Kubler-Ross on Gregor Samsa and Meursault - 1589 Words

In the novels The Metamorphosis and The Stranger by Franz Kafka and Albert Camus, Kubler-Ross’s five stages of death are incorporated to emphasize the themes of individualism and isolation. While denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance are common emotions when dealing with death, denial, anger, and acceptance are essential in connecting to Kafka and Camus’s ideas regarding individualism. Through their experiences relating to those three stages of death, the protagonists, Gregor Samsa and Meursault, are isolated from greater society and forced to acknowledge their individuality. Both Gregor and Meursault have pivotal experiences with denial, the first stage of the grief process, in their respective novels. While Gregor†¦show more content†¦However, Gregor tries to cope with his transformation; striving to preserve his relationship with his family. At one point in the novel, he sacrifices his identity for his family’s mental well-being, â€Å"Well, in a pinch Gregor could do without the chest† (Kafka 33). Here Kafka employs a contradiction to Gregor’s prior thoughts where he would have preferred to keep his belongings; Gregor is yielding to his sister’s desire to cleanse the room of his possessions and individuality. The isolation from his family does not cause him to manifest his anger geared toward his situation, which would be the appropriate response, but instead causes him to work even harder in his effort to regain his traditional male role in the household. Although neither Gregor nor Meursault experience anger in t heir respective novels, Kafka sets his protagonist apart from society and Camus’s absurd hero by having Gregor seek to fit in rather than stand out. In absurdist novels, a lack of emotion is an important characteristic. Through Meursault’s lack of anger during his trial, where people are deciding his fate for him without his say, Camus isolates him, while making him stand out as an individual, â€Å"Everything was happening without my participation. My fate was being decided without anyone so much as asking my opinion† (Camus 98). By using the first person point of view, Camus allows the reader to see Meursault’s inner annoyance with the situation, whilst staying true to the