Examples Of Isolation In The Metamorphosis By Kafka

Claudia Giugni
Mr. Gende
IB English HL 1
20 April 2017

Isolation and Alienation Through Kafka’s Eyes In literature, the causes and effects of isolation and alienation are used to represent the requirement of human interactions and the want to be included in society. Isolation is being alone, “iso” means “by itself”. Isolation attempts to cut the connection with the larger group. Alienation contains the word “alien” which means “foreign”. Alienation is tied to being out of place and is like a state of mind. Alienation is the feeling that one is separate from a group that they feel they belong in. In The Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka reflects his idea of society through Gregor’s isolation and alienation. Kafka also attempts to show the possible

In The Metamorphosis, the protagonist, Gregor Samsa, undergoes a literal physical change from a man to an insect. This metamorphosis introduces one of the major ideas in the novel, alienation and isolation. When Gregor wakes up at the start of the novel and finds that he has completely changed into a bug, he doesn’t freak out about the absurd reality that is his physical state. Instead, he first worries about how he will go to work in order to support his family. Gregor’s neglect of his absurd physical state shows that he sees protecting and providing for his family as his most important purpose in life. Gregor pretty much sees himself as the most important part of his family’s well being, but the more his family recognizes his transformation the more they become ashamed of him and lock him up in his room so they don’t see him. Gregor gradually begins to lose his connection with his family, even with his sister who was the only one who continued to feed him and tried

Before his metamorphosis, Gregor is alienated from his job, humanity, family, and even body. However, the metamorphosis takes the alienation to another degree. In the story, Gregor’s job causes the alienation from his family, society, and himself. As the story goes on, we find that his alienation from his physical body as a bug is not that much different from his life when he was a human. From the first paragraphs at the beginning of the novel, we get the idea that Gregor’s metamorphosis has only changed him from his body to one that is less convenient. However, he doesn’t seem distressed about his transformation, instead he observes his new body and tries to work around it. He observes his “numerous legs, which were pitifully thin compared to the rest of his bulk” (494) and feels a “dull ache he had never experienced before” (495). Gregor does not seem to emotionally change much because of his transformation, which can be observed when he wakes up after his transformation and is annoyed that he can’t sleep because he can’t turn to his right side now and also thinks about how he cannot go to work