360
PARTISAN REVIEW
against the soo thing cool g lass. T he mo ther is no t much help in this
furniture-mov ing bu siness and has to
be
su p ported by G rete . Gre te
always rema ins strong and ha le whereas no t onl y her bro ther but bo th
parents are going to be soon (a fter the apple-p itching scene) on the
brink of sinking into some dull dream, into a sta te o f torpid a nd
decrepit o bli vion ; but G re te with the ha rd hea lth o f her ruddy adoles–
cen ce keep s p ropp ing them up.
Scene IX :
Despite Gre te's efforts, the mo ther ca tches sight o f
G regor, a " huge brown mass on the fl owered wa ll paper, and before she
was rea ll y conscious tha t wha t she saw was G regor screamed in a lo ud ,
hoarse vo ice : 'Oh God , oh God !' fell with outspread arms over the
couch as if g iving up and did no t move. 'Grego r !' cried h is sister,
sha king her fist and g la ring a t him . T his was the fir st ti me she had
direc tly addressed him since hi s metamorp hos is." She run s into the
li ving room fo r something to rouse her mo ther from the fa inti ng fit.
"Gregor wa nted to help too-there was still time to resc ue the
pic ture-but he was stuck fast to the g lass and had to tear himse lf loose;
he then ran a fter his sister into the nex t room as if he coul d adv ise her,
as he used to do ; but then had to sta ,ld helpless ly behind her; she
meanwhile searched among va rio us sma ll bo ttles and when she turned
round sta rted in a la rm a t the sight o f him; one bo ttle fe ll on the fl oor
and broke; a splinter o f g lass cut G regor's face and some kind of
corros ive medicine splas hed him; without pausing a moment longer
G re te ga thered up a ll the bo ttles she could ca rry a nd ran to he r mother
w ith them; she banged the door shut with her foo t. G regor was now cut
off from his mo ther, who was perhaps nea rl y dying beca use o f him; he
dared no t open the door for fea r o f fri ghtening away his sister, who had
to stay with her mo ther; there was no thing he could do but wa it; a nd
harassed by self-rep roach and worry he began now to craw l to a nd fro ,
over everything, wa lls, furniture and ceiling, and fina ll y in his despa ir,
when the who le room seemed to be ree ling around him, fell down on to
the middle of the big ta ble." T here is a change in the respecti ve
pos ition of the va riou s members o f the famil y. Mo ther (on the couch )
and sister are in the midd le room; G regor is in the corner in the left
room . And presentl y his fa ther comes home and enters the li ving room.
"And so [Gregor] fled to the door o f his own room and crouched
aga inst it, to le t his fa ther see as soon as he came in from the ha ll that
hi s so n had the good intention o f ge tting back into his own room
immedia tely and tha t it was no t necessa ry to d ri ve him there, bu t tha t if
only the door were opened he would di sa ppea r a t once. "
Scene
X: T he apple-pe lting scene comes now. G regor's fa ther has
