Study Questions
1. How has Mr. Samsa’s attitude toward Gregor changed at the start of Part 3, Division 1?

2. What kind of job does Mrs. Samsa have?

3. What kind of job does Grete have?

4. How is Grete trying to improve her prospects for the future?

5. How do you explain Grete’s ambivalence toward Gregor?

6. Why does Grete become angry with her mother?

7. Who do the Samsas hire to clean Gregor’s room?

8. Why do the Samsas rent a room to the three men?

9. Why doesn’t Kafka give us any information about the three men?

10. How does Gregor feel when he hears the three men chewing their food at dinner?

Answers
1. Mr. Samsa decides to be more patient with Gregor, to suppress his real feelings toward Gregor, and not to regard him as the enemy.

2. Mrs. Samsa has taken a job sewing with an underwear company.

3. Grete has taken a job as a salesgirl.

4. Grete is studying French and learning shorthand in an attempt to secure a brighter, more financially rewarding future for herself.

5. Grete’s ambivalence can best be explained by the fact that she begins to feel a loss of her own personal freedom in caring for Gregor and tending to his needs. She wants to help him and take care of him, but at the same time, she resents having to do so and probably realizes that her burden is robbing her of her youth and vitality.

6. Grete becomes angry with her mother when she finds out that Mrs. Samsa cleaned Gregor’s room.

7. The Samsas hire an old woman, a widow, to come into the apartment mornings and evenings to clean up.

8. The Samsas rent a room to the three bearded men to earn more money and to divert their attention away from Gregor.

9. Kafka’s intention in introducing the three men into the story is unclear. Perhaps the three men are symbols; however, the reader must interpret them within the context of the story. They are instrumental in forcing the story to its conclusion.

10. Gregor feels alone, desolate, and abandoned when he hears the three men chewing their food in the next room.