METAMORPHOSIS, 1915

• "He was lying on his hard shell-like back and by lifting his head a little he could see his curved brown belly, divided by stiff arching ribs... His numerous legs, which were pathetically thin compared to his bulk, danced helplessly before his eyes."

• "Gregor tried to imagine whether something like what had happened to him today might one day happen to the chief clerk himself; one really had to admit it was possible."

• "...and tearing open the front door. There was no sound of its slamming; presumably they had left it open, as tends to happen in homes where some great disaster has occurred."

• "...just in case his coughing, too, might not sound quite human, a matter on which he no longer trusted his own judgement."

• "...they were so preoccupied just now with their immediate worries that they had lost all power to look ahead. But Gregor had this power."

• "...but down below where Gregor was it was dark."

• "... a bowl filled with creamy milk, in which little slices of white bread were floating... although milk had always been his favourite drink and that was surely why his sister had put it down for him; indeed it was almost with disgust that he turned away from the bowl and crawled back into the middle of the room."

• "...he felt really proud that he had been able to provide a life of this sort in such a pleasant flat for his parents and his sister. But what if all the peace, all the comfort, all the contentment were now to come to a terrible end? Rather than lose himself in thoughts of that kind Gregor set himself in motion and crawled up and down the room."

• "...the fresh foods, on the other hand, were not to his taste..."

• "For two whole days there were consultations to be heard at every meal as to what should now be done..."

• "They had simply got used to it, both the family and Gregor; the money was gratefully accepted, he provided it gladly, but it no longer gave rise to any special warmth of feeling."

• "...evidently inspired by some recollection of that sense of freedom that looking out of the window used to give him."

• "This made him realise that the sight of him was still repugnant to her and as bound to go on being repugnant, and that it probably cost her a great effort not to take to her heels at the mere sight of that small portion of his anatomy which protruded from under the sofa."

• "Indeed, he was on the brink of forgetting it already [his human past], and only the voice of his mother, that voice which he had not heard for so long, had brought him to his senses."

• "And possibly the romantic spirit of girls of her age, which seeks an outlet at every opportunity, had played some part as well... For in a room where Gregor reigned in solitary state over the bare walls it was unlikely that anyone save Grete would ever dare to set foot."

• "In this manner they circled the room several times, without anything decisive happening, indeed without the whole operation taking on the appearance of a chase, so slowly did it proceed."

• "...even in his former life..."

• "...he felt as if nailed to the spot, and stretched himself flat out, in utter confusion of all his senses."

• "...despite his present lamentable and repugnant shape Gregor was a member of the family, who ought not to be treated as an enemy, but that on the contrary family duty required them to swallow their disgust and put up with him, simply put up with him."

• "Sometimes his father woke up, and as if he had no idea he'd been asleep would say to his mother: "What a lot of sewing you're doing again tonight!" and then go straight back to sleep..."

• "Who in this overworked and exhausted family had time to worry about Gregor any more than was absolutely necessary?"

• "...the main thing which kept them from moving was rather their utter hopelessness, and the feeling that they had been struck by a misfortune quite without parallel among all their friends and relations."

• "In particular, the way they all sent their puffs of cigar smoke through nose and mouth towards the ceiling suggested a high degree of irritability."

• "He feared with a fair degree of certainty that in the very next moment everything would collapse over his head in some general disintegration, and he waited."

• "His thought went back to his family with tenderness and love. His own opinion that he must disappear was if anything even firmer than his sister's."

• "Just come and look, the creature's done for; it's lying there dead and done for!"

"The Metamorphosis deals with an absurd, or wildly irrational event, which in itself suggests that the story operates in a random, chaotic universe... Gregor's metamorphosis takes on a supernatural significance. Also notable is the fact that the story never explains Gregor's transformation... The responses of the various characters add to this sense of absurdity, specifically because they seem almost as absurd as Gregor's transformation itself. The characters are unusually calm and unquestioning, and most don't act particularly surprised by the event."

www.sparknotes.com/lit/metamorph