The Role of Secondary Characters in the Plague and the Metamorphosis.
In the novels The Metamorphosis and The Plague the role of secondary characters is a crucial one. Without these pillars of support the protagonists would fall. Sometimes the role of a secondary character is not a big one, but they are like a second protagonist, holding in balance the life of the protagonist. .
Isolation and alienation are at the heart of this surreal story of a man transformed overnight into a kind of beetle. In contrast to much of Kafka's fiction, The Metamorphosis has not a sense of incompleteness. It is formally structured into three Roman-numbered parts, with each section having its own climax.
While the father-son relationship in the story appears to be a central theme, the relationship between Gregor and his sister Grete is perhaps the most unique. It is Grete, after all, with whom the metamorphosed Gregor has any rapport, suggesting the Kafka intended to lend at least some significance to their relationship. Grete's significance is found in her changing relationship with her brother. It is Grete's changing actions, feelings, and speech toward.
her brother, coupled with her accession to womanhood, that seem to parallel Gregor's own metamorphosis. This change represents her metamorphosis from adolescence into adulthood but at the same time it marks the final demise of Gregor. Thus a certain symmetry is to be found in The Metamorphosis: while Gregor falls in the midst of despair, Grete ascends to a self-sufficient woman.
It is Grete who initially tries conscientiously to do whatever she can for Gregor. She attempts to find out what he eats, to make him feel comfortable, and to anticipate his desires. Grete, in an act of goodwill and love toward Gregor, "brought him a wide assortment of things, all spread out on old newspaper: old, half-rotten vegetables; bones left over from the evening meal, caked with congealed white sauce; some raisins and almonds; a piece of cheese, which two days before Gregor had declared inedible; a plain slice of bread, a slice of bread and butter, and one with butter and salt" (Kafka 24).
