Degrees of Seclusion
Solitude is separated by a fine line from isolation; isolation is separated by a fine line from alienation. One may find contentment in the first, melancholy in the second, and bitterness in the third. In Franz Kafka’s novella “The Metamorphosis”, Kafka uses the protagonist Gregor Samsa’s transformation from human to “monstrous vermin” to explore the themes of isolation and alienation (7). As the novella progresses, Kafka’s audience witnesses a snowball effect with each level of human detachment from society Gregor faces. Initially, to an extent, Gregor welcomes the new found solitude granted to him through his transformation. All of the burdens from Gregor’s former role as the Samsa family 's breadwinner are …show more content…
Bitterness has taken over Gregor as “he [is] filled with rage at [his family’s] miserable treatment of him” (39). After the incident where the father lodges an apple into Gregor 's back and injures him, Gregor 's physical form begins to rapidly deteriorate. Gregor’s alienation drives his father to no longer view Gregor as his son but as a foe; the father does not hesitant to speculate the worst from “Grete’s all too brief statement and [assumes] Gregor was guilty of some kind of violence” (34). Despite Grete’s empathy towards Gregor in the beginning of the novella, she does not defend Gregor from his father’s attack. Instead, Grete acts as an associate-- she is the catalyst that drives the Samsa’s family to the final decision of completely alienating Gregor. Grete’s failure to clean Gregor’s room reveals to Kafka’s audience her disregard for her brother’s wellbeing; she makes a statement to the family refusing to “pronounce [her] brother’s name in front of this monstrosity” and even urges her family to dispose of Gregor (46). By transforming Gregor’s room into a junkyard for “anything deemed useless” to the boarders, not only is his family valuing the worth of strangers over their own son but his family dissociates Gregor’s humanity and views him similar to the trash thrown into his room. Once Gregor is isolated, alienated, and eliminated his sacrifice for the family is forgotten about. The story closes to the scene where Gregor’s family brush off Gregor’s death and continue to look more optimistically into a future without
Solitude is separated by a fine line from isolation; isolation is separated by a fine line from alienation. One may find contentment in the first, melancholy in the second, and bitterness in the third. In Franz Kafka’s novella “The Metamorphosis”, Kafka uses the protagonist Gregor Samsa’s transformation from human to “monstrous vermin” to explore the themes of isolation and alienation (7). As the novella progresses, Kafka’s audience witnesses a snowball effect with each level of human detachment from society Gregor faces. Initially, to an extent, Gregor welcomes the new found solitude granted to him through his transformation. All of the burdens from Gregor’s former role as the Samsa family 's breadwinner are …show more content…
Bitterness has taken over Gregor as “he [is] filled with rage at [his family’s] miserable treatment of him” (39). After the incident where the father lodges an apple into Gregor 's back and injures him, Gregor 's physical form begins to rapidly deteriorate. Gregor’s alienation drives his father to no longer view Gregor as his son but as a foe; the father does not hesitant to speculate the worst from “Grete’s all too brief statement and [assumes] Gregor was guilty of some kind of violence” (34). Despite Grete’s empathy towards Gregor in the beginning of the novella, she does not defend Gregor from his father’s attack. Instead, Grete acts as an associate-- she is the catalyst that drives the Samsa’s family to the final decision of completely alienating Gregor. Grete’s failure to clean Gregor’s room reveals to Kafka’s audience her disregard for her brother’s wellbeing; she makes a statement to the family refusing to “pronounce [her] brother’s name in front of this monstrosity” and even urges her family to dispose of Gregor (46). By transforming Gregor’s room into a junkyard for “anything deemed useless” to the boarders, not only is his family valuing the worth of strangers over their own son but his family dissociates Gregor’s humanity and views him similar to the trash thrown into his room. Once Gregor is isolated, alienated, and eliminated his sacrifice for the family is forgotten about. The story closes to the scene where Gregor’s family brush off Gregor’s death and continue to look more optimistically into a future without