Alienation In The Metamorphosis

Throughout Franz Kafka’s highly descriptive novella “The Metamorphosis,” the author uses the main character, Gregor Samsa, to reflect Kafka’s developing alienation and suffering. Throughout much of Kafka’s life he was alienated from his father and suffered with depression and anxiety. Escaping his hardships through his writings, Kafka reflects these hardships through Gregor Samsa, who also suffers isolation from his family while trapped in his apartment due to his immobility as an enormous bug. Though Kafka suffered many health related issues besides his clinical depression, such as Tuberculosis, a bacterial disease that affects the lungs, Kafka was able to cope with his anxiety and depression through his writing. Richard H. Lawson, author of Franz Kafka’s biography “Franz Kafka (3 July 1883-3 June 1924)” states that: “He regarded writing as the means of escaping the tolerability of a life so awful that he likened it to an underworld”(Lawson 146). Writing was the utmost escape that Kafka had, even though much of his family did not support his career choice as a published author. As Kafka’s suffering worsened health wise, Kafka was unable to go to work, therefore he was unable to provide the financial support needed for himself and his family. In …show more content…
With the uttermost list of similarities between the two, through suffering and alienation, Kafka reflected himself throughout his writings. Gregor Samsa is how Franz Kafka viewed himself as he went through the hardships in his life. As the only son, Kafka had a lot of expectations from his father. In the same way, Gregor also had a lot of expectations from his father. Although these expectations were not always met, causing more physical and mental pain rather than the acceptance that they both needed, both Kafka and Gregor have similarly been able to escape all the suffering and alienation by their