The Theme Of Alienation And Dehumanization In The Metamorphosis

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Throughout The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, alienation and and dehumanization are present in every part of the story. Kafka emphasizes dehumanization more than anything in the story and he displays the act in a 1st person view, giving us a more indepth view of how it affects Gregor’s mindset.
The first theme of alienation is between Gregor and his father. Mr. Samsa took Gregor for granted as their only source of income. Gregor was working to pay off his father’s debt, as he was their only source of income. When he changed his father's attitude towards Gregor turned to anger and aggression. Mr. Samsa beat Gregor and would abuse him in different ways if Gregor didn't stay in his room and behave correctly. A quote from the story states “Gregor's appeals to his father…merely stamped his foot all the harder” (Kafka 13). This relates to theme by showing how Gregor, trying to talk to his father did not help the situation as Mr. Samsa would only push him back harder into his room. Another quote from the story claims “ It was an apple... his father had decided to bombard him” (Kafka 29). …show more content…

Being alone for so long caused Gregor to become very depressed and somewhat suicidal when he wouldn't eat his food. The maid and the three men were rather rude to gregor whenever they saw him, such as when the maid called Gregor a “old dung-beetle” (kafka 34). Or when the maid smacks gregor's lifeless body around the room trying to see if he would wake up. Another time would be when the three men asked for their breakfast while the Samsa’s were looking at Gregor's corpse.
Franz Kafka's The Metemorphosis emphasizes alienation and dehumanization in many ways from being locked in a room to being abused by his own family. The purpose of Kafka writing this novella is to show us just because something or someone is different than us doesn't give us the right to judge and treat them in cruel

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