Introduction Society today can learn a lot from the story of Gregor Samsa, as the theme of alienation is deeply disclosed in this work. Kafka wrote the book at the time when society was just adjusting to new era of industrialization. People had to modify social relationships in order to conform to the new workplace order. A large number of these individuals failed to balance the two worlds and became disillusioned. It may thus be said that Gregor’s alienation was a dramatic result of the unsustainable socio-economic structure of the industrial revolution. Gregor’s estrangement Karl Marx stated that one of the worst consequences of the economic system in his era was depersonalization of work. Capitalists treat individuals as cogs in a money-making machine. They are only worth something if they add value to the controller’s wealth. Furthermore, for the elite to maintain their positions, they must extract as much out of their workers as possible. This often manifests as exploitation through low wages, hazardous conditions and long working hours. On the other hand, workers must keep at it because they need to earn a living to feed their families. Attempts to demand for more from their employers were often met with resistance and sometimes redundancy from work. The masses thus felt enslaved at their workplaces. Their bosses controlled when they could leave, enter, eat or even spend time with their families. The industrial revolution thus dehumanized employees by only seeing them through a utilitarian lens. It is for this reason that when Gregor woke up as a bug, his number one concern was work. The bug worried about potential excuses he could use to explain away his tardiness. This only shows that others dehumanized him before he literally became non human. Samsa’s physical appearance was inconsequential to that feeling; he had always been lifeless even as a real man. Bloom argues that jobs in Karl Marx’s world disillusioned employees because workers did what was alien to them (107). These individuals did not control wealth, so they could not even purchase what they created. Marx argued that, aside from the owners, all individuals in the capitalist economic system lack mental and physical energy because they do not exercise their ingenuity. Gregor Samsa underwent all these experiences and was a man who epitomized the dilemma. The transformation into a bug was mostly a physical one because mentally he was already in an isolated and dehumanized state. Humanity has the ability to dream and aim for greater things. It is likely people will become alienated if a system takes away these elements. Gregor wanted to do work on his own terms; he needed to have ambitions and reach out for them at his workplace. However, there were no opportunities for leadership there. His family obligations prevented him from really doing what he wanted to do. These unmet desires are also what explain the source of alienation of Gregor in his family. The transformation into an insect was a form of revelation to the protagonist about his real position in society. He found out that he was only a small portion of the grand scheme of things just like an insect (DeNicola 54). One should also note that Gregor’s alienation took the lit