Analyze the responses of Gregor Samsa's three family members to his transformation into a giant insect in Kafka's The Metamorphosis. What do you think those actions revealed about their character? Were they good people dealing with a difficult situation? Or did their son's metamorphosis reveal something else?

After Gregor turns into a giant insect his sister Grete leaves out food for him inside his room and arranges the furniture to his liking, indicating that she still cares about his survival. Gregor's mother wants to visit him in his room, but when she catches sight of him on the ceiling she faints. Gregor’s father, on the other hand, is repulsed by his transformation from the start. Immediately after Gregor turns into a bug his father shoos him back into his room with a cane and newspaper and later he throws an apple at Gregor's back that eventually kills him. However, when the family begins to fall into poverty and cannot pay their bills any longer even Grete and Gregor's mother are no longer kind to Gregor. Grete stops leaving out high-quality food for Gregor and eventually and she says the family must get rid of Gregor in order to ensure their own survival. The family members' actions of ambivalence and disgust toward Gregor as a bug indicate that all they really care about is if he can work and provide for them. Kafka uses the family member's rejection of Gregor as a bug to reveal to the reader how his family is primarily concerned with income, economic status, and being taken care of financially. Gregor’s metamorphosis represents the inner alienation and loneliness that he felt living in a family where his worth was based only on his ability to produce income.

The Samsas' reaction to Gregor's condition runs the gamut from sympathetic to cruel. The kindest among the three is Gregor's sister, Grete, who brings him food every day. When he is unable to eat fresh and cooked food, she brings him more rotten food—not as a sign of disrespect, but because this is all he can stomach. However, fatigue and social humiliation erode her patient compassion, and eventually, Grete no longer bothers with visiting Gregor.
Mrs. Samsa's reaction is more middling. She is horrified by Gregor's transformation and briefly mourns him when he finally dies, but her compassion is minimal. She is humiliated that her son is now a roach (a fact which will have a negative effect on the Samsas' social standing should it get out). More than that, Mrs. Samsa is terrified of becoming poor, since the family no longer has Gregor's income to rely upon, which forces them to take in renters.
Mr. Samsa is by far the least sympathetic in his reaction. He is abusive toward Gregor, at one point throwing an apple at him. The apple lodges in a wound, aggravating Gregor's body and causing infections. He refers to Gregor as an "it" rather than a "he," denying him personhood and claiming that after the transformation, they are no longer morally obligated to view him as a member of the family.
In the end, it is hard to call the Samsas good people reacting poorly. They already seem to have had issues with Gregor before his transformation, and they seem to view him as a meal ticket,rather than a beloved family member. When he dies, the dominant feeling among the family is relief now that they no longer have to deal with his condition.

The Mother: Mrs. Samsa is a rather frail woman, subject to poor nerves and ailing physical health; additionally, Gregor's transformation stirs within her a battle between motherly love and disgust––she is concerned for him, yet faints when she sees him. While immediately following his transformation she is actively interested in Gregor's well-being, she slowly becomes more withdrawn from him, and by his death, is relieved that the ordeal is over. Ultimately, Mrs. Samsa's weakened mental and physical state made it exceedingly stressful for her to cope with Gregor's condition. Her reaction of relief is not necessarily indicative of a lack of love for Gregor, but more a superficial release from her inability to cope. In the end, she does show signs of sorrow and hopes one day that her son will return, further displaying her love for Gregor and suggesting that she is a good person, but with a mental incapacity to reconcile with reality.
Grete: Gregor's sister is without a doubt the most sympathetic to his transformation. Grete's sisterly love for her brother is displayed by her care for him, e.g. she takes it upon herself to take him food and find out which foods agree with his new appetite. However, as time wears on, her compassion erodes into resentment. One significant turning point in their relationship occurs when Grete tries to remove the furniture from Gregor's room to allow for more space. Gregor throws a buggy tantrum, terrifying Mrs. Samsa and causing his father to violently attack him. After this, Grete becomes less tolerable of her brother and eventually cannot bear him. She takes a job as a salesgirl and lets Gregor's care fall to the wayside. Grete had once been dependent on Gregor and appreciated her brother's sacrifice, but the transformation forced her to become more independent and she lets her brother become a distant memory.
The Father: A failed-businessman, Mr. Samsa is worn with emotional instabilities. Gregor's father pretends he cannot work, even withholding some saved money, while letting Gregor work like a dog to provide for his family. Gregor's transformation forces Mr. Samsa to begin a somewhat successful career, revealing that all along he had been perfectly capable of work and that he was using Gregor. Mr. Samsa is resentful towards Gregor's transformation because it means he has to go back to work and he consistently displays cruel disinterest and even physical violence toward Gregor.
The book reveals different things about each of the characters. It seems tiered as to whether they were good people dealing with a difficult situation––his mother fits this bill most closely, while the father is actually revealed as an exploiter, and Grete falls somewhere in between.

Gregor's parents find it hard to accept his transformation into a giant cockroach. His sister, Grete, is the most sympathetic, going into his room every day to feed him at first. She eventually grows tired of the responsibility and stops going in to clean his room, leaving it to descend into decay. Gregor's father becomes increasingly frustrated with his son, eventually throwing an apple at Gregor which lodges in his back and later kills him. Gregor's mother shows a great deal of distress on Gregor's part but for the duration of the novella does little to help him. What the responses reveal about the three family members is that they harbored a great deal of resentment for Gregor before his transformation. His parents disliked how much they had come to rely on him, while Grete was jealous of his responsibility within the family. Their responses after the transformation reveal them to be caring but neglectful, and they show relief when Gregor dies.