Franz Kafka Conformity
What do the novels “Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka and “The Outsider” by Albert Cammus say about social conformity?
“Metamorphosis” is a novel written by Franz Kafka in 1912. It is set at an unknown European city at the same time it was published It narrates the story of a typical salesman of in an industrialized society who wakes up one morning transformed into a giant cockroach. The novel tells about how his family deals with this event, and how Gregor (the salesman) eventually dies. “The outsider” is also a short novel written by Albert Cammus in 1944. It tells the story of Meursault, a bachelor clerk who lives in Algiers. It is also set at the time the novel was written. Meursault gets involved into a violent argument between a friend …show more content…
This marks the contrast in how do both novels criticise social conformity. The difference between characters personalities and the effect social conformity has on them. While Meursault gets condemned for ignoring this rules, Gregor is condemned by being enslaved by the industrialized modern society and losing his right to live as a human being. But in both novels, the characters end up dead. They both do so because forces of social conformity sentence them.
In “The Outsider” Meursault goes on a trial for killing a man. Although he is guilty, his intention were not bad and he committed the crime because he was forced into a situation he disliked. Still, he was tried for the murder and for his attitude towards social conformity. The prosecutor acuses Meursault of
“burying his mother like a heartless criminal”
Although the case of his mothers funeral has no relevance at all with the murder, the prosecutor convinces the jury that Meursault is indeed an “immoral monster”. This is because Meursault fails to understand how society works and he does not lie and please the public in the jury to save himself, it goes against the way he lives. Because he does not play by the rules, he is therefore executed by society, as he is considered an outsider who does not fit in the social
“Metamorphosis” is a novel written by Franz Kafka in 1912. It is set at an unknown European city at the same time it was published It narrates the story of a typical salesman of in an industrialized society who wakes up one morning transformed into a giant cockroach. The novel tells about how his family deals with this event, and how Gregor (the salesman) eventually dies. “The outsider” is also a short novel written by Albert Cammus in 1944. It tells the story of Meursault, a bachelor clerk who lives in Algiers. It is also set at the time the novel was written. Meursault gets involved into a violent argument between a friend …show more content…
This marks the contrast in how do both novels criticise social conformity. The difference between characters personalities and the effect social conformity has on them. While Meursault gets condemned for ignoring this rules, Gregor is condemned by being enslaved by the industrialized modern society and losing his right to live as a human being. But in both novels, the characters end up dead. They both do so because forces of social conformity sentence them.
In “The Outsider” Meursault goes on a trial for killing a man. Although he is guilty, his intention were not bad and he committed the crime because he was forced into a situation he disliked. Still, he was tried for the murder and for his attitude towards social conformity. The prosecutor acuses Meursault of
“burying his mother like a heartless criminal”
Although the case of his mothers funeral has no relevance at all with the murder, the prosecutor convinces the jury that Meursault is indeed an “immoral monster”. This is because Meursault fails to understand how society works and he does not lie and please the public in the jury to save himself, it goes against the way he lives. Because he does not play by the rules, he is therefore executed by society, as he is considered an outsider who does not fit in the social