VLADIMIR NABOKOV
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month-he had kep t onl y a few do ll ars for himse lf-had neve r been
quite u sed up a nd now amounted to a sma ll capi ta l sum. Behind the
door G regor nodded hi s head eagerly, rejo iced a t thi s ev idence o f
unexpec ted thrift and fo resight. T rue, he could rea lly have pa id off
some more o f his fa ther's debts to the boss with this ex tra money, and
so brought much nea rer the day o n which he could quit his jo b, but
doubtless it was better the way hi s fa ther had arranged it. " The family
believes this sum sho uld be kept untouched for a rainy day, but in the
meantime how a re the living expenses to be met? T he fa ther has not
worked fo r five years a nd could no t be expected to do much. And
Gregor's mo ther 's as thma would keep her from working . "And was his
sister to earn her bread, she who was still a child of seventeen and
whose life hitherto had been so pleasant, consisting as itdid in dressing
herse lf nicely, sleeping long, help ing in the housekeeping, go ing out
to
a few modes t enterta inments and above a ll play ing the vio lin ? At
first whenever the need for ea rning mo ney was mentioned Gregor let
go hi s ho ld on the door a nd threw himself down on the coo l lea ther
sofa bes ide it, he felt so ho t with shame and grief. "
Scene VI:
A new rela tionship begins between bro ther a nd sister,
this time having
to
do with a window instead of a door. Gregor " nerved
himself to the grea t effo rt o f pushing an a rmcha ir to the window, then
crawled up over the w indow sill and , braced aga in st the cha ir, leaned
aga inst the windowpa nes, o bvio usly in some reco llec tion o f the sense
of freedom tha t looking out o f a window always u sed to g ive him."
Gregor, or Ka fka , seems to think tha t Gregor's urge to approach the
window was a reco ll ec tion o f human experience. Actua ll y, it is a
typica l in sec t reac tion to light: one find s a ll sorts o f du sty bugs near
windowpanes, a mo th o n its back, a lame daddy long legs, p oor insects
cobwebbed in a corner, a buzz ing fl y still trying to conquer the glass
pane. Gregor's huma n sight is g rowing dimmer so tha t he canno t see
clea rl y even across the stree t. T he human de tail is domina ted by the
insec t genera l idea. (But let us no t ourse lves be insec ts. Let us first o f a ll
study every deta il in thi s sto ry; the genera l idea will come of itse lf la ter
when we have a ll the da ta we need .) His sister does no t understa nd tha t
Gregor has reta ined a huma n hea rt, huma n sen sitivity , a huma n sense
of decorum, of shame, o f humility and pa the tic pride . She disturbs him
horribly by the no ise and has te with which she opens the window
to
brea the some fresh a ir, and she does no t bo ther to concea l her disgust a t
the awful smell in his den. Neither does she conceal her fee lings when
she ac tuall y sees him. One day, abo ut a month a fter Gregor's metamor–
phosis, "when there was surely no reason for her to be still sta rtled at
