Essay on Metamorphosis and Postmodernism - 1122 Words

The twentieth century has been marked as a time of great suffering and advancement in human history. One product of this dynamic time is the theory of postmodernism. According to Thomas McEvilley, postmodernism happened in America after people started to realize that history was cruel and that people were not really progressing much. This directly discredited the pre-existing theory of modernism which took its ideology from the three pillars: progress, hierarchy of cultures, universals. McEvilley believes that the modernist ideals are just a way of creating a false reality, a world where no one is suffering and everything is beautiful. In his novel The Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka uses the dramatic transformation of his character, Gregor, to†¦show more content†¦Yet, after Gregor goes through the transformation the traditional family structure is restored to some extent. The father becomes robust and asserts himself as the patriarch of the family. Some would argue that this re storation of hierarchy makes The Metamorphosis modernist and to some extent this assumption is correct. However, the restoration of the family structure comes at the price that Gregor is no longer considered part of the family. This suggests that Kafka was in fact trying to reveal the fragility of the family. Gregor began as the sole provider for the family, yet they turned their backs on him after his transformation, showing how selfish the family really was. Kafka effectively makes the reader empathize with Gregor, even in his hideous state, to ironically make the rest of the Samsa family look like the vermin at the end of the book. The authority of the parents is also easily undermined by Grete, which again portrays the hierarchy of the family to be completely flipped. Grete assumes power over her parents by doing the work that the mother or father should be doing. The mother is shown as a weak force whose sole ability of manipulation is the loosening of her blouse in front of the father. In contrast, the father is depicted as a man in constant fear of Gregor, which he tries to mask by an authoritative power over the family. However, many would argue that the story is not a mockery of the second pillar of modernism. At theShow MoreRelatedPostmodern Art in Andy Warhol ´s Silvier Liz as Cleopatra1194 Words   |  5 PagesThe earliest forms of art had made it’s mark in history for being an influential and unique representation of various cultures and religions as well as playing a fundamental role in society. However, with the new era of postmodernism, art slowly deviated away from both the religious co ntext it was originally created in, and apart from serving as a ritual function. 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