Kafka's Metamorphosis as a Study of Human Alienation

Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis, published in 1915, explores human alienation through the story of Gregor Samsa, a traveling salesman who wakes up transformed into a giant insect. Kafka, born July 3, 1883, in Prague (then Austro-Hungarian Empire), studied law but hated his office job, finding escape only in writing. His self-doubt led him to burn most of his manuscripts; only a few stories were published in his lifetime. His friend Max Brod ignored Kafka's request to burn his unfinished novels—Amerika, The Trial, and The Castle—along with letters and diaries, ensuring Kafka's posthumous fame. The Metamorphosis depicts Gregor's estrangement from his own body, loss of speech and taste, and rejection by his family, who depend on his income. The story parallels Karl Marx's theory of alienation under capitalism, where labor dehumanizes the worker. Gregor's transformation can be seen as a desire to escape his repulsive job. His family's fear and loathing lead to his isolation and death. The article uses Edward Hopper's paintings Room in New York (1932) and Soir Bleu (1914) to illustrate themes of loneliness.