VLADIMIR NABOKOV
369
with ca re and love. Gregor is a human being in an insect's disguise; his
famil y a re insec ts di sguised as people. With Gregor 's death their insec t
souls a re suddenly awa re tha t they a re free to enjoy themselves. "'Come
in bes ide us, Gre te, for a little while,' sa id Mrs. Samsa* with a
tremulous smile, a nd Grete, not without looking back at the corpse,
foll owed her parents into their bedroom ." The charwoman opens the
window wide and the a ir has a certa in wa rmth : it is the end of March
when insec ts come out of hiberna tio n.
Scen e IX:
We ge t a wonderful glimpse of the lodgers as they
sullenly ask for their brea kfas t but instead a re shown Gregor's corpse.
"So they entered a nd stood a round it, with their hands in the pockets of
their shabby coa ts , in the middle o f the room a lready bright with
sunlight. " What is the key wo rd here?
Shabby
in the sun. As in a fa iry
tale, in the happy end of a fa iry ta le, the evil charm is di ssipated with
the magicia n 's dea th . The lodgers a re seen
to
be seedy, they are no
longer dangerous, whereas on the o ther hand the Samsa famil y ascends
again , gain s in power and lush vitality. The scene ends with a
repetition o f the staircase theme, just as the chief clerk had retreated in
slow mo tio n , clasping the banisters. At the orders of Mr. Samsa that
they must leave the lodgers a re quelled. " In the ha ll they a ll three took
their ha ts from the rack, their sticks from the umbrella stand, bowed in
silence and quitted the apa rtment. " Down they go now, three bearded
borders, automa tons, clockwork puppets, while the Samsa family leans
over the banisters to wa tch them descend . The sta ircase as it winds
down through the apa rtment house imita tes, as it were, an insec t's
jointed legs; and the lodgers now disappear, now come
to
view aga in,
as they descend lower a nd lower, from la nding to landing, from
articula tion to articula tion . At one point they are me t by a n ascending
butcher boy with hi s baske t who is first seen rising towards them , then
above them, in proud depo rtment with his basket full of red steaks and
lusc ious innards-red raw mea t, the breeding place of fat shiny flies.
Scene X:
The las t scene is superb in its ironic simplicity. The
spring sunshine is with the Samsa famil y as they write their three
letters- a rticul a tio n , jo inted legs, happy legs, three insects writing
three letters-of excuse to their employers. "They dec ided to spend this
day in res ting and go ing fo r a stroll ; they had not only dese rved such a
respite from work , but a bso lutely needed it. " As the charwoman leaves
after her morning's work , she gigg les amiably as she informs the
°In a no te in hi s a nn o ta ted copy VN observes tha t a fter Gregor's dea th it is never " fa ther"
and "mother" but o nl y Mr. a nd Mrs. Samsa. Ed.
