The Metamorphosis (AmazonClassics Edition) characters

Appears from the start

A young traveling salesman who pays his family's expenses and debts. He wakes one morning in the body of a huge insect-like creature. Although he can no longer speak intelligibly or control his many legs, he initially worries more about his missed train, his employer, and his family's finances than about himself.

Appears from the start

Gregor's seventeen-year-old sister, who plays the violin. Gregor has privately planned to fund her education at a conservatory. After his transformation she becomes his principal caregiver, bringing food into his room and trying to arrange it around his unfamiliar needs.

Appears from the start

Gregor's father, whose failed business helped make the household dependent on Gregor's wages. Frightened and humiliated by his son's transformation, he responds with physical force when Gregor appears outside his room.

Appears from the start

Gregor's mother, who is shocked by his changed body but remains emotionally attached to him. She wants to help and to preserve his room, yet her frail health and terror make direct contact difficult.

Also known as The chief clerk

Appears from the start

Gregor's workplace superior, dispatched to the family home as soon as Gregor misses his usual train. He treats the unexplained absence as a disciplinary matter and pressures Gregor to answer before anyone knows what has happened to him.

Also known as The cleaning woman

First appears in chapter 3

An elderly household worker hired once the Samsas cut back their domestic arrangements. Hardy and direct, she is willing to look at Gregor and speak to him without the panic that governs the family.

First appears in chapter 3

Three men who rent a room in the Samsa apartment after the family needs additional income. Fastidious and demanding, they expect the household to serve them and occupy the family's common space as if it were their own.