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Amanda Nyuma
Ms. Lewis
English 2 Honors, period 6
3/22/12
The theme of alienation in The Metamorphosis and “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings.”
A literary theme is an underlying subject an author wishes to express in a piece of
writing. In many stories, an author might develop a theme through creative use of traditional
literary elements. Franz Kafka’s dramatic novella, The Metamorphosis, introduces Gregor
Samsa, a man who is transformed into a human sized insect and is alienated from his body, his
family, and his life. Likewise, in Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s: “A Very Old Man with Enormous
Wings”, Pelayo and his wife Elisenda discover a very old man with massive wings in the rear of
their courtyard after a storm, who is then misjudged to be an angel. The town, Pelayo, and
Elisenda “test” and alienate the very old man in which they benefit. By analyzing, the literary
elements of third person/omniscient point of view, imagery, and characterization the theme of
alienation will then be evident in both Kafka’s The Metamorphosis and Marquez’s “A Very Old
Man with Enormous Wings.”
Because the element of first person point of view is evident in The Metamorphosis, it
clearly illustrates the theme of alienation. The novella is written in third person from Gregor
Samsa’s point of view. At the start of the novella, Gregor Samsa is introduced as the central
character, which has just turned into an insect. As Gregor’s life before he was turned into a bug
is revealed through his perspective, the reader discovers that Gregor was a salesperson in order to
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support his family. As Gregor continues to talk about his former life as a salesperson, the reader
learns that Gregor was first praised by his family for wanting to be a salesperson in order to
support his family financially, but as time went on Gregor was alienated, not receiving any
recognition or affection, for his act of kindness, from his family. Also in the novella, we see
through Gregors “eyes” the pain alienation brought to him and how it affects him throughout the
story. ‘Then his father gave him a hefty shove from behind which released him from where he
was held and sent him flying, and heavily bleeding, deep into his room.”(Pg. 1167) In this
passage, we see how Gregor’s father’s actions are abusive towards Gregor. As the point of view
changes through the end of part 1 to third person omniscient point of view the reader sees
Gregor’s alienation and isolation differently. “..His sister, nearly fully dressed, opened the door
from the front room and looked anxiously in. She did not see him straight away, but when she
did notice him under the couch-she came so frightened”(Pg 1168) This short passage displays the
point of view shifting from Gregor to third person omniscient where the reader can hear Gregor’s
sister Grete’s thoughts.
On the contrary, “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” is written in third person point
of view in the eyes in Pelayo, and not the old man, so, the reader cannot fully grasp the isolation
the old man is feeling. The only way the reader is able to comprehend the alienation the old man
is faced is by the actions of those around him. As the story begins and as Pelayo finds the old
man, he does not understand who or what the old man is, until he hears the old man’s dialect.
“..He answered in an incomprehensible dialect with a strong sailor's voice. That was how they
skipped over the inconvenience of the wings and quite intelligently concluded that he was a
lonely castaway from some foreign ship…”(pg. 224) As the reader it is difficult to understand
how the old man is feeling due to the point of view it is written. If the story is switched to the
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point of view of the old man, it would be easier to understand the feelings and alienation the old
man is being faced. ”.. They would coerce him out of the bedroom with a broom and moments
later find him in the kitchen.”(pg. 229) This quote displays the alienation the old man felt
through Pelayo’s eyes.
If the reader examines the literary element of imagery then he/she will be able to
understand the alienation that Gregor felt from his family, and his body. Kafka used an extensive
amount of imagery in The Metamorphosis. Throughout the story, Gregor receives a series of
injuries that were caused by those around him. This abuse is form of Gregor’s alienation. These
injuries included head injuries, bleeding, cut in the mouth, a bottle in his face, and an apple in his
back. “-the apple remained imbedded in his flesh as a visible souvenir since no one dared to
remove it” (pg 1179) Kafka also used imagery to describe how Gregor looked as he turned into a
“vermin.” “..He saw his vaulted brown belly; sectioned by arch-shaped ribs about to slide off
completely...his many legs pitifully thin compared to the size of the rest of him were waving
helplessly.”(pg. 1156) Kafka sets the reader up so that later in the story the reader is able to
imagine why the family may have reacted the way they did towards Gregor from then on.
Consequently, imagery was used as an advantage in the novella, making it more realistic to the
reader, and helping the reader discover the theme.
In the same way, Gabriel Garcia Marquez uses the literary element of imagery to his
advantage. “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” has distinctive aspects of imagery to
convey the theme; each aspect of imagery such as the description of the old man to the coup in
which he stays is important and later helps the reader fully analyze the theme. Marquez also uses
imagery to help the reader create a mental picture. The angel is first described to the reader,
which makes the reader feel saddened for the old man and the alienation to come. “His huge
buzzard wings, dirty and half plucked, were forever tangled in the mud.”(Pg. 224) When Father
Gonzalez first comes to analyze the angel he is dumbfounded by how human the “angel” looks,
yet he still misjudges the old man to be an “imposter.”
This analyzation made by father
Gonzaga was made inadequately and prompt, which leads to the angel being misjudged.
Moreover, indirect characterization assists the reader grasp the theme of alienation in five
ways: speech, thoughts, effect, actions, and looks of the minor and major characters. Gregor’s
indirect characterization displays his loving, and longing to make his family proud. This is one of
the reasons Gregor was unable to remove himself from his room to his family members. Minor
characters: Grete, father, mother, and manager also display indirect characterization, which helps
Kafka display the theme of alienation. Gregors sister Grete, a dynamic character, displays
alienation towards Gregor through his speech, actions, and effects towards Gregor. For example
in the story, Grete’s actions are changed from the beginning to the end. In one instance through
her actions and words, Grete is furious with Gregor because he was hanging from the wall as his
mother is in the room. His mother then looked at him and as a result, she fainted. With this,
Grete cried “You Gregor!” with a raised fist. (pg 1177 part 2) This incident marked the period
where Grete begins to chastise Gregor.
Additionally, Gregors father, the antagonist (prt1), and mother exuberate alienation
towards Gregor through Kafka’s characterization. Gregors Father is very hostile towards Gregor
as Gregor undergoes his transformation. Kafka uses indirect characterization of speech to
introduce Gregors father. “Gregor, Gregor,” he called…and after a little while he called again in
a deeper more warning voice.”(pg 1158) The reader begins to learn that the father is very stern.
As the novella continues, the reader detects how violent the father is towards Gregor. In various
cases, the father is foul to Gregor for no apparent reason. Along with this the fathers motives for
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doing this is wrong. The father must be upset that Gregor is a “pest” and that he must work to
keep the business thriving. On the other hand, the mother does not change through the story. The
mother is initially calm and gentle. She continues to want to love and nature Gregor yet by her
actions she makes Gregor feel uncomfortable. Grete and the mother do not want to move
anything around so that Gregor may feel as comfortable as his life before but the mother is
unaware that Gregor is open to change and wants a difference.
Furthermore in the “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” each character has a
significance in characterization which exposes the theme. Pelayo and Elisenda through their
speech, thoughts, effect, and actions show hostility to the very old man. When they first find the
old man they decide they are going to send the old man on a raft with food for three days instead
of killing him but as the town finds an interest in the supposed “angel”, they want to benefit from
him and they decide to keep him in a coup. Any reason to keep the angel alive was not of
kindness but of Pelayo and Elisenda’s gain. “Elisenda…got the idea of fencing in the yard and
charging five cents admission to see the angel.”(pg. 225) Marquez’s contrast to all the alienation
in the short story was using the child this is because the child is still young and is not introduced
into the discrimination and estrangement that people received of who didn’t look or seem human,
such as the “angel” and spider women. As a result, the child was fond of the angel. On the
contrary, the town’s people and father Gonzaga chastise the very old man by their actions and
beliefs. Father Gonzaga from the start thought the very old man was an imposter because he did
not understand “the language of god” and did not know how to greet him. Gonzaga warned the
towns’ people that the “angel” may be there to trick or confuse them but still needed to decide
his final verdict, yet the curious towns’ people still appeared to see the old man. They would
heave things at the very old man and inferred that he was nothing more than an angel. Lastly, the
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looks of the old man cased his alienation from those around which affected him greatly. Because
the old man looked unfamiliar to the towns people, Elisenda, Pelayo, and father Gonzaga, they
treated him with disrespect and isolated him.
In retrospect, by analyzing, the literary elements of third person/omniscient point of view,
imagery and characterization the theme of alienation will then be evident in both Kafka’s The
Metamorphosis and Marquez’s “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings.” As stated the
elements of third person/omniscient point of view effects how the reader perceives the theme.
For example the novella and short story were very different in the fact that one story was written
in the “eyes” of the Gregor the person being alienated and Pelayo the person who alienates the
old man. In addition, Imagery played an enormous role on how the reader envisioned the
alienation felt by both characters. Through the elements of speech, thoughts, effect, actions, and
looks of the minor and major characters, the alienation of the characters is prominent. Lastly,
characterization helped demonstrate the theme.
Fk: 11.2
Word count: 1931