to bring him food and look after his room, and her feelings toward him change as the story goes on.
Is Metamorphosis easy to read?
It is a short book of three chapters, written in clear, direct sentences and told closely through Gregor's eyes. The events are easy to follow, so it makes a good first Kafka.
What is the main message of Metamorphosis?
Many readers see a story about how a person's worth gets tied to work and money, and how families can turn distant when someone can no longer provide. Kafka leaves readers free to find other meanings.