The theme of alienation

The theme of alienation was frequently used by of the 20th century in exploring the condition of the modern man . In A Clean and Well-Lighted Place ' the feeling of alienation is illustrated especially through the use of the opposition between light and darkness . The darkness of the night symbolizes loneliness and isolation , feelings that the old man is trying to escape by finding refuge in the clean and well-lighted cafy which offers him company and comfort . His deafness is a metaphor for the isolation old age brings about it is much more than

br a physical shortcoming , it is an impossibility to feel which deepens the alienation of the character , who is left alone in his world without sounds , i .e . without feelings . Another powerful metaphor is that of the Nothing the old man wants to escape by coming to the cafy . This nothing he invokes is actually solitude , silence and pain the emptiness and pointlessness of his life . The fact that the young waiter does not understand why the old man refuses to go home is in fact , a device used by Hemingway to illustrate the opposition between youth and old age with everything that the two stages of life imply . While the waiter can hardly wait to go home and be with his wife , the old man has nothing to go home to . On the contrary , the only human contact he can make is that with the angry waiter who portrays the classic image of the young man incapable of accepting that old age does not avoid anyone . The old man 's alienation is supported by his personal loneliness , the pain of old age the darkness of the night - a metaphor for his existence , and the Nothing that has conquered his life

In the case of Kafka 's Metamorphosis , alienation is a self-imposed act meant to end personal suffering . Here , isolation is to a great extent , an implicit personal choice . Gregor finds himself burdened by the responsibilities of providing for his family , i .e . his parents and his sister , Grete . His monotonous and tiring profession , i .e . traveling salesman selling textiles , only adds to the hardship and unhappiness of his existence . His metamorphose to a giant insect symbolizes further alienation from his parents and sister who refuse to consider him a member of the family . Instead , they deepen his alienation by mistreating - his father hurts him physically and isolating him and storing furniture in his room which causes him further humiliation . As he can no longer provide for his family he is no longer wanted nor needed . Their decision to kill him is a metaphor for emotional isolation and the end of a miserable existence dominated by feelings of rejection and disgust Doors are a metaphor of Gregor 's status within his own family : he is their prisoner . His room has three doors , one for every family member to knock on here the doors are seen as a means of controlling his life They all him...