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Noel Lopez

Professor Beadle

English 115

9 December 2019

Families and Responsibilities

Metaphors can sometimes be critiquing an aspect in society or sometimes as a whole. In

the Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka a criticism is being placed onto families in society. Gregor

goes a through a transformation where he becomes a bug like creature and through out the book

it tells how his family reacted to it and how they used to be prior to the transformation. Gregor’s

transformation in “The Metamorphosis” criticizes society by showing how Gregor’s family put

more responsibility on him because of gender roles and then disregarding him because he could

not fulfil his responsibilities.

In the Metamorphosis Kafka shows how the son in the family always puts his feelings

aside in order to support his parents and go through with his responsibilities. Even though Gregor

hated his job and wanted to quit he knew that he could not because he had to take care of his

parents. “If I didn’t hold back for my parents’ sake, I would have quit a long time ago, I would

have marched up to the boss and spoken my piece from the bottom of my heart.” (Kafka, 4). This

shows how the son always has to be the one that takes care of his family. It is so engraved in him

that he disregards his thoughts and continues to work a miserable job.

Another example of this is when Gregor discovered he had transformed into a bug like

creature. When he first woke up to find out he had turned into a bug his first thought were not
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about it but rather about getting to work and not getting fired, for if he did he would not be able

to provide for his family. He put his responsibilities to his family to such a priority that his own

well being did not matter to him. This shows how society puts such stress on the son that they

eventually do not take into consideration there own life.

Also, when while Gregor is in the bug like state all he can think about is his responsibility

to his sister. He believed it was his duty to make sure she was always well off. in the novel it

states, “only his sister had remained close Gregor, and it was his secret plan that she…should be

sent next year to the Conservatory, regardless of the great expenses involved, which could surely

be made up for in some other way.” Even as a bug he still wanted to make sure she had her life

set and happy since he wanted to follow her dream unlike him, who is stuck at home providing

for his family.

Gender roles also plays a big part in responsibility between families. In an article titled

“Transforming Franz Kafka’s ‘Metamorphosis’” by Nina Pelikan Straus says, “Once

transformed, Gregor is cosigned to an inactivity and submission associated with the female role.”

(Pelikan, 655) The male son in the family is usually the one holding the responsibility while the

woman does not have to do much or have much responsibilities to the family. This is saying

gender roles play a big part in responsibility because they expect more from the son than the

daughter in the family, shows how families believe their daughters are not capable of caring such

responsibilities.

Responsibility through gender roles is something that can also cause isolation inside the

family, this is showed by how Gregor’s life is after his transformation. As stated before, female

roles can be associated with inactivity and submission, this can also be connected to what
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Gregor’s life was after his transformation. His transformation was a form of switching roles, it

made him not be able to take care of himself and had to wait for someone to take care of his

problems for him. “…he watched with bulging eyes as his unsuspecting sister took a broom and

swept up, not only his leavings, but even the foods which Gregor has left completely untouched.”

(Kafka, pg. 23) This shows how society views women as people who are unable to provide for

themselves so they wait for men to take care of their problems, therefore more responsibility is

placed on the men rather than the women in the family and once the son in the family cannot go

through with his responsibilities he is looked down upon and seen as less than just like the

women in families.

In society families tend to isolate one of their own due to responsibilities, either because

they cannot go through with their responsibilities or they have too many, this makes them not

able to be socially active due to their duties to the family. Kafka criticizes these families in

society through Gregor and his family by showing how his life was isolated, before and after his

transformation, due to his family expecting him to take care of their problems. This makes him

not be able to focus on anything but his work which then entitles him to isolate himself from the

outside world and after his transformation he is seen as a burden or a monster to his family

because he cannot go through with his responsibilities. This can be connected to families in

society because once the son is no longer able to work, they push him aside because they can no

longer to provide for their family and the son works so much, he does not have time for himself.

Having too much responsibility put on you can make one isolate themselves. In the book

Gregor is given so much responsibility that he does not have a social life due to his parents

having him work to pay off their debt. When Gregor wakes up to him being transformed into a
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bug like creature his manger comes to his house in order to ask why he is not at work this in turn

makes his dad say, “That boy has nothing on his mind but the business. It’s almost begun to rile

me that he never goes out night.” (Kafka, pg. 10) This is saying that Gregor’s responsibility to

his family had taken over his social life, he only thought of the job and isolated himself due to it.

In families throughout society the son is told that he must focus on work in order to go through

with his responsibilities, he puts the responsibility to his family above his own life and

happiness.

Kafka also criticizes families in society by showing how they do not have interest in the

son once he is not able to help the family out, they push the son away and isolate him. In

“Metamorphosis” this is shown when Gregor is being scared by his father so he could get away

from the family. “Was this the same man who in the old days used to lie wearily buried in bed

when Gregor left on a business trip.” (Kafka, pg. 36) Gregor’s father saw him as a monster and a

burden after he transformed. This is saying that in society the father only cares about the son is

he is bringing in income or helping the family in some type of way, since this is what society

believes is a responsibility the son should have, but that changes once he is no longer useful to

them.

Another example of this happening is when Gregor had died his family just went on with

their life and did not have any thoughts about him, they just focused on things to make their life

better. “The greatest immediate improvement in their situation would easily, of course, from a

change in apartments, they would now take a smaller and cheaper apartment, but one better

situated and, in every way, simpler to manage than the old one.” (Kafka, pg. 55) Gregor’s family

after his death coped very well and did not have any trouble managing the responsibilities

because they found a way to live better and cheaper. This is criticizing families because it shows
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how can provide for themselves, but still put all the responsibility on the son. They choose to

make the son take care of everything when they can contribute to the family.

Some people might say that The Metamorphosis does not criticize responsibility families

in society because it is about Gregor transforming into a bug. However, this is not the case

because his transformation into a bug like creature shows how a son is pushed away when he is

no longer of any use to the family. In an article by Walter H. Sokel titled “Kafka’s

‘Metamorphosis’ Rebellion and Punishment” it says, “Gregor indeed seems to test his family and

his tragedy lies in their inability to pass the test, i.e., to recognize and love the son and the

brother in the monster.” (Sokel pg. 204) This helps to show how the families are towards their

son after responsibilities are removed since they think of him as a burden and not a part of the

family.

Gregor’s transformation made his family lock him up as if he was not part of the family

anymore. Throughout the whole novella his family shows how he is not a part of the family

anymore ever since his transformation. This is showing how Kafka is criticizing society since the

son in the family can no longer provide for the family he is pushed aside like garbage, which is

what Gregor felt like he was.

The transformation Gregor goes through criticizes families in society by showing how

responsibility can affect how you are treated by your family and how you can be isolated because

of it. Responsibilities in a family makes a person think about their duties before themselves and

want to take care of them before they do anything about how they feel. In society families are

always putting more responsibilities on a certain person in the family and it is because of gender

roles. The responsibilities put upon the male son can cause them to be isolated from others and
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can be isolated from them if they are not able to fulfill responsibilities that have been given to

them.
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Work Cited

Kafka, Franz. The Metamorphosis. Edited by Stanley Corngold, Bantam Dell, 1972.

Sokel, Walter H. “Kafka's ‘Metamorphosis’: Rebellion and Punishment.” Monatshefte, vol. 48,

no. 4, 1956, pp. 203–214. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/30166165.

Straus, Nina Pelikan. “Transforming Franz Kafka's ‘Metamorphosis.’” Signs, vol. 14, no. 3,

1989, pp. 651–667. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3174406.