The chapter opens describing Gregor's current state, wounded and weakening. He keeps the apple that his father threw at him "imbedded in his flesh as a visible souvenir" (38). To compensate for his mistreatment in the previous chapter, the Samsas now leave their living room door open when they are in there as a way to make Gregor feel slightly less isolated as he is now able to fully observe all of their conversations.
All three members of the Samsa family (sans Gregor) have taken on jobs to support themselves. Grete became a salesgirl and Gregor's mother now does some sewing for a local clothing store. Gregor's father (who is already established as a messenger in the previous chapter) refuses to take off his uniform, even in the house. With these new responsibilities, Grete starts to show less and less regard towards Gregor, viewing feeding and cleaning up after Gregor to be more of a chore than a job. The new maid, an old, bony woman, goes into Gregor's room everyday to check up on him and try to figure him out.
The family decides to rent out one of their rooms to three boarders who are described as "serious" with "long beards" and are "obsessed with neatness" (43). The relationship between the landlords and the tenants is interesting because the tenants expect to be serviced at all times and the landlords are willing to do so as they have never rented out rooms before and do not know what else to expect. In attempt to accommodate these three men, the family has resorted to putting all of the junk from around the house into Gregor's room, adding to the stuffiness of his room.
One night at dinner, the tenants hear Grete practicing her violin in the other room and ask for her to play for them in the dining room while they eat. Grete does so and although the tenants soon lose interest, Gregor becomes fascinated by her playing that he creeps out of his room in a daze. The music evokes loving thoughts of his sister and he thinks of how he would like to have Grete in his room with him so he could kiss her and tell her the plan he had about sending her to the Conservatory to play violin.
One of the tenants notices Gregor's presence and points it out to Mr. Samsa who subsequently sends the tenants off to their rooms in order to handle the situation. The tenants claim that they expect to not have to pay for their rent after discovering that they have been living in such gross conditions.
As the family recuperates from the incident, Grete declares that they should get rid of the bug. She argues that there is not communications between them and there is no way to be able to think of him as Gregor. She sees the pain that keeping him is causing the family and she believes that this is the best way to help that. Once Gregor enters his room feebly, Grete closes and locks his door. Soon after, Gregor dies.
The next morning, the cleaning lady finds his body and declares his death to the rest of the family. They discover that Gregor has not eaten and that he is very thin. When the tenants wake up they expect to be serviced, yet Gregor's father becomes impatient and throws them out of their home. The Samsas each take the day off from work to relax. The cleaning lady announces that she has taken care of the body and then is given the day off. The three of them take a trolley into the country where the focus shifts from the death in the past to the future with Grete.