Analyse the manifestation of exile in The Metamorphosis

The exile in discussion in this essay is not that of geographical exile or deportation but exile of identity, of being out of place, out of time and of another time.Gregor’s exile manifests itself in his environment and his relationships. His environment (that of his room, job and his family) are manifestations of his (at first) unrecognised exile. His job, in particular, is doubly extrinsic to his exile. For Marx, the ability to do work for its own sake, or more importantly for the joy it brings to the worker, is what differentiates human from animal productivity. Animals, Marx observes, ‘produce only under the compulsion of physical needs, Man, on the other hand, produces even when he is free of physical need … Such production is his active species being’. Subsequently, ‘the worker is dehumanised wherever his work fails to involve his creative urge and desire.’ Thus, Gregor’s job, that of a travelling salesman, is alienating in that he is only engaged with it merely for its wage. Not only do the frequent and fleeting connections of his job highlight his lack of meaningful human connection but the products of his labour, that is his salary, is not even afforded to him. Rather, he earns it to give back to his family. Sokel notes that ‘Gregor’s sole reason for enduring the hated position’ is the ‘need to pay his parents debt to his boss’. Thus, Gregor’s job is dually alienating in that its work is not completed for true desire and that its commission doesn’t even belong to him.Furthermore, Gregor’s relationship with both his family and his work colleagues also act as manifestations of his exiled state. Through both these relationships, it’s suggested that Gregor is not valued as a person but rather for the role he fulfils within each. When Gregor fails to show at work, a clerk quickly turns up at his house to reprimand him. The proceeding interaction illustrates that Gregor is valued only for this ability to make the company money. The clerk informs Gregor he has ‘[failed] to carry out our business duties in a way that is quite unheard of.’ Gregor is subsequently dismissed, confirming for Gregor that he is a commodity that can be easily replaced. Furthermore, Gregor’s whole life can be summed up by the plot: he works and he sleeps. Hence, there is no need for any other setting, because it offers nothing to Gregor’s character that cannot already be told by his room, his family and job. His only function is to live within their isolated confines. Kafka suggests that his protagonists exile can be attributed to the incessant and almost hysterical workaday life he leads. For Gregor, his situation attests to the modern hysteria associated with the degeneration of the modern Man. His transformation from human subject to gigantic insect is representative of the physical degeneration of Man. The hysterical nature of modern life has reduced Gregor into vermin like creature. His outward appearance thus reflects his inward function. Gregor is no more than just a part of the machinery. As previously discussed, we have seen how Gregor is treated as highly dispensable and replaceable by his job. His boss and family lack sympathy for his situation or his dismissal. The impersonality of his dismissal and treatment by his family members gives the reader the impression that Gregor is just an ‘industrial cog’ in the ever-turning economic wheel. Like a mechanical part, when he no longer functions or is productive, he can be cheaply replaced.