Gregor's Guilt

You know, personally, if I had woken up and found myself turned into a monstrous vermin, I really doubt I would share Gregor's feelings on the subject. If it were me, a lot of screaming would ensue, followed by a desperate attempt to wake myself up from the nightmare. (Not that I know exactly what I'd do, this never having happened-just to clarify this is only a prediction.) But this guy must be the least self-absorbed character I have ever read about. He feels guilty. And for not just one, but two reasons. First of all he feels bad for causing Halloween to come to life in his house and scaring his poor family nearly to death. Second, he's worried about what they'll do without the money that he brings in from that lovely fabric-salesman job that he so loves (not). He doesn't want them to have to move because they can't pay the rent, or his fat father or asthmatic mother or seventeen year old sister to have to start working. He also doesn't want his sister who has lovingly been taking care of him while trying not to throw up to have to give her spot at the Conservatory and have to stop playing violin and wearing pretty dresses. This is rather a lot for one guy to have on his plate sue to a transformation that, as far as we know, was in no way his fault. But that doesn't stop him from wishing that he could still work his horrific job and work off a debt that isn't his for the people he loves.

So this guy is obviously sweet, but at the same time sort of pathetic in my eyes. There is just something about his eagerness to work (in an almost loyal Golden Retriever sort of way) that just makes him seem like this overexcited little boy. He just wants to work! Please mister manager, just let him work for you! Then, if you add on top of that his endearing stunt while trying to open the door, and then getting beaten by his father while innocently trying to maneuver his cumbersome abdomen, he becomes the guy you root for. A little pathetic, but lovable even though he's a giant cockroach. Go figure.