Existential Isolation and Identity in Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis: A Study Through the Lens of Martin Heidegger's Philosophy

Abstract

This paper aims to discuss Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis in terms of Heideggerian existentialism, concentrating on the aspects of existential loneliness, estrangement and dissolution of self. Thus, this work demonstrates how Kafka’s narrative captures the fundamental aspects of existence in the context of Heidegger’s concepts of Being-in-the-world, thrownness and Being-toward-death, and how Gregor Samsa’s transformation embodies the challenges of the modern man. The realism of transformation has been discussed as the perspective of using the themes and motifs of the Kafka’s work to illustrate the conditions of the dehumanization of the man during the postindustrial period as a subject reduced to the sphere of his economic activity, distancing from his essence and, as a result, suffering from loneliness and death. The implications of capitalist alienation and existential inauthenticity stand out in Kafka’s literary pursuits and Heidegger’s existential philosophies.