ahem *Kafka

http://dctheatrescene.com/pics/proof.jpg

The role reversal in The Metamorphosis is what stuck out to me the most. Two years ago C.J. Vana and I preformed an eight minute cut from the screenplay Proof by David Auburn. The Metamorphosis has a lot of parallels to it. Proof is told with many flashbacks and even an actor plays the father in the present as he is the hallucination of the daughter after he died. Through this more complicated way of story telling you see the story of Katherine and her father. When she was a child her father raised her, however once her father's mental illness took over she had to move back in with him and be his caretaker. Later, at least in Katherine's mind, her father guides her after his death and it seems the roles reverse once again.

Similarly Gregor Samsa was cared for by his parents as a child. Then once his parents were unable to care for he and his sister the roles reversed and he took care of them. Because of their debt he took responsibility for the family' s finances. Not only that, but Kafka hints at that he took care of them physically too, as it is mentioned that he would help support his father as he walked (p112) and he was sensitive to his mother's asthma. This is parallel to Katherine's taking responsibility for her father. Gregor had the role reversal once more when he transformed into the large insect and his parents had to take charge of him once again. In both instances being reclaimed by their parental figures was not good news. For Katherine it meant she was probably afflicted with the same mental illness that her father died from; for Gregor it meant the complete end to his freedom and obviously it was no good being a bug!