Isolation in The Metamorphosis Essay

In German, the word Kafka uses to describe Gregor Samsa's transformation is ungezieter, which is a word used by the Germans during his lifetime in reference to the Jews. The literal English translation is "monstrous vermin." Kafka uses Gregor's family to show how inhumane society can be. In The Metamorphosis, Kafka uses his experiences to create much of Gregor's life. He indicates that Gregor's family only saw him as a means of survival before the change and took advantage of him. After the changehe family is unable to communicate with him because they are blinded by his outer appearance. Kafka's life of alienation directly relate to his development of Gregor Samsa, the outcast son who Kafka symbolically turns into a huge, repulsive creature.Kafka pulls much of his personal experience into the writing of this book. Kafka was a German-speaking Jew in a society where Jews were oppressed. He pulls this into the writing of the book showing Gregor's employer expecting more of him because he is a Jew. The company does not trust him, even though he has not missed a day of work in five years, and a chief clerk comes to check on him . Had this been a German employee, the company would not have so quickly questioned his absence. Kafka also had a rough time dealing with his family because he renounced his Jewish heritage and did not live up to the expectations of his domineering father. Kafka implies that Gregor's father to father feels the same way about Gregor's life. Gregor's father had hostile intentions when he saw Gregor transformed for the first time, but then only wept, conveying his disappointment in his son (20). Gregor never mentions a friend or someone outside his family or work that he must explain his predicamt to once he morphs into the hideous bug. Kafka had a booming social life, but did not build any lasting relationships during his life time outside of his family.

Alienation in any society would make a person feel helpless and alone. In Franz Kafkas novella The Metamorphosis, Gregor Samsa changes into vermin and is completely alienated from his world. He is no longer is able to have normalrelationships, and he loses all communication with other people. The theme of alienation is explored through hisrelationship with his family and even through his relationship with himself.

The alienation of Gregor is unmistakably depicted through his relationship with his family. Gregor is forced to stay in his bedroom, and he is almost always without human interaction. Enticed by Gretes violin playing, Gregor enters the living room but notices that the lodgers, for whom she is playing, are not appreciating the music she is creating. Gregor feels the need to defend her, but he is seen by the lodgers so he retreats to his bedroom and He was hardly inside his room when the door was hurriedly slammed shut, firmly bolted and locked (Kafka 53). Now that Gregor is this hideous bug, no matter how hard he tries, he can no longer protect his family because they no longer view him as Gregor. He is kept away from them and wandering the apartment is out of the question. Gregor is kept isolated in his room as Sheldon Goldfarb explains, Gregor's repulsive appearance means he has to remain in his room, a prisoner, completely isolated. His existence was always a fairly lonely one, but this is worse: as far as friendship and intimacy are concerned, Gregor's transformation is not an escape from his past loneliness but an intensification of it (Critical Essay). Now that this transformation has occurred, his family cannot stand the sight of him. Although he may have felt alone before, now he is completely shunned from the outside world. He is not accepted his family and forced to become a recluse.