Alienation in Kafka Franz Kafka Published One

Alienation in Kafka Franz Kafka published one of his famous works, "The Metamorphosis," in 1915. Gregor Samsa is the principal character in the story. Samsa is the character whose metamorphosis is the primary subject of the story. The story is not a happy one. One of the primary themes upon which the story meditates is alienation.

The paper will examine and explore the instances of alienation in "The Metamorphosis." Gregor Samsa experiences alienation before and after he transforms into a very large insect; it is only after his transformation that the others around him notice him and his alienation. Gregor Samsa is miserable in his career as a salesman. He does not have much privacy because he has a room in an apartment occupied by his parents and sister. Gregor's supervisor is an unpleasant and disagreeable man who does not favor Gregor.

One morning, Gregor awakes in his bed in his room with a strange feeling. From very early on, Gregor realizes that he has transformed into "monstrous vermin." He is the same size as his adult self, but now he is a bug. He has the same thoughts and feelings he retained as inn his human form while within his bug body.

Gregor does his best to conceal his new form until he mentally gets a grip on this new and startling situation, but due to his supervisor's listlessness, he opens the door to his room with his mouth to apologize. The supervisor flees from him in fear and Gregor's father chases him back into his room with a rolled up newspaper, just as if he were a bug of more normal size. Gregor experienced loneliness as a human. He did not have friends.

He did not receive any pleasure or fulfillment in his work in sales. In an indirect way, Kafka points to the dissatisfaction and monotony in the life of the capitalist subject. As a bug, his mother and sister show affection for him. They clean up after him while he hides behind or under furniture such as the couch. Gregor's sister additionally feeds him table scraps once he no longer responds positively to his former favorite foods such as milk and bread.

Alienation, as Marx & Engels explained in their words regarding capitalism, is part and parcel of capitalism. This alienation is further magnified in Gregor's personal life. He did not have a girlfriend or much evidence of social life. He seemed to enjoy very few and very simple pleasures including down time away from work, but that may be a stretch because there is little implication that Gregor knows himself. His own inner being remains alien to him.

It is for this reason, therefore, that Kafka gives it a form that is quite alien to him, the form of a verminous creature that threatens his rational existence in an incomprehensible manner. The most gruesome aspect of Gregor's fate is not his metamorphosis. But the blindness with which everybody treats this transformation. Gregor will not admit it. "I'll get dressed right away; pack up my samples, and go." [1] His parents and his sister do not understand it.

The self is what is absolutely alien, void and non-existent, not only in the world of business but also in the world of the family. (Kohzadi et al., 1604) Gregor's alienation is magnified as an insect. It becomes all the more transparent how little people want Gregor around. The distaste of Gregor's father in particular becomes much more apparent. The alienation that Gregor feels within manifests itself externally through the transformation of his physical form. According to Freud, people live in two selves simultaneously: conscious and unconscious.

By the conscious Freud means thoughts and actions the manifest content of one's life. He calls the unconscious the latent level. Freud says that there is a continuous effort to keep the desires unconscious or latent. Accordingly, there is a separation between a person and his unconscious mind, which is called alienation. Alienation generally suggests depersonalization, self estrangement, cultural estrangement, the sense of meaninglessness and powerlessness. (Kohzadi et al., 1602 -- 1603) Gregor feels all of these things. He definitely feels depersonalization.

Gregor does not feel valued as a person in his work or in his family. Gregor does not feel like a person, so he might as well not be a person and be a bug -- this is the implied logic or point of the story. Gregor does not have much of a relationship with himself; he does not have much self-esteem and does not seem to have any interests besides staying below other people's radar. In this sense, he is estranged from himself.

There is no sense of culture as communicated in Gregor's thoughts or actions. The whole story is very clearly about Gregor's feelings of meaninglessness and powerlessness in his life. This quote assists very well in the explanation of how alienation is a primary and apparent theme in "The Metamorphosis." Gregor is alienated as a participant in a capitalist economy. Gregor's parents have to rent out rooms in their property to procure enough wages to sustain themselves. This is a great burden upon everyone in the family.

The family's burden increases once Gregor becomes a bug and no longer generates any income. Gregor does his best to stay out of site. He grows accustom to just listening to his family and the tenants. His favorite pastime become scurrying up walls and ceilings. He does develop a taste for music. Gregor's sister Grete plays the violin and plays periodically. As time passes, Grete grows annoyed with taking care of Gregor. The.