The Dehumanization Of Gregor In Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis

Gregor is a travelling salesman and as time goes on, his infatuation with his job continues and seems to make him less personal and much more mechanical, eventually dehumanizing him. He develops an “a prudent habit... acquired in traveling of locking all the doors during the night” (497), which he brings back to his home. This emphasizes the separation between him and his family. However, we come to realize that Gregor hates his job and describes it as “exhausting... irritating work” (495) and he hates that he has to travel so often just to be treated badly by his boss. The only reason that Gregor stays in his position at work is to help with his parents’ debts but he still hopes to end up doing something else that is better someday. But when he became a bug, he is alienated from the very money driven economy they live in, where the societal rule is that if you are unproductive, you become repulsive and unimportant. Being a bug, which prevents Gregor from earning money in order to support his family, reinforces the idea that he is disgusting to both society and his family. His personal value seems to merely be financial and now his relation with his family has been reduced just like his economic worth. The idea that he is just a welfare source ultimately alienates him from his family. Gregor gradually changes into an outsider but his family doesn’t notice because they are only interested in his delivery of funds for them. Although there are moments …show more content…
Franz Kafka reflects his idea of society through Gregor’s isolation and alienation by displaying how Gregor is ostracized from his family and society and is forced to become an outsider. Kafka also shows how Gregor’s job causes his alienation from what was most important in his life such as, true family, friends, and even love. Gregor’s “metamorphosis” finally leads him to see how his life is simply