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Metamorphosis And Bartleby The Scrivener: A Literary Analysis

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Human beings become disoriented when put in situations of isolation or loneliness.This tendency contributes to the notion that alienation is a powerful force. In literature, this debilitating feeling is often used by authors to parallel his or her own life in the character(s) or represent a specific body of people that can be related to the general audience. Alienation and isolation are often used as main or central themes in works of literature, both fiction and non-fiction, making it possible to recognize the similarities and emphasize the differences between stories in specific genres. This logic applies to The Metamorphosis and Bartleby, the Scrivener. Although both novellas share the basic construct of an alienation story throughout the plot, there are different uses of this theme that affects the narration and point of view of the respective plots. Franz Kafka authored The Metamorphosis which used the theme of isolation in a generic way. He employs this theme to the characters as a representation of society as a whole. On the opposite side of the spectrum, Herman Melville, wrote Bartleby, the Scrivener who used alienation in respect only to Bartleby. Gregor (from The Metamorphosis) experiences alienation from the …show more content…

The narration used in Herman Melville’s story differs from Kafka’s because of the simple idea that while Gregor was having a major life change which resulted in isolation, Bartleby seems to have come to terms with his inevitable alienation in his day to day life. The novellas share a similar point of view, which is first-person, as both main characters recount their personal stories, but just like the use of theme, they differ in the complex identification of their respective

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