Alienation Theme in Metamorphosis - Essay Example

One day Gregor wakes up to find that he is a large insect with tiny legs that could hardly carry him. His enormous efforts to wake up and catch the next train after missing the normal one do not bear fruit and he decides to sleep. However, he cannot sleep since he is used to sleep on the right side and apparently, he could not turn to that direction. His employer visits his house, which makes him open the door and reveal his real status to his parents and his employer who leaves the house quite scared.

From this point, Gregor is isolated form the rest of his family and he keeps to his room where his sister feeds him. He adopts insect features and items are removed from his room to create him enough space to crawl and fly. Every day he eats less, which makes his body very weak. Gregor receives rejection when he leaves his room one last time after hearing sounds of violin form her sister playing for customers. He at last dies and his family celebrates his death (Kafka and Crick 29-44; Kafka web).

This paper discusses Kafka theme of alienation through Gregor who is alienated from his job, family, social life, and himself. Alienation from Himself One morning, Gregor woke up transformed into large insect. As he lifted his head he could see his brown belly, slightly domed, and divided by arches into stiff sections. He was so huge such that the bedding was hardly able to cover it and seemed ready to slide off any moment. Gregor had many legs, which were quite feeble compared to the rest of the body and could hardly carry him (Kafka web).

This meant that Gregor had ceased to act like a human being and his actions had to change to that of an insect. He is a new man who has to rediscover himself again in his new form and manage the normal life he was used to. Kafka uses transformation from a human being to an insect to depict the highest level of alienation of human beings from themselves. Outwardly, Gregor could fulfil all his obligations most of which included his parent’s debts that he had to pay for the next six years. Despite working for the last fifteen years, he is living in his parent’s apartments with no future of himself, no dreams of his own and this is bound to continue for the next coming years.

The job is so demanding that he has to leave the house at wee hours of morning, which makes him have not enough sleep. He has no time for himself to relax and do other things that he loves doing (Kafka web). Alienation from his Job Despite working for his company for the last fifteen years, Gregor is not one of the valued employees. Kafka presents him as one devoted employee who has never failed to report on duty for all these years that he has worked for this company (Kafka web). His devotion is because of loneliness that rocks his life due to lack of a woman around him and intimacy he longs for.

A picture of a woman on his wall tells it all. However, his transformation has changed things now that he is not a valuable employee. His current transformation alienates him from reporting to his duties a thing that makes him at loggerheads with his employers. A visit by a chief clerk form the company Gregor is working for highlights further conditions surrounding his work place. Gregor’s boss thinks that he has missed from work because of some money entrusted to him, which is not the case.

The chief clerk is a good intermediary