Grete’s Metamorphosis
The last sentence
of the novel points towards a “metamorphosis” in Gregor’s sister, Grete - “and
it was like a confirmation of their new dreams and good intentions when at the
end of the journey their daughter was the first to rise to her feet and stretch
her young body.” (Creepy...) The words “stretch her young body” is a very
strange, very physical/biological way of describing someone’s movements (as one
would do for a butterfly coming out of its cocoon). This might indicate, then,
that “The Metamorphosis” is about Grete’s transformation as well as Gregor’s.
Her change is actually almost the reverse of her brother’s - she becomes young
and independent, while Gregor becomes dependent and loses all life (both
literally and figuratively). Grete might very well be turning into Gregor before
his metamorphosis.
Grete comes to
resemble Gregor in many ways, the most important of those being their developed
desire to be useful their parents. Grete is described as having been a
“somewhat useless girl” before her ordeal with Gregor, which gives her a
purpose in the family. She takes charge of the role and is possessive of it
because it is the one thing she feels she can do for the interests of her
parents - she even starts crying when the role of cleaning Gregor’s room is
temporarily filled by her mother, screaming that “she would never be allowed to
clean Gregor’s room again”. It isn’t as if cleaning Gregor’s room is a
particular love of hers; it’s the pride from her parents that she values. Now
that she’s had a taste of that pride, she wants to continue being as useful as
possible to the family.
If Grete is truly
becoming more like Gregor, then it will be even easier to take advantage of
Grete. The last paragraph indicates that the mother and father plan to exploit
Grete in the same (or similar) way they did so with Gregor. The language makes
it feel as if they see her as a resource to be reaped and harvested, as a “new
host body” to maintain their parasitic ways (as Mr. Mitchell put it). Now that
they see her as “useful”, they can use her in the same way they used Gregor.
The parents have shown time and time again that they have no patience for her
economic fruitlessness -they had “frequently become annoyed with her” because
she served no practical use for them, as Gregor did. However, this ordeal has
transformed Grete into someone they can easily marry off for their own gain,
and she would readily agree in order to support the family.
(This opens up an
even more twisted question - do you think the parents purposely made her take
care of Gregor so she could become addicted to usefulness?)
The parents being parasitic makes sense because when Gregor was working they didn't do anything to help pay off the debts - they still had a maid and a cook. If we go off of that, when the parents realize that Gregor is useless they have to find a new "host", which would Grete. So to make her a good host they'd let her become addicted to being useful by taking care of Gregor (it also means they don't have to do as much work). Grete might be turning into Gregor, which at first glance seems good because she's useful, but its bad because her parents will exploit her.
ReplyDeleteI like this a lot. I think your point also touches on the bureaucratic nature of Kafka's literary universe- you work, you die, someone then takes your place to work until they die and so forth. Because Gregor has been rendered useless to society, Grete is raised and conditioned to take his place. Not only that, but she's conditioned to feel pride in her work and nothing else, as you mentioned. It's very surreal that the Metamorphosis universe is so bureaucratic and no one questions it.
ReplyDeleteI agree. There's definitely a sense of a natural cycle in the story. But it's a much creepier version of metamorphosis... we're kind of left with the sinking feeling that she's the next one to fall victim to the process.
DeleteThis is a really goo point. However I it's interesting to note that Grete wouldn't be working bu the parents were looking for Gete to marry someone else. It's almost like Grete wouldn't be the "host" for the parents to live off of but instead it would be Grete's husband that we would be sapped and feasted on. So it's almost like Grete would be the bait to lure in the prey for the parasites. But it's Grete is the one "emerging" from her cocoon so it would make sense for Grete is the one that her parents would prey on.
DeleteThis is a really interesting point. It really adds into the nightmarish quality of The Metamorphosis -- Gregor's parents are creating a horrific cycle of taking advantage of people. You've watched it happen to someone else, and now you know it's going to be you. And the worst part is it's all tied to work. It's not even interesting; it's boring and will mean nothing to you by the time you die (or at least Gregor and Grete's work won't).
DeleteThis seems a very convincing argument to me. Grete replaces Gregor as the one who produces, though the parents are occasionally forced to do so as well. We also almost see a similar change in Herr Samsa, who changes from eating hours-long breakfasts while his son rises at 5 to refusing to change out of his uniform, dedicating himself to his work. However, it seems that at the end, Herr Samsa wishes to return to his old habits, depending on Grete now instead of Gregor.
ReplyDeleteI do like this idea that the parents are trying to make Grete become more mature (mentally and physically) by having her take on the responsibility of Gregor, but I think they are doing it in order to make her more suitable for a rich husband who will be the more permanent Gregor 2.0.
ReplyDelete