Re-Kafka Analysis

                                               

It has been an ongoing fight for men and women to be looked at as equal. Women fought for voting rights, jobs, equal pay, and more. Women fighting for equality have existed for years and slowly women rights have increased. In The Metamorphosis, Kafka not only demonstrates specified gender roles in society, he also uses Grete to illustrate how the gender boundary limits growth. A feminist critic could view Grete’s roles before and after Gregor’s change as Kafka’s way of promoting balance in gender roles.

            Gregor’s sister, Grete, illustrates the way majority of society viewed gender roles in the 1900’s. Grete portrays, in the beginning, a shy girl. “From the neighbouring room on the right the sister was whispering to inform Gregor: “Gregor, the manager is here.”(I) Grete also was without any worries and did not have any responsibilities. “She had probably just got up out of bed now and had not even started to get dressed yet.”(I) Grete’s change from the nurturing, innocent, care-free girl to a stronger young adult is shown throughout her brother’s transformation.

            Gregor’s transformation causes him to lose his ability to work and provide for his family. Because of his parents’ age, Grete is now stepping in to help the family. Gregor has now lost his role as being the family provider and has become dependent, while Grete is forced to grow up and take care of the family. Kafka shows concerns if a girl should and can carry on responsibilities of taking care the family and working. Kafka describes Grete’s hobbies as an encumbrance making her incapable of taking on important roles. Kafka writes, “Should his sister earn money, a girl who was still a seventeen-year old child and whose earlier life style had been so very delightful that it had consisted of dressing herself nicely, sleeping in late, helping around the house, taking part in a few modest enjoyments and, above all, playing the violin?”(II) Although Kafka raise this concern, he explains how she dealt with the challenge, “In the first two weeks his parents could not bring themselves to visit him, and he often heard how they fully acknowledged his sister’s present work; whereas, earlier they had often got annoyed at his sister because she had seemed to them a somewhat useless young woman.”(II)    

Gregor’s transformation caused Grete to step up because of his inability to work; this changes her gender role as a female. Although her role seems to only be taking care of her brother, she gains value within the family. Kafka states, “He often heard them praise his sister’s current industry, whereas they had previously complained a great deal about her, as she had then seemed to them a rather idle girl.”(II) Slowly Grete is shown appreciation and is getting recognition.

            The author expresses, through Gregor’s crisis, how the norm of gender roles can hinder both male and female. Gregor worked so hard at a demanding job to provide for the family, “what a demanding job I’ve chosen!”(I) while Grete lived careless day to day. Grete shows her new found strength when she stands up and tells her parents how she feels about her brother. Grete aggressively explains, “Things cannot go on any longer this way. Maybe you don’t understand that, well I do. I will not utter my brother’s name in front of this monster, and thus I say only that we must try to get rid of it.”(III)

Kafka, Franz. Metamorphosis. Trans. and Ed. Stanley Corngold. New York: Bantam, 1972. Print.