Franz Kafka The Metamorphosis

Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis explores the degradation and transformative power of alienation. As its protagonist, Gregor Samsa, experiences personal alienation from the people he has cared for and served, he is transformed, losing himself altogether. Simultaneously, in ironic contrast to his experience, his transformation enables those around him to grow. Their lives are renewed at the cost of his own. In the novella’s inciting incident, Gregor, a traveling salesman, wakes to find himself transformed into an insect. The narrator recounts this bizarre change in a straightforward manner, at once setting the story’s absurdist tone and suggesting a universe that lacks order and justice. Gregor’s imprisoning transformation, symbolic of the conditions of his existence, separates him physically and emotionally from his family, his coworkers, and humanity in general. This theme concerning the effects of alienation is prevalent: Gregor’s metamorphosis into an insect reflects the alienation he experienced in life. Even before his transformation, he had disliked his job and office manager, had few friends, spent evenings alone reading the paper or train schedules, and supported his family in an emotionally detached way.