A few minutes later, he makes the decision that he must rightfully get up and get on with his day. He realizes that he now has small limbs and no longer arms to impel him forward. He then starts with his lower body, attempting to get out of bed but notices that it happens to be very painful for him. Gregor then tries a different strategy and tries to use his upper body to get out of bed but it is not working out for him either. Finally he concludes that he cannot get himself to get up therefore there is no point in trying. After moments of thinking, he makes a deal with himself to get up before quarter past seven. He begins thinking that if someone were there to help him up, he probably would be able to get up. Perhaps his father or the servant girl could help out but he knows that he would have to call out for help and is not satisfied with the idea.
Gregor's manager furiously shows up to his apartment, wondering what is going on and why he had missed the train, something Gregor had never been doing previously. His mother starts making up excuses for him like he is sick because the manager is threatening that Gregor might lose his job. As Gregor is listening in on the conversation, he manages to get himself up from bed, forgetting about his lower body which had been hurting him excessively before. The manager starts complaining and begins to accuse Gregor of being the one who stole the company's money. The manager also becomes a little furious towards Gregor's family which leads Gregor to tell him to keep his family out of this matter. Gregor is able to open the door at least and when the manager sees that he is now a gigantic bug, he backs away in fear and hurries off. Meanwhile, his mother faints and his father starts crying at his sight. While the manager is backing off, Gregor tries to contemplate with him to make up an excuse for him to the ultimate boss. As soon as the manager has hurried off and Gregor is not able to catch up to the manager, his father shoves him back into his room. Gregor's feet is caught up in the door and he injures himself once again.
Later that day, Gregor falls asleep and wakes up in the evening. He sees a bowl of milk and bread near the door of his room and knows that it must have been his sister that left it there. He is excited because he loves milk but once he tastes it, he realizes that he no longer likes the taste. He then leaves the food there. His sister comes back later on and sets down a newspaper then sets a variety of food Gregor can choose from to eat. The routine continues and his sister proves to be the only member of the family who cares for him. He begins to listen to his parent's conversations through the door and is now aware that his family is having financial problems and it might not be possible for them to get the money - his parents are old and his sister is too young to supply the money. Meanwhile, Gregor is slowly adapting to his life as a human-sized bug. His sister is afraid of the sight of looking at him and so are his parents but they still managed to help him out. He starts playing around with his body and develops a keen interest in climbing the wall. When his mother and sister observes that interest, they remove a few furnitures from his room to help him adjust to this new life.
"By the door he first noticed what had really lured him there: it was the smell of something to eat. A bowl stood there, filled with sweetened milk, in which swam tiny pieces of white bread. He almost laughed with joy, for he now had a much greater hunger than in the morning, and he immediately dipped his head almost up to and over his eyes down into the milk. But he soon drew it back again in disappointment..." (Kafka 27)
Although it is not revealed in the quote, the reader knows from other context that it was Gregor's sister who had brought him the milk and bread. I find that interesting how, after the sister has witnessed with her own eyes her brother's transformation into a gigantic insect, she still managed to bring him milk and bread - which had been his favourite mean when he was a human. This goes to show that his sister has not fully accepted him as a bug and is still thinking of her brother as a regular human being. Perhaps she is trying to convince herself that nothing has changed or maybe she is bewildered as to how to solve this situation. Regardless, it's still interesting how she believes that his interest in food has remained the same even with the transformation. By bringing him milk, though, I feel that his sister begins to learn about her brother's current state. She sees that Gregor no longer likes the milk and begins to accept him that way. As he is undergoing his mental and physical transformation as a bug, she is also forced to transform the way she perceives him. Therefore, after this, when she delivers him a variety of food to choose from, it is a stepping stone for her. When she notices that her brother is behaving in a bug-like manner based on the fact that he now likes crawling up the wall and such, she takes the step by moving out the furniture from his room to give him space. That definitely differentiates her from the other members of the family because she proves that she still sees him the same way, and even when she does not at times and still becomes frightened by the fact that he is a bug, she is still willing to accept him for who he is now.
