Metamorphosis III Summary

Summary

Gregor’s physical condition continues to deteriorate: an apple remains embedded in his back, his legs grow weaker, and he becomes increasingly immobile and isolated in his cluttered room. The family tightens its routine around work and survival—Mr. Samsa dozes in his uniform, Mrs. Samsa sews, and Grete takes paid work and studies in the evenings—leaving little energy for attentiveness to Gregor. The flat is made smaller by necessity: the maid is dismissed, a heavy charwoman takes over hard labor, and one room is rented to three tidy, bearded gentlemen whose demands for cleanliness further reduce the household’s options. Items and rubbish accumulate in Gregor’s room, both from necessity and from the charwoman’s habit of dumping things there.

Tensions mount when Grete’s violin playing for the lodgers ends disastrously: the gentlemen are unimpressed, discover Gregor when he ventures near, and immediately give notice on their room. Grete publicly demands that the family “get rid of” the creature, arguing they can no longer bear the strain; Mr. and Mrs. Samsa vacillate but are pulled toward that conclusion. Gregor attempts to retreat to his room but is shut in and immobilized; he later dies quietly before dawn. The charwoman discovers his body and the family reacts with a mixture of relief and ritual thanks. The lodgers are quietly asked to leave by Mr. Samsa and depart. Freed from the immediate burden, the three Samsas take a tram ride into the country, where they begin to imagine a better future, notice Grete’s physical blossoming, and think about moving to a smaller flat and finding a husband for her.

Key events

1. Apple lodged in Gregor’s back remains and he loses mobility
2. Household tightens: maid dismissed, charwoman hired, room rented to three lodgers
3. Grete plays violin for lodgers; performance interrupted when lodgers spot Gregor
4. Lodgers give immediate notice and threaten damages; Grete urges family to get rid of Gregor
5. Gregor is shut into his room, becomes immobile, and dies overnight
6. Family and charwoman discover the corpse; lodgers leave and the Samsas take a restorative tram ride

Analysis

This chapter completes Gregor’s physical and social decline and shifts the narrative toward the family’s emotional separation from him. The apple lodged in his back remains a visible, lingering wound—a concrete symbol of both past violence and the family’s inability (or unwillingness) to heal the breach. The rented rooms and the three lodgers inject a social pressure that accelerates the family’s decision-making: respectability, cleanliness, and the economic needs of the household trump compassion. Grete’s violin scene functions as a turning point—intended as an assertion of culture and normalcy, it instead exposes the incompatibility between the family’s private grief and the public demands of their tenants. The lodgers’ denunciation and Grete’s declaration that they must “get rid of it” mark the family’s moral descent into pragmatism.

Narratively, the chapter collapses time: the slow physical wasting of Gregor is juxtaposed with rapid, decisive actions by the family (locking the door, writing letters, evicting lodgers). The point of view remains close to Gregor yet increasingly alienated; his interior desire for connection (he longs for Grete’s music and for being recognized) contrasts with the outward refusal to see him as human. The ending emphasizes renewal for the Samsas—the tram ride and talk of moving foregrounds a rebirth that is only possible because of Gregor’s death, reinforcing themes of sacrifice, selfish survival, and the brutal costs of social reintegration.

Important quotes

“No-one dared to remove the apple lodged in Gregor’s flesh, so it remained there as a visible reminder of his injury.”

NarratorOpens the chapter by stating a persistent physical injury that symbolizes Gregor’s sustained harm and family neglect.

““We have to try and get rid of it”, said Gregor’s sister, now speaking only to her father,”

Grete SamsaGrete’s decisive line marks the moral turning point when the family moves from care to rejection.

Characters in III

• Gregor Samsa
• Grete Samsa
• Mr. Samsa
• Mrs. Samsa
• The Chief Clerk
• The Charwoman
• The Lodgers