Franz Kafka "Metamorphosis"

"The Metamorphosis" written by Franz Kafka is about a man is poorly treated by his family when he goes through a major change within his life. That change causes him to turn into an insect. Before he became an insect he was just a regular human being, he was a traveling salesman who never missed a day of work in five years, and he was the "breadwinner", basically providing for his family. If you compare his life story to a feminist analysis you'd realize how much the feminist role changes.

Kafka identifies the role of characters and their persona, especially the gender role. The mother doesn't work, she doesn't do anything around the house except the cooking and the cleaning. She relies on her son, Gregor, for everything. Her role is very similar to the father's role too. Gregor's father doesn't fulfill the role as a leader, him and the mother both caused a lot of debt in which Gregor is paying for. The sister, Grete, has a very strong role. She cooked and cleaned for Gregor after his transformation into an insect, taking on the mother's role briefly. As time progresses Grete's demeanor changed and she no longer accepted Gregor's change. She also felt it was Gregor's job to provide for the family, and when he doesn't get up to go to work she becomes upset. After awhile Grete took on the job as a salesgirl. Grete played the violin and she wanted her brother, Gregor, to come to her recital but when he came... she becomes ungrateful. She doesn't claim him and even calls him a creature. Because of Gregor's transformation it allowed Grete to step up within the family and take on Gregor's role. She's even getting married!

Gender roles are visible in the modern world. Women are suppose to equal the beautiful house wife, as with men equaling the support beam. But in Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis, the characters aren't portraying the modernized role of women and men. The father is weak and doesn't support the family to any extent and he's irresponsible. The mother is your stereotypical house wife who cooks and cleans. But the sister, Grete, actually has a dominant role. She does what she has to do after her brother, Gregor, can't. Balanced gender roles promote growth; and that's what happened with Gregor and Grete.

Gregor was the provider. He's the definition of a true man. He portrays the dominant man role that his father lacks in. All before his metamorphosis which caused a nightmare. His biggest nightmare was when his family turned on him. Which led to his death. His sister, Grete, wanted to get rid of him and the family agreed.

In the end, Gregor was a good man. Although his physical changes made his lose his job, lose his family, and even worse...lose his life. Kafka had a poor relationship with his family as he went through tuberculosis, and because of that he wrote "Metamorphosis" in comparison to his life.

Work Cited

Sokel, Walter H. “Kafka’s Metamorphosis: “Rebellion and Punishments. The University of  

          Wisconsin Press. Web. 21 May. 2012

Bryans, Lauren. "Gender Equality in Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis." Voices.Yahoo. N.p., 13 10 2010. Web. 25 May 2012. <http://voices.yahoo.com/gender-equality-franz-kafkas-metamorphosis-6689656.html>.