Isolation and Abandonment

Throughout the novel, Karl’s experiences are generally defined by isolation and abandonment, as his attempts to establish stable interpersonal connections are continually thwarted by social volatility. The very beginning of Karl’s story, for example, is defined by abandonment. The opening lines of the novel read thusly: “As Karl Rossmann, a poor boy of sixteen who had been packed off to America by his parents because a servant girl had seduced him and got herself a child by him, stood on the [ship] slowly entering the harbour of New York” (3). His parents’ motives are never explicitly stated, but it appears likely that they felt ashamed of Karl’s relationship with the servant, and so they essentially disowned him in order to save themselves social embarrassment. As a result, Karl finds himself in a foreign country, very far from home, where he must attempt...