Dear AP students:
We have previously discussed the strong element of absurdity in The Metamorphosis, but what struck me while taking in all this absurdity was the complete lack of absurdity in the non-fiction book Mountains Beyond Mountains, our book for the Common Senior Experience. In that book, we see the what-appears-to-be sense of hopelessness in Haiti. Here is a country that is extremely poor, wracked by disease, earthquakes, corrupt governments, and can't even handle all the money and supplies donated by the world community--and this has been the case for so long that many people have forgotten that Haiti even exists . And yet, Dr Paul Farmer trudges on in spite of all this apparent hopelessness. And the reason we read the book is to demonstrate that one man can make a difference--we as reader, and as Olympian students and teachers seem to ignore the absurdity in favor of fifuring out how we can help. Farmer and Tracy Kidder don't look at the absurd nature of Haiti's situation, which I think would be very easy to do. On the contrary, Mountains Beyond Mountains preaches hope in the face of extreme adversity, and the idea of never giving up. I suppose a novelist could take that situation and write a story that contains strong elements of absurdity--and maybe someone already has.
If Farmer and Tracy Kidder were writing an absurdest story they could also throw in an element of alienation to compliment the absurdity. We would read about how Farmer felt extremely alienated being a lone white American in a land of people speaking a different language and possessing different cultural values. He could very well represent himself in such a story as a bug like creature or outsider not fitting in. But his real story is far different--he learns the language, develops friendships, and even marries a Haitian woman. A very remarkable story! However, I think Farmer and Kidder, if they were writing a fictional story, would probably feel comfortable writing a story detailing the absurdity of U.S. foreign policy in Haiti, perhaps like Conrad did for European imperialism in Heart of Darkness. The abusridty would be found in the behavior an dattitudes of government officials. They would be portrayed as incompetent and mayb eeven a bit evil, right? Maybe in order to write a good absurdist novel you need a villain, like a big powerful country, business, or military force? What do you all think?
But enough sermonizing. Let's get back to the The Metamorphosis. Let's view it through another lens--that being the lens of "Feminisim." If we read the story through a Feminist lens, what do we see? How are the women portrayed? Do we see traditional roles? Do we see women being controlled by a patriarch? Do we see equality for women? Are the women characters treated with respect and allowed real personalities? I think we need to take a good look at his sister, and see what she represents. So go ahead and contribute your thoughts.
Even though having a bad guy would be a good idea in writing an absurdist novel, I believe a touch of irony would do well in highlighting an absurdity as well.
ReplyDeleteAs for the woman in the novella I believe they are subordinate and live in a patriarchal home, but it is not completely traditional, because the women are allowed to speak their minds, especially Grete, her voiced her opinion towards the end to her father. The women in the novella have traditional roles in cooking and taking on cleaning duties, as suggested by the actions of Grete and he mother. I believe they tend to want to listen to their husband and father because they were doing things behind his back and going against his word in regards to interacting with Grete. They have some power in swaying his father’s actions because if it weren’t for his mother consoling the father, he would have probably killed Gregor. Overall, these women are free thinking individuals who do their best to comply with what they believe is right, especially Grete, although they tend to seek refuge in the man of the house for a little assurance and support.
In the novella Franz Kafka gives the few women in the story very traditional roles. The mother is portrayed as a very meek and frail woman who everyone is trying to protect. There are many references to her simple mindedness since she has to be explained things twice because she doesn’t understand the first time, and how she is weak because of her asthma. Both of the house maids are women and are flat characters that don’t do much. Grete is the one that differs from the other women in the novella. Grete has the courage to go in and feed Gregor daily and to try and make his living more comfortable. Gregor can see that it is difficult for his sister to enter his room, yet she makes the effort, unlike their parents who are too disgusted with Gregor to even enter his room. The father is placed in a traditional role as well and is the head of the family and makes the financial decisions.
ReplyDeleteThe women in this novella take on very traditional roles. They are portrayed as inferior to the all men, (the father, Gregor, the manager and the boarders) and small and weak. Kafka describes Grete and her mother running into the next room to call the doctor with "rustling skirts." Gregor's mother is constantly defending him and wanting to see himn even though he is in the horrific body of a bug, and even saves his life when his father attempts to kill him. She speaks in a soft soothing voice to comfort Gregor when no one else will. Also, Grete acts similarily as she takes on the responsibility of caring fro Gregor. She takes time to find out what he likes to eat, where he likes his furniture, and when he likes to come out of his bedroom all in order to please him. The way these two women are described as well as the roles they take on prove their traditionally domestic roles.
ReplyDeleteThe women are definitely being controlled by the patriarch as he is feared just by the power of his presence. He orders them around while he sits back and watches, without a job. There is not equality for women and they are not treated with much respect. Gregor even points out that since Grete started being the expert on his care was the first time his parents actually appreciated her.
Grete for that matter, I think represents an early pioneer for women's rights. When Gregor is not able to provide for the family anymore, she takes on the role as the head of the family. She takes care of Gregor by feeding him and providing him with a comfortable living space. She is constantly comforting her mother as she struggles to love her son while he is an insect. Lastly, we can't forget the heroic act of standing up to her father at the end of the story. She gets into a screaming fit to make it clear to him that Gregor is destroying her family. She breaks out of the traditionally quite feminine shell and speaks her mind. Like Amy mentioned, although Grete stands up for herself and serves as a symbol for women's equality, her actions are surpressed when her father steps in front of her and ends up taking on the role as head of the family once again.
In the novella Metamorphosis the women are put into traditional roles. Grete and Gregor's mother are cooking, cleaning, and taking care of matters in the house. Only Gregor's father is portrayed as an individual who is really working to capacity to be the bread-winner of the family. Although Grete and Gregor's mother also take on jobs, Kafka provides little emphasis on what they do and the affects that having a job have on them. Only Gregor's father is portrayed as exhausted. There is a lack of equality due to the fact that the men are portrayed as bread-winners. Before the transformation Gregor took care of the financial matters of the family, and afterwards Gregor's father's duty was to be the primary source of income. It is Gregor's duty to choose to finance Grete's enrollment into the Conservatory, and later it is Gregor's father who is portrayed as the symbol of authority who decides Gregor's fate before Gregor's sudden death occurs.
ReplyDeleteIn The Metamophasis, the women are portrayed as any woman would be during that time period. Gregor's mother and sister, and respectively Grete, are all in charge of domestic duties, such as cooking, cleaning, sewing, and caring for the men in the household. The men (Gregor's father and Gregor, pre-metamorphasis) were generally the ones who made money to care for the family. However, we see that the women are forced to take greater roles to care for the family once Gregor has gone through his metamorphasis. The mother, who was before restricted to sewing only their family's underwear, was forced to stitch stranger's undergarments, to help support the family.
ReplyDelete-Abigail Carreon
How are the women portrayed? Do we see traditional roles? Do we see women being controlled by a patriarch? We can see the patriarch society structure in this novel. The father being the head of the house while the women tend to the necessities of both the son and the father. We see equality for women in the sense that Gregor wants her to study music and go on to play the violin but in context it would be an impossibility because women are not expected to provide for their own and especially in a musical world, in the past not many if none accomplished artist were women. We see inequality in the idea merging right at the end when the parents are thinking of Grete's future husband and role. Grete seems to be held back because of the situation and even before the metamorphosis... she seemed to be destined for marrying somebody as tradition imposes.
ReplyDeleteI forgot to erase the questions ^^^
ReplyDeleteIn Metamorphosis, the women are portrayed as any other women in the past. They had traditional roles. In the story, the mother and sister stayed home doing everything as a woman would do. For example, they would clean around the house, cook for the men before they get home, anything dealt around the house. As for men, they worked and supported their family with the necessary needs to survive. Once Gregor turned into a metamorphosis, the womrn had to do some sort of work for everyone to survive in the fanily. The mother and sister sewed in the house for their clothes, etc. The sister played an important role in helping the mother and Gregor in the house by sewing and making sure Gregor had everything he needed to stay alive. However, even though Gregor turned out not making it alive in the end, the sister showed love toward Gregor and also cared about him.
ReplyDeleteAfter Grete discovers what has happend to his brother, she does not hesitate to act and go for his aid. As we know, she provides him with milk, food to choose from, and the cleanliness of his room. At this point, Kafka illustrates Grete as the traditional female, always at the need for the troubled male. However, as the as the story progresses, Grete undertakes her own metamorphosis, transforming into a woman. With this she is able to realize how helping Gregor, has gone from duty to a mear job. Her acts, and how she gradually comes to realize what she is capable of repelling, that is the traditional roles, make her the strong person to go against her brother as much as to wanting him dead. For me Grete became a very independent woman, only through the realization that she does not need to be at Gregor's assistance any longer.
ReplyDeleteIsaac González Sanabria
The whole story of Metamorphosis is absurd. from the beginning of the story, the author portraits the events as random, Chaotic, and wildly irrational. the whole metamorphosis is imp possible and it becomes more absurd because the author never explains why it occurred in the first place. was it a mutation? or did a special bug bite him? the author never explains how it occurred. what surprise me the most was this "metamorphosis occurred to a character like Gregor, who I assume is a good son, brother and person overall as he provides for his whole family and is highly dedicated to his uninteresting job. why would something like this occurred to a good person? absurdity?
ReplyDeleteThe women in the Metamorphosis do take on the traditional roles. When Gregor turns into a bug it is Grete, his siter that starts to act like a mother to him. She brings him food and she tries to make him as comfiable as possiable. Towards the end of the story however she starts to change her role as a care giver. Grete relizes that she does not have to provide for her brother. Grete starts takeing adult responallites when she has to care for her brother. The role starts to give her a place within the family and she does not want that to go away. She gets a job out side the home to help with the bills and that is when she to see that she does not need to take care of him to have a place in the family.
ReplyDeleteI believe there is definitely a shift in the role of women after Gregor's metamorphosis. Before, Gregor was the provider of the family, and he used his income to support everyone. Grete, in particular demonstrated a certain amount of restraint in the sense that she loved playing violin and possibly could have gone to a Conservatory, but she could not due to lack of funds. However, after the metamorphosis, Gregor became dependent on his family, including the women. Grete seemed to have switched roles with Gregor, as she became the provider and he was in need of her daily assistance in order to survive. Kafka presents this swap of roles in order to take a feminist viewpoint and express that women can take on many of the tasks that men do. It seems, however, that Grete is the only female i the story who steps up to the plate to take care of Gregor, in fact she makes herself be the only person to go into Gregor's room.
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