The Problem of Alienation Essay

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Metamorphosis

Frank Kafka’s The Metamorphosis is a short novel that was first published in 1915. The author uses his experience to develop much of Gregor Samsa’s life and demonstrate the physical metamorphosis. Prior to the metamorphosis, the protagonist’s family viewed him as a means of survival and eventually took advantage of him. Samsa’s alienation from the family and his surrounding world begins with his transformation into an insect. According to Kafka, the book is a “story of a young man who, transformed overnight into a giant beetle like insect, becomes an object of disgrace to his family…” (p.1). After the metamorphosis, the protagonist becomes a quintessentially alienated man as he is an outsider in his own home. While Samsa is available and close to his family and friends, they are unable to communicate with him as he is trapped in another physical body that makes it impossible for him to connect with them. Alienation also generates self-esteem as Samsa develops “feelings of inadequacy, guilt, and isolation” (p.1). He is locked up alone in his own room by his family as they attempt to help him in his new physical form. Samsa dies of a broken heart and realizes that he lived a purposeless and meaningless life. Kafka states “Look at that, it has died, here it is lying really-really dead!” (p.

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428).

Gregor Samsa is not unique in his alienation from the surrounding world as Kafka intends him to serve as a symbol of all humankind. This story demonstrates the problem alienation causes to people in terms of their interactions and communication with their family, friends and others in the society. While human beings may not metamorphose into animals or insect, they can get caught up in other things that end up causing alienation. In today’s world, alienation can be brought by an individual’s failure or refusal to conform to the demands and norms of the society. Refusal to conform creates a problem where an individual becomes trapped in a particular way of life and end ups getting isolated from friends, family, and the society.

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