One of man's greatest fears is the fear of being completely alone. Man is a social creature, and the desire for companionship is something that all men can identify with. No one wants to be an outcast of society. Franz Kafka's novel The Metamorphosis deals with this theme of alienation. Gregor Samsa, transformed into a giant vermin, is isolated from the rest of humanity. Kafka uses symbolism to emphasize Gregor's alienation from outside society, from his family, and even from his own humanity, demonstrating how modern society estranges man from his fellow beings, preventing friendship and intimacy. Gregor's job initially isolates him from all of these considerations.
Gregor's consuming and exhausting job prevents him from acquiring friends. He complains that he gains "no relationships that last or get more intimate-(4). He never goes out or does anything besides work. Instead of a girlfriend, Gregor keeps a picture of an unknown woman that he cut from a magazine. The lady covers herself in fur, showing that her station in life far removed from Gregor Samsa's. Gregor can come no nearer, in his quest for intimacy, than this picture, which symbolizes his desire for intimate relationships. He tries to save the picture when he fears his sister and mother would remove this treasure from his room. He "hurriedly [crawls] up on it and [presses] himself against the glass-(35), preventing his female family members from removing this valuable object from his room. Gregor presses his body against the picture of the woman, but he can only touch the glass in front of a photo of a strange woman that he can never meet or know. He cannot even touch the actual picture, and, even if he could, he would only be touching a magazine clipping, not a real person. The remoteness of the picture emphasizes Gregor's isolation.
Gregor seems even further isolated by the repudiation of his family. Gregor's family rejects him when he can no longer bring home a paycheck.