Conflict and Alienation in Kafka's Metamorphosis

In Franz Kafka's novella, The Metamorphosis, the protagonist (Gregor Samsa), is engaged in a struggle against his oppressors, while at the same time he tries to accommodate the very social structure that is ruining his life. Gregor's family is abusive, yet he constantly forgives them. He is truly altruistic–he works like an animal in order to maintain his family's material comfort. His only dream is to send his beloved sister to the music Conservatory. Gregor is constantly hungry, but "not for these things" (Franz Kafka, The Metamorphosis, hereafter known as KM). He longs "for nourishment other than food, for an emotional sustenance derived from an active involvement with his family" (Sweeney 152). Simultaneously, he rebels against the role of the "sacrificial son" (Santner 198). It turns out that Gregor is not completely passive in the face of authority. He actively despises his boss, to whom he longs to "[speak] my piece from the bottom of my heart" (KM 4). Toward the end of his life, when he has become so visually revolting others cannot bear the sight of him, he creeps across the living room in front of the boarders. At this moment he briefly relinquishes his concern for others, and thinks "It hardly surprised [me] that lately [I] was showing so little consideration for the others; once such a consideration had been [my] greatest pride" (KM 35). Internally, Gregor seeks to rebel; his innermost thoughts reflect Kafka's ideals. Externally, though, he feels forced to submit to the expectations of his family, his boss, and society. The Metamorphosis is a representation of people's alienation from society and their inability to have autonomous power over their lives. Kafka, like other writers of his time, was going through an existential crisis. He questions the meaning of life, and the futility of being just a cog in a wheel. In 1963, activist Roger Garaudy said at a convention:
[Kafka] awakens in people the consciousness of their alienation; his