Study Questions
1. Why does Gregor cling to the picture of the woman in furs on the wall?

2. What causes Mrs. Samsa to faint on the sofa?

3. Why does Gregor run after Grete after his mother faints?

4. What kind of job has Mr. Samsa taken?

5. Why doesn’t Gregor recognize his father in his new uniform?

6. How does Mr. Samsa react when he first comes into the apartment and sees his wife lying on the floor?

7. How does Mr. Samsa punish Gregor?

8. Why does Gregor lose consciousness?

9. Who saves Gregor from an almost certain death?

10. How has the balance of power in the Samsa household changed by the end of Part 2?

Answers
1. Gregor feels a certain attachment for this picture. He had cut it out of a magazine and framed it at one time. It is something special for him. The figure of the woman may remind him of his own mother, or it may just give him a sense of warmth and comfort knowing it’s there on his wall for him to gaze at.

2. Mrs. Samsa faints when she sees Gregor sprawled out across the picture on the wall.

3. Gregor is worried that his mother may be dying and so runs after Grete to try to help.

4. Mr. Samsa has taken a job as a bank messenger.

5. Gregor hardly recognizes his father at first when he comes into the apartment because he is wearing a blue uniform and because he looks so unlike the man that he was used to seeing sitting around the house in his dressing gown. The sudden change in his father’s appearance jolts Gregor.

6. Mr. Samsa is greatly upset and angry because he knew Gregor would one day get “loose” in the apartment, and now he sees that he was right.

7. Mr. Samsa stones Gregor with apples.

8. One apple gets stuck in Gregor’s back. This is a crushing blow and mortal wound. It weakens Gregor, and so he loses consciousness.

9. Mrs. Samsa begs her husband to spare Gregor’s life.

10. Now that Mr. Samsa is again earning money, he has the upper hand and is no longer dependent upon Gregor for his comfort and security. And since Gregor is now no longer able to work, he must depend upon his father, and to a lesser degree, upon his sister and mother, for his survival.