Franz Kafka’s Classic: Metamorphosis (Annotated) recap

Traveling salesman Gregor Samsa wakes transformed into a giant insect-like creature. Unable to work, he becomes confined to his room while the parents and sister he had supported take jobs and adapt to life without his wages. Grete first feeds and cares for him, but fear, exhaustion, and shame gradually replace sympathy. Gregor is badly injured when his father drives him back with thrown apples, and the neglected wound weakens him. When he emerges to hear Grete play violin for the family's lodgers, the men threaten to leave. Grete insists that the family must get rid of the creature, no longer accepting it as her brother. Gregor returns to his room and dies alone. Relieved, the family dismiss their lodgers, take a trip outside the city, and look toward a more hopeful future centered on Grete's adulthood.

Gregor Samsa, a traveling salesman and his family's sole provider, wakes to discover that he has become a huge insect-like creature. He remains preoccupied with catching a train and avoiding trouble at work, but his changed body makes ordinary movement difficult and his voice is no longer intelligible to others. His parents and sister gather outside the locked room, and the chief clerk arrives from Gregor's firm to demand an explanation for his absence. Gregor finally manages to open the door. The sight of him terrifies the clerk and shocks his family. His father forces him back into the bedroom, injuring him as Gregor struggles through the doorway, and he is left isolated from the household he had supported.

Grete becomes Gregor's main caretaker, bringing food and cleaning his room while trying not to look directly at him. Gregor hides beneath furniture to spare her distress and learns to crawl on the walls and ceiling. The family reveal that they have limited savings but must eventually earn their own income now that Gregor cannot work. Grete and her mother decide to remove furniture so he will have more space, but Gregor fears losing the last signs of his human life and clings to a framed picture. His mother sees him and collapses. When his father returns, he misreads the confusion as an attack and pelts Gregor with apples. One apple lodges in Gregor's back, leaving a grave wound that restricts his movement and never properly heals.

Gregor's injury leaves him weak while every other member of the family takes paid work. Care of him becomes irregular, his room fills with unwanted objects, and Grete's early solicitude turns to resentment. The Samsas rent a room to three exacting lodgers. One evening Grete plays violin for them, and Gregor, deeply moved by the music, crawls into the sitting room. The lodgers see him and threaten to leave without paying. Grete tells her parents they must stop believing the creature is Gregor and must be rid of it. Gregor returns to his room and dies before dawn. The charwoman removes his body. Mr. Samsa expels the lodgers, and the family take a tram into the countryside, relieved and newly confident that their combined work can sustain them. Gregor's parents turn their hopes toward Grete and her future marriage.

Drawn by Grete's violin, Gregor leaves his room while the three lodgers are listening. His appearance revolts them, and they announce that they will leave without paying. Grete tells her parents that the creature must be removed and can no longer be regarded as Gregor. Gregor retreats to his room, weak and accepting that his family needs relief from him, and dies before morning. The charwoman discovers his body and disposes of it. Mr. Samsa orders the lodgers out, and the family take a day away from work. On a tram into the countryside, they recognize that their jobs and finances give them a viable future. Gregor's parents also notice that Grete has grown into a healthy young woman and begin thinking of finding her a husband.