Alienation In The Metamorphosis

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka starts off with a man who wakes up one morning to find himself in the body of a cockroach. His belly is rounded, brown, and divided into segments, and he had multiple thin legs. His mother calls his name through the locked door, and when he answers her, he doesn’t recognize his own voice. He tries to tell them he is alright and that he is getting up right away, but his voice sounded different to them too. He manages to roll off the bed and unlocks the door by grabbing the key with his mouth. When his family finally sees him, they back away fearfully and his life of near isolation begins. His sister is the only one who dares come near him. She provides him with food, and cleans up after him. As they adjust …show more content…
Even his consideration for his family seems to be something alien to him. After his metamorphosis, Gregor feels completely alienated from his room and environment because he can't even see the street outside of his house. He sees himself as an essential component of his family’s well-being, but as his family comes to the realization of his transformation they become ashamed of him, locking him in his room out of sight. Slowly Gregor begins to lose all connection with his family. Even his sister who fed him and kept him happy abandon him. She began to stop bringing him his food and cleaning up after him each day. Another example of alienation in this story would be in chapter three. Grete was playing her violin in the house for the family and the men which were staying with them. When Gregor decided that he wanted to see her play he left his room and began walking towards the group. When one of the men saw Gregor he yelled and they were all terrified. After seeing Gregor in the house the men who were paying rent at the time decided to stop paying rent and were kicked out by Gregors father. This caused Gregor to fell like a worthless critter who was alienated by his own family. Throughout the entire story, Gregor runs into many situation in which his feels alienated, but also guilty. He felt …show more content…
Some would say that it symbolizes how insignificant and pointless Gregor’s life was, and the meaninglessness he found in his job as a traveling salesman. Others may say that it's a symbol of our society. The insect which Gregor becomes is a symbol of the human condition. Upon my research, I've found that the most agreed upon theory for the symbol of the cockroach is Kafka’s relationship with his father. The insect is a representation of how Kafka’s father made him feel. He was strict and relied on Gregor for the family's income. At one point, Gregors father throws an apple at him, symbolizing the family's rejection of Gregors new life as a cockaroach. Once the family realized that Gregors was no longer able to provide for them, they found him usless and refused to care for him as a human. The anger and shame Mr. Samsa had for his son was shown by the force that the apple was thrown at Gregor. The soft harmless apple was able to penetrate Greg's hard shell-like back. I also learned that Gregors father in real life made him feel small and trapped, just like Gregor as an insect in his room. The removal of the furniture in his room is a symbol of his family giving up on Gregor’s ability to become human again. The furniture was a sort of is link to his human past, symbolizing the way he would live in his human self rather than his insect body. Another item in Gregors live which