Who Is The Reoccurring Symbol In The Metamorphosis

Described in the very beginning of the story, a reoccurring symbol in “The Metamorphosis” is the picture of the woman in furs, hanging in a gilt frame in Gregor’s room. The meaning of the picture is initially unclear, but as exemplified in lines 25 through 40 on page 1177, the picture becomes a beacon for Gregor, as a way to hold on to his former humanity.

As Gregor’s mother and Grete clear out Gregor’s room to make it more suitable for his changed form, Gregor becomes agitated and anxious. He watches as they move various pieces of furniture, such as his desk and a chest of drawers. Suddenly he “broke out”. It says in lines 29 through 30, that he “changed his course four times, he didn’t really know what to salvage first”, showing that Gregor wanted to salvage more, but the picture was the first thing he saw that he could potentially save.
The content of the picture at this point no longer matters. It simply symbolizes Gregor’s need to hold on to a piece of his humanity, any piece. When Gregor clings to the picture as Grete and the mother are clearing the furniture out of his room, however, he does so because the picture has taken on an entirely different meaning. While Gregor has picked this singular piece to save, the picture is simply a token of Gregor’s human life that reminds him of who he used to be, ignoring the former content. In other words, the picture no longer holds whatever original meaning it had for him and takes on a new meaning in the