Effects of Loneliness and Isolation in the Short Stories “Metamorphosis�? and “the Yellow Wallpaper�? Essay Example
Effects of loneliness and isolation in the short stories “Metamorphosis” and “The Yellow Wallpaper”
In Franz Kafka’s “Metamorphosis” and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper,” the
reader can easily see demonstrated the effects of the alienation and loneliness both of the main
characters experience. The feeling of loneliness and the state of alienation leave the characters changed
from who they were and manages to completely alter their lives in almost every imaginable way. Each
main character is faced with certain circumstances that inevitably lead them to a point in their lives
where they are completely alone and left dealing with extreme situations pretty much all by themselves.
Each of the characters have people in their lives that love them yet there is a certain wall up or lack
of understanding that keeps them from being able to share their struggles with their loved ones.
In Metamorphosis the main character Gregor was an introvert who also seemed to be a
workaholic. Gregor did not have many friends that he socialized with. His days were spent working and
on his evenings he stayed in. Gregor’s mother while talking with his boss states, (pg323) “The boy thinks
of nothing but his work. He nearly drives me to distraction the way he never goes out in the evening;
he’s been here the last eight days, and every single evening he’s stayed at home.” Gregor was already a
loner before his harrowing transformation into a hideous beastly insect. The transformation led him to
be unable to communicate with his family. Gregor’s human mind was still intact even though
he was a tremendous insect. He was left stuck inside his new body with only his own thoughts to
entertain and harass him. Being stuck inside yourself like that must be an almost unbearable situation to
be in. It is like being both mute and deaf with no way of interacting socially with other human
In Franz Kafka’s “Metamorphosis” and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper,” the
reader can easily see demonstrated the effects of the alienation and loneliness both of the main
characters experience. The feeling of loneliness and the state of alienation leave the characters changed
from who they were and manages to completely alter their lives in almost every imaginable way. Each
main character is faced with certain circumstances that inevitably lead them to a point in their lives
where they are completely alone and left dealing with extreme situations pretty much all by themselves.
Each of the characters have people in their lives that love them yet there is a certain wall up or lack
of understanding that keeps them from being able to share their struggles with their loved ones.
In Metamorphosis the main character Gregor was an introvert who also seemed to be a
workaholic. Gregor did not have many friends that he socialized with. His days were spent working and
on his evenings he stayed in. Gregor’s mother while talking with his boss states, (pg323) “The boy thinks
of nothing but his work. He nearly drives me to distraction the way he never goes out in the evening;
he’s been here the last eight days, and every single evening he’s stayed at home.” Gregor was already a
loner before his harrowing transformation into a hideous beastly insect. The transformation led him to
be unable to communicate with his family. Gregor’s human mind was still intact even though
he was a tremendous insect. He was left stuck inside his new body with only his own thoughts to
entertain and harass him. Being stuck inside yourself like that must be an almost unbearable situation to
be in. It is like being both mute and deaf with no way of interacting socially with other human