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Examples Of Alienation In The Metamorphosis By Franz Kafka

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Losing Everything You Have Because You’re Lonely? In Franz Kafka's novella, The Metamorphosis, there are several themes interwoven into the text by the accomplished author. However, one theme seems to stand out amongst the others. Kafka brilliantly shows the audience how alienation impacts society. Through the characters, word choice, and tone/mood, the topic of alienation is both evident and powerful, leading the reader to conclude that Kafka, who felt alienated himself throughout his life, exhibits how becoming alienated ruins human relationships with others. Although numerous amounts of Kafka’s characters felt alienated, there was no other character in his novella who demonstrated alienation more than Gregor Sampsa. Kafka exhibits how Gregor, a hard-working salesman, works hard to pay off his family’s debts. Gregor works extremely hard, so when he comes home from work, he goes straight to his room. Kafka states, “Gregor had no intention of opening the door…acquired from traveling, of locking all the doors during the night, even at home” (Kafka 139). This means that no matter where he was, Gregor would lock all the doors, at night, and isolate himself to that room. Gregor would not associate or interact with anybody. Additionally, as the story goes on, Gregor himself becomes increasingly alienated. Gregor is left in his …show more content…

Kafka shows this through the characters, the setting, and the overall tone/mood in the story. Through the characters, the longer Gregor was in his room, the more his family would not associate with him. Through Kafka’s choice of words, Gregor's room turned into a storage room and his family just forgot about him after a while. Through the tone/mood, Kafka shows how much of Gregor's relationship with his family was officially ruined. In conclusion, Kafka shows readers how big of an impact alienation can be on someone’s

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