In Kafka's "The Metamorphosis", Gregor is alienated at first by traveling so much for his job and being away from his family. Later on in the story, when he is learning to live as an unwanted insect, his own family begins to alienate him. Some say that loneliness is the human condition, but how many of us have ever been truly alienated to the point of wanting to die?
I first experienced the slight feeling of alienation when I moved out of my parent's house. Although I only live about four blocks away and I live with my boyfriend, sometimes I feel like I am not missed anymore. I work days and my boyfriend works nights so I am often by myself in our apartment and I find myself missing my mom. At first, I felt silly; I thought to myself, you are twenty years old and here you are sitting by yourself missing your mommy! However, I confessed this to my mother and of course, she assured me that all adults miss their parents at some points in their lives.
Gregor Robertson, Founder of Happy Planet
Gregor Books and Giraffe Heroes
Franz Kafka's grave in Prague-Žižkov.The first couple of weeks of living on my own were spent doing whatever I wanted; but then I started feeling like I was not being missed by my family. I know my parents and younger sisters miss me to this day, but the phone calls began to slowly trickle down to a mere three or four calls a week. I began to understand that I was not needed to my family; loved, but not needed. I believe that this is probably one of the only times I have felt loneliness and alienation in my life so far. My solutions to the feelings of being isolated by my family were simple: I spend more time with them,