Gregor as Grandpa
If we accept the premise of the article about Gregor’s transformation being a metaphor for aging, a number of interesting possibilities emerge. For instance, while we talked briefly about Gregor’s parents acting like his children, we did not talk so much about Grete. Gregor, I think, acts like a proud and over-protective grand-parent to Grete throughout the novel. Or, since he can’t really act much, thinks like one. What do we see of Gregor’s interactions with Grete? Probably the most notable incident comes at the very end, when Gregor believes that Grete is not being properly appreciated, and that if she joined him he would truly appreciate him. This has all kinds of creepy vibes, but also vibes of “no one else sees the specialness of my grandchild , who is clearly a violin prodigy.” Gregor takes offense at the lodgers not appreciating Grete, like a grand-parent who feels their child has been insulted. He feels like he would truly appreciate e...