Alienation In Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis

Metamorphosis

A young man’s devotion to the welfare of his family ends up harming him and his loved ones when he wakes up one day to discover that he has turned into an enormous insect. His entire world is turned upside down when one of the worst things imaginable becomes true and he is practically shunned by the world and left alone. “Metamorphosis” written by German novelist Franz Kafka shows that the yearning for money can result in a feeling of isolation and abandonment. This short novel proves that alienation from loved ones and society can weaken relationships, and lead to the destruction of oneself, quite similar to Kafka’s life.

Gregor Samsa, a man endlessly working to support his family was thrown away as if he were useless, trash.

As things worsen pertaining to Gregor’s condition, he not only begins to distance himself from the outside world, the outside world, begins to shun him. At first, Gregor’s sister is the one that spends the most time with him. Grete takes on the responsibility of caring for Gregor, she takes pity on him by cleaning his room, bringing him food, moving furniture around for him, and putting his chair by the window so he can see the street. ¨Finally, Gregor 's sister, Grete is his greatest champion, until she wants to be rid of the burden of caring for them” (Patnaik). Later in the story, Grete becomes more distant and feels as if Gregor is more of a burden that she wants to be free from. Throughout the story, she matures and becomes a woman and later gets a job to provide for her family. In addition, his father resented him more and more as time went on. Gregor´s father, a failed businessman, showed hostility towards him after his transformation. He is more concerned about the money coming in rather than his son. Mr. Samasa also gets physical with Gregor when he got frustrated, first when he beats Gregor back into his room and second when he threw an apple in his back. Lastly, Gregor 's mother is in complete shock of her son 's new form. She is in pain at the sight of the giant insect and even faints a few times. Grete and Mr. Samsa want to keep her from seeing the reality of Gregor’s full form. Turning into a horrific creature created distance between society, isolation, and

Franz Kafka´s life is portrayed through ¨Metamorphosis¨ by describing his relationship with his father through Gregor and Mr. Samsa. For instance, both Gregor and Kafka’s fathers instill fear in them that leave scars behind. ¨Kafka’s turbulent relationship with his browbeating father is repeatedly played out in the author 's work: ¨My writing was all about you...” (Benson). Kafka took the years of emotional abuse brought by his father and poured it into his writing to express himself in a different way. Secondly, Franz Kafka used Gregor as a dramatization of himself. Similar to Gregor, Kafka’s father did not approve of him and showed little or no affection. Franz did move many times in order to escape his father’s constant criticism. In addition, Kafka and Gregor both suffered physical and emotional abuse at the hands of their fathers. Throughout the story, Mr. Samsa used demeaning language with Gregor like he was a pest instead of his son, and hits him a couple of times with no remorse. Kafka used a bug to represent what his father truly saw him as. He relates to Gregor because, in a way, he too went through a metamorphosis of