Chapter I Practice Quiz — The Metamorphosis
by Franz Kafka — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: Chapter I
What does Gregor Samsa discover when he wakes up at the beginning of Chapter I?
He has been transformed into a gigantic insect with an armor-plated back, a dome-like brown belly, and numerous pitifully thin legs.
What is Gregor's occupation?
He is a commercial traveler (traveling salesman) who sells cloth samples.
Why has Gregor overslept, and what time was his train?
His alarm was set for four o'clock but he slept through it. His train was at five o'clock, and by the time he checks the clock it is half-past six.
Why does Gregor continue working at a job he hates?
He must pay off his parents' debt to his employer, which he estimates will take another five or six years.
What is the picture hanging on Gregor's wall, and what does it symbolize?
It shows a lady in a fur cap and fur stole holding out a fur muff. It symbolizes Gregor's suppressed longing for beauty, sensuality, and human connection.
Which three family members knock on Gregor's door, and from which directions?
His mother knocks from behind his bed, his father from the left-hand room, and his sister Grete from the right-hand room.
What happens to Gregor's voice when he tries to speak?
His words are accompanied by a persistent horrible twittering squeak that gradually overwhelms the words, making his speech unintelligible to others.
Who is the chief clerk, and why does he come to the Samsa home?
He is a senior representative of Gregor's firm who comes to investigate why Gregor missed his morning train—an extreme response to a single absence.
What accusation does the chief clerk hint at during his speech through the door?
He insinuates that Gregor may have mishandled cash payments that were recently entrusted to him.
How does Gregor manage to unlock his bedroom door?
He turns the key using his jaws, since he has no hands. A brown fluid issues from his mouth during the effort.
Describe the mother's reaction when Gregor reveals himself.
She first clasps her hands and looks at the father, then takes two steps toward Gregor before collapsing to the floor among her outspread skirts with her face hidden.
How does the father initially react to seeing Gregor's insect form?
He knotts his fist as if to strike Gregor, then looks uncertainly around the room, covers his eyes with his hands, and weeps until his chest heaves.
What does Gregor involuntarily do when he sees the spilled coffee?
He snaps his jaws together at the sight of the streaming coffee, which causes his mother to scream and flee into the father's arms.
How does the chapter end?
The father drives Gregor back into his room using a walking stick and newspaper, forces him painfully through the narrow doorway, and slams the door shut with the stick.
What is Grete's role in Chapter I?
Grete is Gregor's sister. She whispers through the door asking Gregor to open it, sobs when the chief clerk arrives, and is sent to fetch a doctor when Gregor's distorted voice alarms the family.
How does the theme of alienation manifest in Chapter I?
Gregor is alienated from his work (hates traveling), from society (no close friends), from his family (locked behind doors), and ultimately from his own body through the transformation.
What does the chief clerk's visit to the home represent thematically?
It represents the intrusion of workplace authority into the domestic sphere, showing that the boundary between work and personal life has dissolved for Gregor.
What narrative perspective does Kafka use, and what effect does it create?
Third-person limited, locked inside Gregor's consciousness. This creates dramatic irony because the reader shares Gregor's belief that he speaks clearly, while others hear only inhuman sounds.
What is the tone of the opening paragraph, and why is it significant?
The tone is matter-of-fact and detached despite describing an impossible event. This absurdist approach treats the transformation as an ordinary inconvenience, heightening the story's unsettling effect.
What is the symbolic significance of the doorway at the end of Chapter I?
The doorway is too narrow for Gregor's insect body, symbolizing his inability to re-enter the human world. He is forced through painfully, leaving bloodstains on the white door.
What does the word "malingerers" mean as used in the chapter?
People who pretend to be ill to avoid work. Gregor imagines the insurance doctor would regard all mankind as perfectly healthy malingerers.
What does the word "entreaty" mean in the context of the chapter?
An earnest or humble request. The narrator says "no entreaty of Gregor's availed" as the father drives him back to his room.
"What has happened to me? he thought. It was no dream." What is significant about this early line?
It establishes that Gregor immediately accepts the reality of his transformation without denial or disbelief, setting the matter-of-fact tone that defines the entire story.
"That was no human voice." Who says this, and why is it important?
The chief clerk says this after hearing Gregor's speech. It marks the moment when the outside world officially registers that something is fundamentally wrong with Gregor, beyond mere illness.
What building does Gregor see across the street when the door is opened, and what might it represent?
He sees a hospital, described as an endlessly long, dark gray building. It may foreshadow illness, confinement, and Gregor's own deterioration throughout the novella.