The Amorality Of Alienation
Dec. 11, 2024 • By Jason Elhilow
DescriptionAn essay exploring alienation in The Metamorphosis.
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ImageFranz Kafka
In The Metamorphosis, author Franz Kafka tells the story of Gregor Samsa, a salesman who undergoes a disturbing transformation into a giant beetle. The struggle to navigate life in his new grotesque form dovetails into the unraveling of Gregor’s humanity, the chilling reactions of his family reflecting the conditional nature of their love. Through this surreal tale, Kafka reveals how alienation often ushers in the destruction of one's humanity, especially when an individual is rejected by their friends, parents, and siblings, all due to the victim's incapacity to conform to social standards. The story’s opening instantly suggests that Gregor’s transformation into an insect is a direct response to his repressed life as an overworked and socially isolated individual. Before his metamorphosis, Gregor tirelessly supported his family, enduring the brutality of society to ensure their comfort, despite his own unhappiness. He truly had little love for his work in sales, this constant labor with little recognition acting as dehumanization itself, Gregor’s eventual change into an insect acting as a visualization of this tortuous mental state. With that, the missing of Gregor’s typical morning train the same day as his new body took control acted as the catalyst for the chief clerk from his job to barge into his home, together the superior and Gregor’s parents taking in what had happened. They stared, and at Gregor’s first attempts at words, the clerk “backed away […] parted lips over one twitching shoulder.” Accordingly, he “did not stand still one moment,” instead stealing away toward the door while locking his eyes on the man he once knew, the suddenness with which he took his last step appearing as if he “burned the sole of his foot” (Kafka). Kafka uses vivid imagery to illustrate society's prioritization of economic value over humanity; once they see Gregor's transformation, they abandon him, escaping any responsibility for his well-being. The chief was scared, and, after that, stopped caring about him, instantly viewing him as losing all sense of economic viability. Almost no one would want to buy from a bug, to say the least; this physical transformation and the reactions after it stripped him of the only seeming value he gave to the world: his ability to work. And from there, the alienation and dehumanization of Gregor worsens, as even the ones who should love him regardless ostensibly leave him behind. Money, central to Gregor’s relationship with his family, exacerbates his isolation. In prior times, his hard work in society allowed his parents to retire and for him to save up for his sister, Grete, to continue her education. They clearly loved him, their only pitfall being a lack of recognition of what he did for them. Only when he transformed did they become aware of the work he did, yet even then, appreciation did not ensue, as resentment quickly developed among them. His parents, in particular, began to slowly disconnect from their beloved son, his mother fearful of what a beast he had become. At the same time, his father was willing to literally pelt him with apples in shame of what Gregor had become. That final apple, which lodges in Gregor's back and festers, is a perfect manifestation of their sudden hostility. Objectification trumped his humanity, their distaste for him acting as a second stage in his lost sense of self. His room became a storage place for the family, cluttered with “things there was no room for elsewhere” (Kafka). And even when Gregor DIES, they brush it off, tired of the burden he became over the many nights and days he lived as an insect. His parents just simply remark this: “‘Dead,’ Mrs. Samsa [said], looking questioningly at the charwoman […] ‘Well,’ said Mr. Samsa, ‘now thanks be to God” (Kafka). The reason for this complete lack of love comes down to both embarrassment of what Gregor became and acknowledgment that they now had to take care of themselves. His loved ones resented him for an uncontrolled act, his father forced to work at a bank, his mother to work as a seamstress, and Grete to enter the field of sales herself. It was yet again money and his economic value to them, continuing the story's clear theme of the toll work has on people, the very aspect of Gregor turning into a bug reflecting how insignificant he could become to them. Just like a fly, they swatted him away, shoving whatever was left of his corpse pre-death into an isolated room, and cheering for when that fateful day came. Yet, if anyone sympathized with Gregor at first, it was Grete, his sister. She at least could acknowledge that he likely was not making it happen and that the metamorphosis was more something brought on to him, or maybe something not him at all. When the mayhem started, she fed him, occasionally cleaned his room, and showed him patience. But as time went on and the situation worsened, her nurturing nature evolved into a form of resentment. Grete started to refer to Gregor as “it,” as a “creature” to be left in the wild. She tells her parents that things “can’t go on like this.” She refuses to utter her brother’s name “in the presence of this creature,” and insists they “must try to get rid of it.” As a family, they “must get rid of the idea that this is Gregor” (Kafka). To Grete, if it were, he would have just gone away on his own accord, knowing how much of a burden he would become. And Gregor overhears this all; he knows what they are saying about him, what SHE is saying about him, and is heartbroken. He lost his physical human form, and now was losing every other aspect that made him so; he was alienated, siloed out of society, and had his spirit crushed solely due to his involuntary inability to conform to social expectations. Grete’s rejection is so painful, though, because he knows she loved him, even in that state, and that their connection was at least initially stronger than any other. But with the increasing insect-like life he began to lead, and as Grete also became burdened with job responsibilities, she was pulled away from passions and love for the sake of stability and a return to normalcy. Her story, and Kafka’s narrative as a whole, concludes with a strangely happy ending, as the family has moved on in their lives after Gregor’s death, instead celebrating the prosperity that has arisen from it, which includes Grete’s marriage. That alienation, that forgoing of sympathy by Grete, that refusal to use a word as simple as “brother,” fully stripped him of any humanity he could cling to. Through Gregor’s progressive alienation, Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis exposes the devastating effects dehumanization can have when caused by societal rejection and familial betrayal due to failure to conform to societal standards. Gregor’s transformation strips him of his ability to function as a productive member of the world, and his family's gradual estrangement highlights how conformity dictates social and personal worth. Initially, only his boss rejects him; then, it was his parents; and finally, his beloved sister dealt a deadly blow, putting the final nail in Gregor’s coffin. Kafka uses Gregor’s metamorphosis to critique a society that equates value with utility, showing how individuals become disposable when they no longer conform. By using powerful imagery to present this deeply woven metaphor, the author cautions readers to recognize the humanity in others beyond superficial differences or economic contributions. Through Gregor’s tragic journey, he implores them to acknowledge others’ inherent worth, emphasizing compassion and acceptance over prejudice and expectation, alongside sheerly proving the amorality of alienation.
