Tom Hopkins

Dr. Privett-Duren

Seminar in Global Literature

10th March 2023

Final Project Milestone Four: First Draft

Albert Camus's The Stranger and Franz Kafka's “The Metamorphosis” are both

pieces of literature which explore the theme of alienation in the Modern era. In fact, through

their depictions of estrangement and alienation, these texts are able to provide an

understanding of the anxieties and changes brought on by Modernity. The protagonists of

these works are alienated from their respective societies and, via access to their thoughts,

provide further insight as to the causes and impacts of such alienation. Though both pieces

were published in different years and in different parts of the world, there are thematic

similarities as a result of a larger global context such as post-industrialism and new political

shifts or ideologies. The paper will, therefore, analyze the depiction of alienation within

Albert Camus's The Stranger and Franz Kafka's “The Metamorphosis” and draw parallels

between such portrayals and the socio, historical, economic, and cultural contexts which are

reflected in these works.

Peter Barry argues that culture cannot be independent of economic or political

systems (186). As such, the theoretical approach of new historicism will be applied to this

paper in order to draw parallels between socio, political, economic, and cultural contexts and

the literary works of Camus and Kafka. New historicists and cultural materialists tend to

focus their efforts on analyzing text through a historical lens which considers power, often
paying attention to the notion of the state and state ideology as all powerful and repressive

within a context using the works of post-structuralists like Michel Foucault and Jacques

Derrida (Barry 178). This, therefore, might mean reading literary works in conjunction with

historical research about politics, economics, and sociology in order to gain insight into the

ideological and repressive tactics on the state and their effects on the lower classes (Felluga).

In the case of this paper, it will mean researching the political, sociological, and economic

contexts of Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis”, written and published in Europe in 1915 by

Czech a writer, and the contexts of Camus’s The Stranger, published in 1942 in France by the

French-Algerian writer.

Broadly speaking, both The Stranger and “The Metamorphosis” are considered to be

Modernist works of literature. Modernism, at its core, is an aesthetic literary and artistic

movement which was both able to address the anxieties, as a result of new ideas and

technologies, and experiment with radical changes to artistic mediums, rejecting earlier ideas

and structures (Childs 1). In Europe, the pre-Modern era of the 19th century and before was

an era loaded with certain principles of morality and ideologies including a strong Christian

faith, a strong work ethic and belief in the philosophy of self-reliance, rigid gender roles, and

clear, divisive class structures (Johnson 2). Modernism, on the other hand, was a cultural

epoch, which was characterized by drastic and irreversible changes to society. Such changes

include, but are not limited to, new scientific and economic ideas from “the holy trinity of

secular humanists including Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud and Charles Darwin” (Singh 1).

Marx’s criticisms of industrialism and capitalism, in addition to Freud’s theories of the

human psyche and Darwin’s theories of evolution challenged earlier dogmatic narratives that
were linked to religion, particularly the Christian one in European society, and ideas of class

and monarchy. Hegel and Nietsche both contributed to the Modern emancipation of the old

religious narratives and a drive towards secularism (Franke). A further rejection of

pre-Modern narratives was exacerbated by the violence of First World War, which was

inextricably linked to older ideas of nation, empire, and monarchy meaning that the Modern

era was also characterized as a “breakdown of the Age of Empire” (Lynch).

Kafka’s short story was written in Austria-Hungary, what is now the Czech Republic,

at a monumental time in history. Given Austria-Hungary’s role in the First World War, the

story’s publication in 1915, a year after the assassination of heir to the Austrian-Hungarian

throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, might reflect some of the anxieties of the time. Prior to

WWI, the Austrian-Hungarian Empire was composed of a diverse ethnic makeup, all of

which were more and more prone to their own forms of nationalism (Breckman).

Specifically, within this Empire, there was “to the west, the German-speaking region of

Austria, really the center of imperial power, in the north, the Czechs and the Polish

territories, below that, the Magyars, the ethnic group that comprises the majority of

modern-day Hungary, the Ruthenians to the east, and the patchwork of ethnicities in the

Balkans in the south” (Breckman). The tensions between these groups in addition to a desire

for a Sovereign Slavic South and a free Bosnia were all contributing factors to the

assassination of Franz Ferdinant and the beginning of the First World War. Moreover,

Kafka’s religion, as a Jewish born man from Prague in the diverse and predominantly

Christian city of Prague is of similar significance. When considering the diverse yet

conflicted Empire which was beginning to fall, the rise of “nationalism created a profound
dilemma for Prague's Jews” as German as national language was emphasized; furthermore,

there was “a rise of anti-Semitism; for the Czech majority regarded the Jews as "outsiders"”

(Breckman).

The significance of Gregor Samsa’s isolation and inability to communicate in Kafka’s

“The Metamorphosis” might, therefore, be a reflection of an increasingly fractured empire

where minority groups were ever more isolated from a larger national community. For

example, when the chief clerk visits Samsa for not arriving at work on time, he and Samsa’s

family try to communicate with Samsa through his bedroom door; however, when Samsa

replies, the chief clerk states “that was no human voice” (98). “Although [the words] seemed

clearer to [Samsa], even clearer than before” they were, however, “no longer understandable”

to his family and the chief clerk (99). When taking into consideration Kafka’s own cultural

and religious ethnicity as a Jewish man from Prague, the choice to have Samsa turn into a

bug does have an antisemitic subtext which, with the chief clerk’s statement that Samsa’s

voice was no longer human, further emphasize this idea. Conversely, this could simply reflect

the fractured empire where ethnic groups felt less alienated from the grand powers of the

Empire, leaning into new nationalist identities of their smaller groups. In fact, Samsa’s words

“seem[ing] clearer to him” despite being unintelligible to outsiders might convey this. In any

case, there is a linguistic alienation between those with power, signified by the chief clerk

who might represent the German or Austrian-Hungarian nationalism of the time, and those

who exist outside of this, conveyed via Samsa, who may signify the Jewish population in

Prague or any other minority group within the Austrian-Hungarian Empire (Classon 19). As a
result, the story’s theme of alienation, depicted via this linguistic inability to community, is

able to reflect the cultural attitudes of Kafka’s early 20th century Prague.

In addition to Empire, more specifically the fracturing and fall of the Empire, the

short story also reflects industrial shifts in early 20th century Austria-Hungary. Whilst

industrialisation came to this part of Europe a little later than other nations, for example

England, “by 1914, the level of industrialization in certain regions matched, or even

surpassed, western European averages” (Beneš). One must also consider Marx’s criticisms of

industrialism and the inequalities of Modern capitalism in relation to this. In reference to

estranged labor as a result of Modern industrialisation, Marx argued that “owing to the

extensive use of machinery and to division of labour, the work of the proletarians has lost all

individual character” and that “the special skill of the worker becomes worthless. He

becomes transformed into a simple, monotonous productive force that does not have to use

intense bodily or intellectual faculties” (Marx). According to Marx, the laborer becomes not

only alienated from the products of their labor in a mass-industrial design, nor simply

alienated from the profits of their labor, but they become alienated from others and from

one’s true self; specifically, as a result of industrial labor, one becomes estranged from their

true essence and from self-discovery (Petrović). In the larger Austrian-Hungarian context of

the early 20th century, it is significant to note that “in the Lower Austrian metal industry,

nine- or ten-hour days and a fifty-three-hour week had become the contractual norm before

1914” and these grew to 70 hour work weeks by 1917 (Beneš). It may be no surprise then

that discontent among the labor force, which was increasingly industrial, led to larger

numbers amongst socialist groups, including the Czech Social Democratic Party and Austrian
Socialist Democratic Party. There were also economic strikes between 1914 and 1916 and a

new Austromarxist ideology in the region demanding change (Beneš).

As a result of these economic and political shifts, Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis” can

be read as a critical reflection of a newly industrialized point in time and space. Specifically,

Samsa’s characterisation exemplifies the anxieties and alienation of the industrial laborer. For

example, Samsa’s first thoughts after waking up and finding himself to be a very literal bug

was his work. He thinks of his “exhausting job [...] traveling about day in, day out [...]

worrying about train connections, the bed and irregular meals, casual acquaintances that are

always new and never become intimate friends” (89-90). Such a response underscores the

anxieties of the modern, capitalist economy, where workers often feel alienated from the self

and from others, according to Marx. He worries about his colleagues and how they perceive

him, drawing attention to the competitiveness which further causes alienation according to

Marx. Moreover, Samsa worries that he must get up for he will miss the train, with “the

hands [of the clock] quietly moving on,” further evoking feelings of anxiety (91). It is not

long until “the chief clerk himself” arrives - wearing “patent leather boots” to signify his

higher status - to scold Samsa for his tardiness. In this passage, there is a semantic field of

crime, with words like “inquiry”, “innocent”, “suspicious”, and “investigated” all being used

to refer to the chief’s visit (95). Thus, it is implied that the laboring Samsa, as a member of

the proletariat, is akin to a criminal, condemned to a sentence of labor and policed.

Importantly, Samsa refers to the chief as “a creature” who was “spineless and stupid,”

creating a sense of irony given Samsa’s literal transformation; yet, he refers to the servant girl

as “strong” championing the working classes. Thus, Kafka’s short story is able to convey the
anxieties of the laboring man but also criticizes the bourgeois whilst championing the lower

classes, reflecting the rise of socialist ideas in the region.

Sama’s alienation from the self and others as a result of industrialisation is further

emphasized in this meeting. The clerk states that “men of business-fortunately or

unfortunately-very often simply have to ignore any slight indisposition, since business must

be attended to” (96). Here, men, signifying the workforce more generally, are defined only by

their ability to work whilst having to ignore their own bodies, whether in sickness or in terms

of true desires. Samsa later notes that “traveling [for work] is a hard life, but [he] couldn’t

live without it,” further cementing the idea that the laborer is only defined by their ability to

produce (101). This is also true for Samsa’s sister, who had been “frequently scolded for

being a somewhat useless daughter”, but is later praised when performing more laborious

duties, implying that an individual is only valued for their ability to work (114). Samsa’s

sister had aspirations of playing the violin but, after Samsa’s transformation, is unable to do

so due to economic needs and, instead, must work. As such, Kafka presents the

self-estrangement as a result of industrialisation wherein one is not able to fulfill their desires

because of socioeconomic conditions (Minar and Sutandio 131). In particular both Samsa

and his sister are portrayed as having to sacrifice their own egos and desires as a means to

contribute economically within their family.

Samsa’s alienation and estrangement from his family might also be a reflection of the

role of family in an industrialized, less agrarian, and more urbanized Europe. In just a few

decades, workers made up to 50% of the peripheral and suburban areas of Prague by the

1920s, moving from the more rural areas (Holubec 135). With moves to urban areas faster
than the growth of these area, “there was not sufficient housing” and “the lack of appropriate

housing led to crowding in apartments and the spread of slums” (Holubec 133). Such moves

also disrupt the community and agency of families where they can no longer rely on

themselves as a unit to sustain themselves within a community, but must operate within a

system wherein they lack the same agency as those in agricultural communities. As such,

“the family becomes immediately dependent for its livelihood on structures and processes

external to itself” and “will likely struggle to maintain its traditional collective unity”

(Kumar). The effects of Modern industrial and urbanization are represented in Kafka’s story.

Samsa’s transformation means that he is no longer able to sustain the family. Whilst Samsa’s

sister was “caretaker of Samsa’s room”, and began cleaning his quarters when Samsa could

not, this collective unity does not last long. Eventually, Samsa’s sister “could see the dirt [...]

but she had simply made up her mind to leave it alone” (126). The family start moving

unwanted furniture into the space and acquire new tenants, further alienating Samsa for being

burdensome and not being able to contribute. The family complain about “this animal

persecuting us [...] it obviously wants to take over the whole flat and force us to sleep on the

streets” (130). Again, their alienation of Samsa might critically reflect the impacts of

Modernity on the family, highlighting the ways that post-industrial urban settings do not

encourage the traditional mode of community wherein the weak are taken care of; instead,

the Samsa household acts as a microcosm for the urban industrial community wherein the

weak are left to suffer on their own. The short story ends with Samsa dying and the family

taking a trip to the country. Their togetherness might reaffirm the notion that rural, agrarian
communities privilege the family whilst it simply being a vacation highlights the

impermanence of this phenomenon in the Modern world.

All in all, Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis” displays the impacts of Modernity and does

so in a critical way. The story’s protagonist is portrayed as a lowly individual alienated from

those with power with an anti semitic subtext by being portrayed as an insect who is unable

to communicate with others. Moreover, he is alienated from others and himself as a result of

industry; specifically, he is anxious because of his employment yet is unable to find any other

meaning nor fulfill any personal desires. Finally, he is alienated from his family in part

because of his inability to provide any economic means in a post-industrial, urban, and

non-agrarian setting. With this in mind, Kafka’s overall tone towards Modernity is an anxious

and critical one with its protagonist being helpless and passive, further indicating this larger

negative cultural shift for the individual.

Conversely, Camus’s The Stranger’s protagonist is less passive and, instead,

embraces his alienation with a sort of consciousness and sense of rebellion. Camus, born in

French Algeria in 1913, published The Stranger in Nazi occupied France in 1942, although

he wrote the novella in 1940 whilst still in Algeria. Camus’s relationship with war is

significant. In fact, his father was “killed in 1914 in the Battle of the Marne” (Sherman 10).

Later, however, as fascism spread through Europe in Spain and Germany, Camus became

involved in the Amsterdam-Pleyel movement, an anti-fascist movement, whilst still living in

Algeria. He was working “as an editor and journalist for the Alger Républicain, a new

newspaper, both sympathetic to the working classes and dedicated to fighting fascism,”

during this time (Sherman 12). Moreover, in 1936, Camus had given an anti-fascist speech at
a cinema in Algeria where he “warned the audience to beware of the fascist manipulation of

language, of “the power of certain words like ‘fatherland,’ ‘glory,’ ‘honor’” (Kaplan 20).

Significantly, Camus’s speech came after Malraux’s, another French-Algerian intellectuals,

anti-fascist speech in the same location. It is important that Malraux, a starch anti-fascist and

socialist, was sent the manuscript of Camus’s The Stranger in 1941 and praised it (Meyers).

Despite resistance by French intellectuals globally, by 1940, Europe was far into its

war and France was occupied by the fascist Nazi Germany. Whilst fascism does garner

support via its ultra nationalistic rhetoric, a fear of an ever-present Other, and a cult-like

leader and ideology, it also spreads when others blindly follow. Austrian writer Stefan Zweig,

who had lived in Paris and wrote of its fall, also writes about fascism and Hitler in his

memoir. He notes that he could not specifically recall the first time he had heard Hitler’s

name, nor how they exactly rose to power, but through a kind of ignorance and blindness,

individuals had simply not taken notice until it was too late (Prochnik). Keeping in mind this

idea in conjunction with the historical context of Camus’s France being occupied by the

nazis, his anti-fascist views, and the rise of fascism more generally across Europe, one might

read The Stranger as a critique about blindly following ideologies and societal performances

without questioning.

In particular, through the alienation of Meursault by society as a result of not

conforming to expected or idealized performances, Camus’s The Stranger can be read as a

means to explore and critique the rise of fascism in Europe. Meursault was responsible for

the murder of a local Arab and, at first, his case is said to be simple; yet, when questioned

about his mother, whose funeral he had recently attended and at which he did not cry,
Meursault’s lawyer became frustrated. He explained that Meursault’s not crying would be “a

key argument against” Meursault and even argued that Meursault’s response was “not good

enough” (58). During the case, the prosecutor asks Meursault why he had put his mother in a

home to begin with and why he had not cried at the funeral. He then asks the funeral

caretaker for a statement to which he condemns Meursault saying he had not remembered his

mother’s name, that she had complained of him, and that he had not cared for her; the

response by the jury was complete silence (81). In the final statements, the prosecutor states

Meursault “had no soul, and that nothing that makes a man human [...] could be found within

him” (91-92). This metaphor, when considering the historical context of fascism, is important

given the ways fascists would often dehumanize the Other, such as Jews across Europe.

Meursault is, subsequently, found guilty by the jury. In this example, Meursault is estranged

from the community as a result for not conforming to their standards of performance. In other

words, Meursault’s defiance against societal pressures cannot be tolerated which results in

social alienation and punishment (Abdullah and Saksono 36). With this in mind, the

collective condemnation of Meursault without critical analysis of the jury, condemning

Meursault based purely on a unified outrage against him as an Other through his subversive

beliefs and performances might be read as a reflection of resistance to fascism. By writing

Meursault as the hero who is unwilling to change, even when confronted with the priest in

his cell who asks that Meursault accept God, Meursault signifies resistance against the

collective, even if it means estrangement. When considering Camus’s anti-fascist beliefs and

the rise of fascism, the novella does champion resistance. It therefore becomes reflective of
its time in history wherein Camus might be calling on audiences to reflect on societal beliefs

which are accepted so willingly and punish others.

However, anti-fascist resistance is not the only form of resistance which might be

reflected through the novella’s themes of alienation. Given the novella’s and Camus’s

colonial context, depictions of estrangement might also convey right-wing anti-Arabic

sentiments in addition to anticolonial sentiments present at the time of writing. For example,

whilst Meursault is alienated by society, he arguably alienates himself from it first and,

importantly, does kill an Arab in cold blood. Meursault’s decision to alienate himself away

from his Arabic setting is indicated in his conversation with Raymond after Raymond

confesses to beating his Arabic mistress. Meursault, during his conversation mostly narrates

what Raymond tells him and, when Meursault is asked about “the whole business, [he] told

him [he] didn’t have any opinion of it (29). When Raymond’s mistress turns up at the

apartment, Raymond beats her in front of Meursault and Marie, to which “Marie said it was

awful and [Meursault] didn’t reply” (32). In this context, Meursault’s apathy towards the

Arabic woman might be read as a form of self-alienation from the Arabic community with

French Algeria. Later, when Meursault kills the unnamed Arab, the Algerian sun is

personified as a character more so than the Arab. The Algerian sun is portrayed as a force

from which Meursault wishes to escape. It is something Meursault “couldn’t shake off,” and

as something “crashing like symbols” and “burn[ing] [him] alive” (53). Much like at the

funeral and in the jury, the sun and heat signifying the African world is something which the

French-Algerian Meursault wishes to alienate himself from and something he finds

oppressive (Rustam 18). Thus, Meursault’s apathy towards and desire to isolate himself from
Arabs and the Algerian sun might reflect larger colonial conflicts of the time. During the

period of writing, there were conflicts between Algerians seeking independence and

right-wing French groups who sought further dominance. In fact, in 1945, after a

pro-independence protest where some Frenchmen were injured, “the French authorities

machinegunned thousands of Arabs from the air, an incident that Camus later reported on in

Combat” (Sherman 15). When reflecting on this historical context, this reading of the novella

might convey the ways in which the French sought to maintain their dominance over

Algerian subjects; particularly, this is conveyed through Meursault’s desire to maintain a

distance from Algerian Arabs, alienating himself from the indigenous population, all whilst

reproducing their abuse within society through his own violence towards, or apathy of

Raymond’s violence towards the indigenous population.

On the contrary, the novella does also express a critique of colonialism through the

ways the French Algerian protagonist intentionally alienates himself from the French

colonial structures. Importantly, Camus was considered “pieds-noirs”, or black foot, a term

used for the working class French Algerians, likely as a result of living and working in a

sootier district. In addition, whilst working as a reporter, Camus “was initially charged with

reporting on matters of local government” and would differentiate “between working class

pieds-noirs and the rich colons, who set the rules of colonial administration, Camus attacked

corrupt colonial practices as they manifested themselves in the judicial and economic realms”

(Sherman 12). As such, Meursault’s alienation and general response to such structures might

be read as a reflection of the French colonial structures and their corruption. Importantly, no

one really seems shocked or upset that Meursault killed the Arab man. The murdered Arab,
nor his family, receive any kind of real justice for this act. Initial questioning did not last long

and the judge initially said the case would be simply (57). In the end, Meursault ironically

finds his freedom from the corrupt state only when he is imprisoned and has accepted his

death (Abdullah and Saksono 37). His fatalistic yet free tone towards his sentencing is

exemplified as he questions “what did it matter if [...] he was executed for not crying at his

mother’s funeral,” and ends the novella stating that he “felt ready to start life all over again”

(110). The novella ends with the estranged Meursault stating that he looked forward to it

“be[ing] finished, so that [he] might feel less alone, [he] could only hope there would be

many, many spectators on the day of my execution and that they would greet [him] with cries

of hatred” (111). When reading within the historical context, considering the conflict between

the Algerians and French colonists, in addition to colonial corruption, inequality, and

Camus’s own attacks on French rule, Meursault’s final cry could be read as saying that only

in destruction can he be born again; the French structures which have condemned him to

death and have been depicted as corrupt have resulted in such a desire. In fact, Meursault

even alludes to the French Revolution which might even further emphasize that revolution

begins with destruction (103). Therefore, Meursault’s alienation as he awaits death and his

response to his death can be read as a resistance to French colonialism.

Whether read as estranging himself from Arabic culture and life or alienating himself

from French colonial rule, the ambivalent reading might reflect the general anxieties

surrounding the fall of the French Empire. One characteristic of Modernity is the Fall of

Empires and, despite the rise of ideologies and new fascist empires seemingly growing in

parts of Europe, other French colonies, including Algeria but also Vietnam, were seeking
independence. In fact, Vietnam began the French Indochina war, seeking its independence

from France, in 1946, not long after Camus had published The Stranger. Before this,

anti-French colonial conflicts and protests were already becoming more common.

Additionally, in Algeria, “the movement for independence began during World War I

(1914–18) and gained momentum after French promises of greater self-rule in Algeria went

unfulfilled after World War II (1939–45)” (“Algerian War”). With this historical context in

mind, Camus’s The Stranger is able to highlight the conflicting and ambivalent attitudes held

by both Algerians and the French within French Colonial Algeria, in addition to reflecting

larger anxieties surrounding the fall of the French Empire.

Another key characteristic of Modernity is a rejection of the old metanarratives and,

in particular, religion. This is captured perfectly when the chaplain visits Meursault as he

awaits his death. He is asked why Meursault has chosen not to see him and whether he

believes in God, to which he replied “it was not something [he] needed to question: it seemed

of no matter of importance” (105). Meursault continues to state he was sure about what did

and did not interest him, concluding that religion did not (105). As a result, Meursault’s

estrangement from the chaplain, and God, reflect a larger turn towards secularism and a

rejection of the religious metanarrative which had dominated the pre-modern era.

Philosophers like Kierkegaard “stress[ed] the arbitrary and miraculous in religion,” and

Nietsche questioned its role as a means to perpetuate inequality (Collins 181). Hiedeger was

a “former Catholic seminarian” and Camus and other existentialists are sometimes

characterized as militant atheists (Collins 181). In Europe, and France in particular, there was

a burst of philosophical ideas during the mid 20th century which questioned all rationality,
and religion was not free from such critiques. Considering this, Meursault’s alienation from

the chaplain and God is able to reflect this philosophical shift and rise in secularism across

Europe.

Great art and literature is able to capture the cultural atmosphere specific to its time

and space, and this is certainly true for Camus’s The Stranger and Kafka’s “The

Metamorphosis”. Yet, these two works, in addition to reflecting attitudes and cultural shifts,

also left lasting imprints on culture and art after their publications. In fact, Kafka’s works,

and “The Metamorphosis” in particular, were likely somewhat of an inspiration for Camus.

Literary critics and writers such as Grenier and Pia, who were peers of Camus, both drew

parallels between Camus’s work and Kafka’s (Kaplan 110). However, whereas Kafka’s work

is more symbolic and surreal, Meursault’s is rooted in the real, set in what Camus knew, in

particular areas of Algiers. Despite subtle differences, both writers have impacted art and

literature, particularly depictions of existentialism, alienation, and the Absurd, a concept

which was philosophized and written about famously by Camus, particularly in his essay

“The Myth of Sisyphus”. Modernity and cultural changes had impacts globally and

Modernist artists conveyed this via an imaginative response to the political, including

capitalist modernization (Wollaeger 13). Empire, new ideologies and the decline of the

age-old metanarratives, and industrialization were all catalysts for Modernism; therefore, it is

not unsurprising to imagine Modernist works which fit such a criteria to emerge at “different

times and places - St. Petersburg in the 1870s [...] Dublin in 1904, Cairo in the 1950s,” and

so forth (Wollaeger 14). Kafka and Camus both responded to their changes in their own

ways, with the former highlighting industrial and nationalist shifts, in addition to the fall of
empires, in his work, and the latter similarly capturing the fall of empires and the role of

colonialism and fascism, in addition to a decline in religion. Both authors also inspired artists

and authors such as Samuell Beckett, Eugène Ionesco, Jean Genet, Arthur Adamov, and

Harold Pinter. Thus, their significance is unquantifiable within the discipline of art and

literature and their impressions are timeless.

In sum, via the exploration of themes of alienation and the self- or social

estrangement of characters, Camus’s The Stranger and Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis” are

able to reflect the socio, historical, economic, and cultural shifts of Modernity, particularly to

their particular places within time and space. In particular, Kafka’s protagonist, Gregor

Samsa, is already alluded to being alienated from others as a result of his employment, but

after his transformation, as he can no longer contribute economically, becomes alienated

from society more generally. Moreover, his sister is alienated from her own passions as a

result of having to later work and, as a result, Samsa and his sister become further alienated

from each other. Therefore, Kafka’s short story reflects alienation as a result of

industrialisation in Europe. Moreover, the short story also reflects the rise of nationalism and

antisemitism in Europe through Samsa’s literal transformation into a bug and inability to

communicate. This reflects the larger cultural idea of the falling of empires associated with

Modernity. On the other hand, Camus’s short story depicts Meursault, a French Algerian,

who alienates from his respective world, Colonial Algiers, as a result of questioning the

structures which seem to govern society, such as religion and colonial systems. His alienation

can also reflect the fall of the empire, but his resistance can be read as a general resistance to

colonialism in addition to fascism, which was on the rise through Europe. Both texts are able
to capture the anxieties and changes during their times, but they have also had lasting

impacts, with Kafka even inspiring Camus. As a result of their exploration of the theme of

alienation, their works are considered to be timeless, despite their very specific places within

time and space, and should continue to be studied and critically analyzed.
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