Isolation In Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis

Kafka’s Metamorphosis depicts the isolation that we have seen in modern society. Gregor Samsa, a traveling salesman, wakes up as a bug and struggles to do everyday things such as, roll out of bed, open the door, and speak to neither his boss nor his family. His mental and physical health begins to deteriorate as he tries to hold on to his human self and while he is isolated in this dark room his family stops caring for him.The story uses the alienation he faced within his own life, but it also correlates with what was happening in the world around him. There are many themes seen throughout this book, but alienation and the despair are the major one. This is not only seen during the time he was alive, but continues to persist even today. The despair that is faced in the book can be correlated to personal testimonies of Kafka, the isolation that the Jewish bcommunity in Prague faced, the Revolution of 1848, the language barrier that they faced in the vast area, and many more issues going on.
First, Gregor had alienated himself long before his metamorphosis into a beetle. Gregor not being able to communicate with those around him was furthering his detachment from

humanity. He tries to respond to his mother and it comes out as a chirp and then when his office manager calls he states that he is speaking with a “voice of an animal”, which leads to him not trying to speak at all. He began to realize that he was incapable to do every day things that he could do prior to his transformation. These things caused a wedge between his inner self and the exterior world focused on appearance where he is judged based on what he appears to be on the outside even though he remains his human self within his head. His struggle throughout the book of trying to be accepted and adjust to this life is what many people had to do during this time who were not of the majority group and faced hardships because of that. They had to leave behind what they knew and adjust to a new lifestyle that fitted the society more, much like how Gregor had to learn to live as a bug since he was no longer a part of the human world necessarily.
This loss of communication is correlated to the linguistic minefield that Kafka lived in. The Habsburg monarchy ruled, leading to many separate ethnic and linguistic groups. The area depended on the Czech language, but the Prague Jews were more reliant on the German language. This was one aspect of the crisis of Jewish life. The battle between Germans and Czechs nationality subsided the Jews that would lead for them to seek connection, purpose, comfort and the community that they could see others bonded together with. However, they lacked the security and tolerance, which lead them to conform and assimilate, losing their self-expression, even though they would still be faced with discrimination because of the anti-Semitism. The integration was also hard for them because of the restrictions, some of them placed were that they could not choose their place of residence, certain professions, education pathways, marriage and their right to have children were narrowly regulated. They were not given simple human rights of having these choices, but that was not a matter brought to light since they were the minority, even though the economy depending on the positions that they held (Classon).
The political world at the time that this was written is a big influence. The vast territory had a multitude of ethnic and linguistic groups wanting to form autonomous states to have a bigger say in what was happening in the government around them. There are German speaking Austrians in the west, Czech and Polish territories, Magyars in what is today’s Hungary, Ruthenians in the east, and different groups in the Balkans in the south, along with others. Linguistic nationalism was an issue that challenged the Jewish community in Prague, along with different nationalities, that made them “outsiders”. Not speaking the same language can really hold them back since they are unable to communicate with those around who are around them, along with that making them part of the minority whose voice did not matter as much anyways. Although we are all humans with the same rights, that was not portrayed in the society
This eventually led to the Revolution of 1848 that temporarily fixed the problem. The restrictions that were placed on their everyday life were lifted because of the laws that the Austrio-Hungarian government passed. They did so not because the government was concerned with these individuals having their right as humans, but to try and stabilize the strained national groups that rose during the revolution. Starting in Sicily, spreading to France, Germany, Italy and the Austrian empire, the revolution lasted about a year and a half. This was full of economic and political uprisings that led to governmental changes and gains for the working class. However, it was only temporary and eventually led to a further division of the different classes. Alienation was still evident since most of the revolutions failed and the significant change that they wanted did not prevail (“Revolution of 1848”).
The question of the importance of our existence is also brought up. Darwinism was a hot topic within the age, which is challenged throughout the book. Gregor’s transformation into a beetle violated all natural laws. We have been taught that we progress throughout history and our form becomes more intricate, but this was the reverse of the assumed path of the evolutionary change. He goes back to the beginning of the path instead of moving forward.Before, that was a sense of optimism showing that there is a path of progress, but with it challenged, the optimism was lost. What if there were no pattern to evolution and our existence as humans is not as important as we thought?
Human self-alienation and the importance of our existence was not only questioned by Kafka.

This also played a role in the German classical Idealism, Existentialism and Marxism. Marx says that we are all focused on ourselves in what we do and once we make that disconnect and stop receiving the satisfaction for what we put in, we are alienating ourselves from basic human desires and our human existence altogether. Gregor shows that he has dehumanized himself in the workplace long before he was transformed into a bug since he is not getting the same amount back that he is putting into his work. You are not serving your own existence when you do this, causing the “abuse of your body, ruining your mind”. Marx describes this type of dehumanization and alienation as the ultimate fate of man under

capitalism.
The relationship with his father was more of an influence than the history of the time, in my opinion. His father did not approve of his want to be a writer and his journal entries said he thought of him as a failure, which may have been what lead to his abuse. This was also mirrored in the book. You can see Samsa’s father was short-tempered from the get-go. Actions of the father in the book led to his mental and physical condition being decreased, and the family’s reactions also reflected those that he faced in his own life. Such as, his father kicking him and throwing the apple at him that stays lodged in his back. When he goes through his transformation you see that his sister is the one who stays dedicated to him the most.The deterioration of his physical and mental health is shown throughout the book, which could be related to how he went to a sanatorium in Italy to revive failing health in 1913.
Along with those, religion is brought into consideration and how that isolates us further as we separate into our different belief systems. He was quoted to say, “Humans are God’s nihilistic thoughts. There was hope for God, but none for us.” This vision of humans being trapped in a hopeless world that they are isolated from one each other leads to why he would show that Gregor’s only option in the end was to die. He is alienated from family, society and human nature even though he has the human sensibility, feelings and sense, but they are not at his dispense particularly.
Kafka captures the alienation of not only his time, but it is also seen in our world today. We have little control, which is why it was easy to capture the fears and doubts one would have with facing their future. This leads to the alienation we cause ourselves and then the inevitable isolation that we are placed into due to our biological differences and upbringings. Assimilation is an option that some have chosen to do in order to have a bigger play in the economy or social aspects, but they had to be willing to lose a piece of themselves in the process. You can see the numerous accounts in Kafka’s life and history of the world he lived in depicted throughout Metamorphosis and I believe his description of this isolation fit very well and turned some gears and put a lot of thoughts in people’s heads since being published.