The two openings of Metamorphosis and the Outsider are different in there beginnings but when they start to get to the end of the opening they begin to become very similar. They both wake up to different things, Gregor has been transformed into a giant bug and Meursault awakes to his mother death. The biggest difference between the characters is their physical form. Gregor has changed physically into a giant insect and Meursault remains a human being through the story.
The characters also have different relationships with their mothers. It seems as though Gregor would like to have a great relationship with his mother, but under the circumstances cannot, having been turned into a giant insect and all. Meursault didn’t seem to care that much that his mom passed away by his attitude which leads me to believe that him and his mom did not have the greatest relationship. Kafka creates a very lonely, cut off world for Gregor.
In “Metamorphosis” Gregor feels more like an outsider when he awakes to find himself turned into a giant bug without any specific reason and no longer has control over his own life. He breaks off all connections to the world and to the people in his life; he does not talk or have any other kind of interaction with anyone inside or outside the family. He did not want to end all connections, but he had to because of his new physical form. Basically the human in him is stripped away leaving behind something that is no where near human in comparison.
In “The Outsider” Meursault chooses to isolate himself from the world, not because he had to but because he wanted to. He distances himself from his own mother and doesn’t show any kind of emotion when she dies which to most people is very odd. Through this story you can see how cold and indifferent Meursault is towards the situation at hand. He doesn’t seem that concerned with his mother, near the end he really did seem to concentrate more on the coffin than his mother. It is similar to “Metamorphosis” because even though Meursault is still human, his emotions and personality are very dehumanizing. I know he is not a giant bug, but he might as well have been by the way he detached himself from the world.
Both authors put their characters into very difficult and different situations than most people are in. Their themes and ideas are very similar in comparison to one another; a major theme is the relationships between the mothers and sons. Another theme in both of the short excerpts is solitary existence. Both authors also use language in a way that creates a good mental picture in the readers mind.
In “Metamorphosis”, the author says, “He was lying on his hard, as if it were armour-plated, back and when he lifted his head a little he could see his dome-like brown belly divided into stiff, arched segments on top of which the bed-quilt could hardly keep in position and was about to slide off completely.” There is more, but this really shows great descriptive language. These two openings really have a lot in common with each other, but there are also several differences, they both are truly about the dehumanization of people no matter whom or what they are.
