Alienation in the Metamorphosis

Alienation in Kafka's "Metamorphosis"

Gregor Samsa, the protagonist of Franz Kafka's short story "The Metamorphosis," becomes increasingly alienated physically, economically, and emotionally from his surroundings over the course of the tale. But while Samsa's transformation into a gigantic insect is true on a literal level, it also comes to symbolize the deeper alienation that Gregor must have been experiencing, even before the metamorphosis took place. Gregor's transformation lays bare the hypocrisies of his society and family life.

When Gregor is transformed into a cockroach, he is unable to go to work or to feed himself. He is repulsive to others, and out of compassion he conceals himself from his sister Grete when she feeds him. Even his old, wholesome food is repulsive to him and he prefers rotten food. His old routine is destroyed, although he makes an effort to go to work. When later in the story he listens to his sister playing her violin -- despite supporting her music when he was a fully functional human being -- he is driven back to his room by his family and the other boarders are revolted by him.

However, Gregor's transformation actually reveals aspects of his former life that he seemed to try to ignore when he was human. He believed that he had to work because his family would be unable to support themselves without his ceaseless labor in an office, but they manage to get by without him after he is transformed and cannot work. He was determined to enable Grete to study music, but when she plays everyone but Gregor becomes bored with her art, and his parents are hopeful that Grete will marry rather than become a great violinist at the end of the story. Ultimately, Gregor seems more invested in Grete's music than she is, suggesting that Gregor had hidden aspirations for a more meaningful life. Even as an insect, he is more sensitive and compassionate than the other family members.

Gregor's family depended upon him, but it was a parasitic dependence and when Gregor was no longer a socially acceptable and recognizable figure, they rejected him. All the while Gregor was slaving away in a miserable, cramped office space they could have been doing more to contain their household expenses, but chose not to and instead used Gregor as a beast of burden. Gregor is thus the ultimate oppressed worker, alienated from the fruits of his labor, which either profits his employers or his ungrateful family but never Gregor himself. When he dies, his family is relieved, because he is no longer of use to them.