Marissa ColemanAnthony CudaENG 357December 4 2019“The Metamorphosis” The Alienation of Gregor SamsaFeelings

Marissa ColemanAnthony CudaENG 357.December 4, 2019“The Metamorphosis”: The Alienation of Gregor SamsaFeelings of alienation and rejections have universal implications. Nearly everyone experiences some form of denial in unique ways in their lifetime, and in most cases, families contribute to such feelings either knowingly or unknowingly. In Metamorphosis, Kafka uses manipulation and distortion of his primary character Gregor Samsa in the story to bring out the theme of rejection and alienation. In this paper, I have the opinion that Kafka frequently uses alienation in his book to sympathize with the fact that Samsa has turned into a hideous creature, symbolizing change and how the character has to do things differently with his new body. I also argue that Gregor, in some form, would have survived after his first change if he had the love and support of his family. Gregor’s transformation into a dung beetle assumes the metaphoric aspect of his human life. Samsa’s family gives him harsh treatments compared to a worthless insect by making him complement family demands through trying duties as a commercial traveler. Since Samsa takes family responsibilities, his family recognizes him as long as he can do it. Kafka mentions that the family had gotten used to reaping from his sweat that the money as gratefully received and gladly remitted, but there was no uprush of warm feeling involved (Kafka 16). Samsa’s family is only grateful for his support but do not genuinely appreciate his efforts and only tolerate him as long as he can meet their demands. The moment Gregor turns into a dung beetle, the reality dawns the family that they have lost their provider, and henceforth, Gregor becomes a repulsive eye to them, which alienates him further from the family. At the same time, such feelings of alienation are what Gregor communicates when he transforms the primary character into a worthless insect to show how Samsa’s family and the world view his human existence (Arnab 39). Gregor applauds the first arrangement and cannot differentiate between the doctor and the locksmith. However, as he coughs, it turns to be a different thing as even his voice had dramatically changed. Right on the floor as he tries to open the door, Kafka notes that his parents and the manager noticed his efforts as he used his tiny limbs that had sticky stuff and then turned the key on the lock with his mouth without real teeth. Surprisingly, the reactions from his father and the manager express even further the theme of isolation and abandonment. That kind of inhumanity does not only surprise an ordinary reader but also the author who laments that “but they all should’ve called out to him, including his father and mother, ‘Come on, Gregor,’ they should’ve shouted, ‘keep going, keep working on the lock (9).’ This act, like many others in the book, shows reflect the heights of alienation Gregor’s family had built against him.Kafka does not only uses the distortion of realities to bring out the theme of alienation but also exposes the subject through Samsa’s father’s actions towards his son Gregor further emphasizes the idea of isolation. The same acts of separation are seen in Grete’s activities. Grete had maintained an intimate relationship with Samsa until she finds out he had embraced a dung beetle traits. Grete’s attitude towards Samsa slowly changes. At the beginning of Samsa’s transformation, Grete takes care of him (Arnab 40). Still, as she learns that he would not change from the insect-like characters, she drifts from him consistently and progressively, and her considerations steadily dwindle. Grete’s neglect piles more pressure on Gregor to feel both secluded and rejected from the only family member who had in the past stood by him. When offering Gregor food, Grete decides to provide him with a whole menu from an old newspaper. It is only Grete who exhibits shreds of tenderness towards Gregor in his dung beetle state, and she tries to get him the food of his choice after he failed to consume the first meal. Grete proceeds to feed Gregor twice per day when his parents are asleep and makes it a deal between the two of them having concealed it from his parents (Arnab 40). However, the whole experience brings out the theme of alienation even further as it turns that only Grete takes care of Gregor and also keeps him off his parents. Through the removal of Gregor’s furniture, Grete further dehumanizes him. She destroys Gregor’s last connection with the realities of the world by removing his furniture off his room. As Gregor notices that the removal of his furniture detaches his previous contact from the facts, he imagines that his properties should remain in the place and their previous positions (Arnab 40). In other words, the writer makes it clear that Gregor’s furniture gave him good feelings and that even if the furniture would hinder his movements, crawling back and forth would be a setback but an honest advantage. Gregor realizes that such last bunches of furniture remained his genuine connections to the realities of the world. Grete erases his final clusters of memories by taking his furniture and not anymore perceives him as a brother but more of a repulsive insect that lacks what it takes to be human (Arnab 40).Consequently, she rejects him and ignores his humanity. It is such actions that alienate Gregor from the realities of the world to have feelings of rejection and isolation. Additionally, the writer dehumanizes Gregor to build the theme of alienation and rejection through the behavior of his father. During the first appearance to the family in a giant insect form, they meet him with disgust and rejection. Mr. Samsa, Gregor’s father, no longer takes Gregor for a son and ignores no chance to dehumanize him. The writer states that “he seized in his right hand the walking stick that the chief clerk had left behind on a chair