Stories of Franz Kafka Topic Tracking: Solitude

The Metamorphosis - Chapter 1

Solitude 1: Gregor claims that his lifestyle is conducive to solitude. He has no friends and socializes little. His family also cries that Gregor has little social life and should not be reprimanded, for he does his work and nothing else.

The Metamorphosis - Chapter 2

Solitude 2: Gregor wanders his apartment alone in his thoughts and body. He only comes out of the room when he is alone and finds a comfortable resting space under the couch. He sister sees him there and leaves a bowl of food for him to eat...alone. This is the way he is nourished from that day on; eating alone from for the future.

Solitude 3: The family realizes that nobody can and should be left alone with Gregor. The maid requests her leave and exits immediately. They do not take Gregor's feelings into consideration when they make these rules, and he is thereupon left to a life of solitude.

Solitude 4: Grete and Anna argue over Gregor's room. Grete wants to take the furniture out so that hey can move around more easily and have fun. They wonder if he will feel more alienated without his possessions. Gregor feels more distant and alone without his belongings, being treated less and less like a member of the family and more and more alone like a creature.

The Metamorphosis - Chapter 3

Solitude 5: Gregor is devastated that his family has left him alone and helpless in his current state. They have all gone on to find new jobs and have left him to find food and activity for himself. His back still suffers from the apple hailed at him by his father. The family has not even paid Gregor enough attention to remove it from his body.

First Sorrow

Solitude 6: The trapeze artist spends his entire life atop of the world - both physically and emotionally. However, because of his lifestyle, he spends this time alone. He has little social contact and is isolated therefore in his thoughts and time.

A Little Woman

Solitude 7: The Little Woman suffers in a world of her own. She is alone in her anger, fear, annoyance, and frustration with the narrator. No one seems to understand her suffering and her problems, consequently driving her to indescribable angst. The narrator, is also left in a solitude of sorts, confused at the actions of the little woman with nobody to understand his predicament.

A Fasting-artist

Solitude 8: The fasting-artist spends his entire life alone behind bars of a cage. By choice, he lives life as a spectacle starving. After declining into a circus freak, the fasting-artist dies alone in his cage, unknown to the world.

Josephine, the Songstress or: The Mouse People

Solitude 9: Josephine the songstress suffers her life in the mouse community, for she is alone in her talent and mindset. Because she sings for the rest of the mice, she is looked upon as different - for better or for worse. When she eventually disappears, people soon forget her.