Empathetic Response to "Metamorphosis" by Franz Kafka

Mr. Samsa (Gregor’s father) - Mr. Samsa sits in his armchair after throwing the
apples at Gregor.

How could this happen to our family? The son I once knew, the hard and diligent
worker who gave everything to support us, is gone. Now all that remains is this damn
insect.

Now if I can just get some peace to digest what I had to do. Mr. Samsa slumped into
his armchair. Seeing it outside of its room when I arrived home from work was
overwhelming. And Greta pressing her face into my chest added to the intensity. My
instinct to protect kicked in, especially since the two women didn’t listen to me. I
remember grabbing the apples from the sideboard and hurling them at the creature;
if I can recall, one even lodged in his back. Did I just assault my son? No, it's not
him. I can still hear the echo of Greta screaming and, as per usual, my wife wasn’t
able to deal with the stress. Women in this family need to listen to me more. Why!
Why do they still think it's Gregor? Why do they want to protect it? Why does Greta
still feed it? It all doesn’t add up.

The image of the apple in the creature's back, writhing in pain, will teach it a lesson.
It will learn from this. It only recognizes force. I need my family protected from it;
that's the whole reason why I threw the apples. It will remember the pain and stay
away.

“Mother’s fainted.” When I heard those words, I just flipped. The terror in Greta’s
face. I had no choice but to throw the apples. I thought that when we negotiated the
loan repayment in detail, we had finally settled things completely. But now, we must
go through another horror event.

Everything I needed to know was said to me by Greta’s cautious movements and my

wife’s red eyes. Seeing them like that, I had no other option but to protect them.
There needs to be a harder work ethic in this house towards money.

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I can't help but recall the apples, the anger that was boiling in me when I threw them
at it. Protecting my family, andshowing that I was in control was my only goal.
Although now that I think of it, work did wear me down a lot. Constantly overhearing
co-workers talking about how “weird” our family is and gossiping about a “creature”
living in my house puts me to shame. Seeing that smug grin on their faces really irks
me. I know behind their fake smiles and their gossipy little comments about Gregor
that I could do their work in a heartbeat. They have no idea what real stress is.

How much more am I supposed to endure? My family is traumatized; the tension in

this house is eating them alive. I feel like I’m losing it in this nightmare of a life. I used
to look forward to coming home from work, but now the only thing I really look
forward to is the comfort in my armchair.

Will we ever find peace again? Or is this our new reality, living in endless fear of the
monster that lives upstairs? I feel responsible for keeping everything together, but I
don’t know how much more of this I can take.

Gregor’s change not only took him away from us but showed everyone he wasn’t
able to finish off his commitment to repay the money. I always knew he was soft and
that the pressure would break him. For years, he was seen as some sort of savior,
the one who would always take care of us. But now, I hope this incident shows Greta
and my wife that Gregor is no longer in that body. He’s gone, and they need to
accept it.

Is finding peace again even possible? I have no clue. All I do know is that I must
keep going, for the sake of my family. I will protect and defend my family against the
bankers and that creature.