Alienation in Kafka

Throughout literature, the effects of isolation and alienation are portrayed to show the requirement of personal interaction and social inclusion for all humans. In the Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka seeks to uncover the potential dangers of social rejection through Gregor’s transformation that leads to his separation from both his family and his past life. The story is a reflection on how alienation and seclusion begin and develop in a society. Kafka uses the characters in his novella as a representation of society as a whole. Gregor’s boss establishes the initiation into separation of a person from the rest of society. Gregor is the person being secluded, and the inhabitants of the Samsa household represent the other members of society. Kafka creates an effective model to represent the hierarchically structured effect of isolationism and alienation in society on a larger scale.

        Kafka uses the company which Gregor is forced to work for to illustrate the hierarchical effect of isolation and alienation, where the beginning of isolationism begins at the top of the pyramid and creates a ripple effect down through the rest of society. The manager of the company that Gregor must work for because of his family debt is representative of the most important person in the chain of command. By waking up as an insect and being late for work, Gregor has broken his conformity to the parameters of what is tolerated by the company, so the manager himself comes to deal with the issue since such circumstances can “only be entrusted to the intelligence of the manager.” (Kafka, 13) This, as well as how the family treats the manager as nicely as possible when he arrives, reveals the importance of the manager’s decisions and their respect for authority. Further demonstrating the importance of his decisions, the manager is the first to react to Gregor’s transformation by threatening, “your position is not at all the most secure,” (17) when Gregor does not open his door. This shows that he has the ability to completely disrupt Gregor’s place in the social order and in doing so, isolate and alienate him from everyone who does conforms to what society’s norms. The manager remarks, “That was an animal’s voice” (20) when Gregor speaks, which alienates Gregor from humanity. He reacts with a strong sense of disgust to the sight of Gregor by “pressing his hand against his open mouth and moving back slowly.” (23) After firing Gregor, the manager flees the building. This causes the origination of Gregor’s isolation, since work was the most important and time consuming activity in his life. This shows that as with society in general, any person in position of power holds tremendous influence over the rest of the population and is capable of introducing the idea that a person must be isolated.

        Just because the figure in power decrees that a person is not a good member of society and should be secluded, however, does not mean that all members of society react in the same way that Gregor did. The spectrum of views that members of society take against those who have been isolated is shown through Kafka’s portrayal of the Samsa family’s reaction to his transformation. Gregor’s father represents those who respect authority and immediately agree with those higher in the social hierarchy and unquestioningly aid in the isolation process. He wears a “blue uniform with gold buttons,” and he looks "as if he were ready for service at any moment and even here only at the beck and call of his superior," (62) even when he is at home, asleep on a chair in the living room. This exhibits not only the value he places on this social hierarchy, but also that he is always a slave to his job, even when he is at his own house. This is also illustrated as soon as the manager reacts to Gregor’s deviation from normal when Mr. Samsa begins to “drive Gregor back into his room by waving the cane and the newspaper” (29).

Other members of the family, however, react differently to the situation. Grete is the most emotionally connected to Gregor and is the most sympathetic to him immediately after his transformation. She was the one who placed milk in his room, which “was his favorite drink and which his sister had currently placed there for that reason.” (34) Her reaction to Gregor’s isolation is the opposite of Mr. Samsa’s. Grete acts as considerate as Mr. Samsa is forceful regarding Gregor’s alienation. Her relationship with Gregor shows how in society, those who know the person being isolated before its inception are most likely to resist helping enforce the separation. However, Kafka understands that people are very dynamic and often change their opinions. Grete undergoes a change in perspective to such a degree that by the end of the novella it is she who declares, “We must get rid of it.” (84) This change in perspective shows how Kafka believes that members of society often stop sympathizing with the isolated group when it becomes inconvenient for them to continue doing so. Kafka clearly thinks that people are selfish, no matter how altruistic they initially seem. Moreover, she even rationalized a way to make herself feel better. The only thing that changed between Grete in the beginning and end was how difficult life became. She did not just suddenly start the think the bug was not Gregor, she convinced herself of it so she could live her more comfortable lifestyle. By distancing herself from the situation emotionally, she can have a more detached attitude about the bug. In fact, it can be argued that Grete’s metamorphosis is more significant than Gregor’s. Gregor was always at least somewhat of a loner, but Grete completely changed her outlook on how she viewed others. She showed how she could be capable of extreme sympathy, but only when it was not too much effort. This may be a Kafka’s way of saying how nobody is truly a completely good person; even the nicest person stops acting selfless when it becomes demanding.
        Gregor’s mother reacts originally in a manner that falls somewhere between Mr. Samsa and Grete. When first seeing him she “went two steps toward Gregor and collapsed right in the middle of her skirts.” (23) It seems as if she did not know exactly what to think of him. These conflicting desires continue through the novella, such as when Mr. Samsa tries to kill Gregor, “she begged him to spare Gregor’s life,” (65) but at the same time she is repulsed by him. This illustrates how she wants to help him and tries to think of him the same way she did before his transformation, yet is unable to. This resembles the idealists in society who theoretically support the alienated person but often succumb to social pressures when they are forced to face the problem. These are the people who are against certain social issues, and may even voice their opinions, but don’t want to do anything about it.