Illness of a Loved One: The Truths behind it
In the short story Metamorphosis, author Franz Kafka, describes a young man seemingly wheeling in a world of depression. By illuminating certain hardships of the protagonist in this story, Kafka shares what it is like to live life with an illness or disease. Specifically I will focus on Kafka’s depiction of alienation and how sick individuals are often shunned by loved ones. Additionally, I will look at the burden taken on by the family who must deal with a loved one suffering from an illness; often leading to wishes of the family member to just pass away.
Perhaps the greatest consequence of the protagonist (Gregor’s) Metamorphosis is the psychological distance it creates between Gregor and his family. Gregor’s extraordinary change from human to insect alienates him not only physically, but emotionally as he is unable to communicate with anyone. Gregor refers to this feeling as “imprisonment” as he is still living but ostensibly trapped in his own mind (Simon, 2013). After his transformation Gregor almost exclusively stays in his room with the door closed with limited contact from people. This alienation only serves to fuel Gregor’s mental illness of …show more content…
In the Metamorphosis he clearly sticks to his claim as he uses Gregors transformation to mirror a crippling (real life) disease. This affects not only the family but the sick individual as well. Alienation for people with handicaps and illness was a problem for Kafka living in his time and still prevails in modern society today. Often people are unable to cope with the burden that special needs people demand; this leads to private thoughts of wishing that the burden placed on them would go away. This truth is never to be spoken out loud as it sounds monstrous to casual on-lookers; however authorized knowers are able to understand and empathize with the situation as a
In the short story Metamorphosis, author Franz Kafka, describes a young man seemingly wheeling in a world of depression. By illuminating certain hardships of the protagonist in this story, Kafka shares what it is like to live life with an illness or disease. Specifically I will focus on Kafka’s depiction of alienation and how sick individuals are often shunned by loved ones. Additionally, I will look at the burden taken on by the family who must deal with a loved one suffering from an illness; often leading to wishes of the family member to just pass away.
Perhaps the greatest consequence of the protagonist (Gregor’s) Metamorphosis is the psychological distance it creates between Gregor and his family. Gregor’s extraordinary change from human to insect alienates him not only physically, but emotionally as he is unable to communicate with anyone. Gregor refers to this feeling as “imprisonment” as he is still living but ostensibly trapped in his own mind (Simon, 2013). After his transformation Gregor almost exclusively stays in his room with the door closed with limited contact from people. This alienation only serves to fuel Gregor’s mental illness of …show more content…
In the Metamorphosis he clearly sticks to his claim as he uses Gregors transformation to mirror a crippling (real life) disease. This affects not only the family but the sick individual as well. Alienation for people with handicaps and illness was a problem for Kafka living in his time and still prevails in modern society today. Often people are unable to cope with the burden that special needs people demand; this leads to private thoughts of wishing that the burden placed on them would go away. This truth is never to be spoken out loud as it sounds monstrous to casual on-lookers; however authorized knowers are able to understand and empathize with the situation as a