Chapter II Practice Quiz — The Metamorphosis
by Franz Kafka — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: Chapter II
What does Gregor find waiting for him by the door when he wakes at the beginning of Chapter II?
A basin filled with fresh milk and floating pieces of white bread, left by his sister Grete.
How does Gregor react to the milk, which was formerly his favorite drink?
He dips his head in eagerly but withdraws in disappointment and disgust, finding he no longer likes it.
What kinds of food does Gregor actually enjoy eating in Chapter II?
He devours old, half-decayed vegetables, bones covered in thickened white sauce, old cheese, and other spoiled food, while rejecting anything fresh.
How often does Grete feed Gregor, and when?
Twice a day: once early in the morning before the parents wake, and once after the midday dinner when the parents nap.
What does Gregor overhear his father explaining on the first evening?
The family's financial position: some investments survived the business collapse, supplemented by savings from Gregor's earnings, but the money can only sustain them for a year or two.
What new physical habit does Gregor develop for recreation?
He begins crawling crisscross over the walls and ceiling, especially enjoying hanging suspended from the ceiling.
What triggers the climactic confrontation at the end of Chapter II?
Gregor rushes out of his room to cling to a picture on the wall during the furniture removal. His mother sees him and faints, and when the father returns, he bombards Gregor with apples.
What happens when an apple lodges in Gregor's back?
Gregor feels as if nailed to the spot and flattens himself out as his senses fail. His mother rushes to embrace the father and beg for Gregor's life.
How does Grete demonstrate both care and revulsion toward Gregor?
She learns his food preferences and pushes his armchair to the window, but also rushes to open windows to avoid his smell and cannot look at him directly.
What does Gregor do to spare Grete the sight of him?
He spends four hours carrying a sheet to the sofa and arranging it to hide himself completely when she enters the room.
How has the father's physical appearance changed by the end of Chapter II?
He has transformed from a lethargic man in a dressing gown into an imposing figure in a smart blue bank uniform with gold buttons, standing upright with penetrating glances.
Why does the mother object to removing the furniture from Gregor's room?
She believes keeping the room unchanged preserves hope for Gregor's recovery and that removing furniture would signal the family has given up on him.
What was Gregor's secret plan for Grete before his transformation?
He planned to announce on Christmas Day that he would send her to the Conservatorium to study violin, despite the great expense.
What does Gregor's changing food preference symbolize in Chapter II?
It symbolizes his deepening alienation from his human identity, as his body increasingly rejects human food in favor of decay and refuse.
How does the furniture removal scene illustrate the conflict between humanity and animality?
Gregor is torn between wanting open space to crawl (insect nature) and wanting to keep his furniture as connections to his human past, reflecting the chapter's central tension between accommodation and identity.
What theme does the family's financial discussion reveal about Gregor's pre-metamorphosis life?
It reveals the theme of economic exploitation and self-sacrifice. Gregor worked himself into exhaustion to support a family that grew complacent about his labor, keeping only a few dollars for himself.
What does the father's bank messenger uniform symbolize?
It symbolizes a reversal of power within the family. As Gregor loses agency and declines, the father reclaims authority, vitality, and social standing.
What biblical symbolism is associated with the apple that lodges in Gregor's back?
The apple evokes the Fall from Eden and original sin, suggesting Gregor's permanent expulsion from the family unit and marking a point of no return in his degradation.
What narrative technique does Kafka use to blur the line between Gregor's thoughts and the narrator's voice?
Free indirect discourse, which allows the reader to experience Gregor's interior thoughts without direct quotation marks while maintaining third-person narration.
How does the chapter's structure mirror Gregor's situation?
It begins with quiet domestic observation and escalates to violent confrontation, mirroring the family's trajectory from cautious accommodation to open hostility.
What does the word "propitiate" mean in the context of Gregor trying to calm his father?
To appease or pacify someone who is angry or hostile, often through submissive or conciliatory behavior.
What does "ministrations" refer to when describing Grete's care of Gregor?
Acts of service or assistance, particularly those performed in a caregiving or nurturing role.
What is the significance of Gregor saying "What a quiet life our family has been leading"?
This quote reveals Gregor's pride in having provided comfort for his family through self-sacrifice, while also foreshadowing the disruption his transformation brings to that quiet life.
What does the mother's whispered question reveal: "doesn't it look as if we were showing him... that we have given up hope of his ever getting better"?
It reveals that the mother still views Gregor as her son and holds hope for his recovery, in contrast to Grete who increasingly treats his condition as permanent and his room as purely functional space.