Miscommunication Causes Serious Consequences Leading to Alienation and Discrimination Within a Society

Each individual is like a rain drop on the window; none of them are any more significant than another. There are the occasional droplets which are larger than the rest, the ones with a greater influence than the others. As time goes by, a droplet eventually collides with another, and another, and another...until they form a huge puddle and eventually roll away. The result is a chain reaction: the larger rain drops influence others, serving as catalysts in society. However, droplets alone, are fragile and vulnerable. In Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis and Albert Camus' The Stranger, the significant role of communication is portrayed through two extreme examples. Miscommunication causes serious consequences leading to alienation and discrimination within a society like the lonesome raindrops, aloof and out of the world's reach.

Meursault, the protagonist in The Stranger, encounters a dilemma different than the anti-hero, Gregor Samsa, from The Metamorphosis does. As the main character transforms from a human being into a dung beetle or "vermin," it brings forth the question of physical versus emotional transformation. Although Gregor's metamorphosis helps him discover his status in the household, it disconnects his family from his support. On the other hand, the anti-hero in The Stranger, Meursault, lives his life "indifferent to human affairs" and his actions possess no rational order. His actions are strange to his society, a world that demands reason behind the behavior and motive behind the act.

Gregor does not like his job, his life or the way people treat him, yet he endures the daily unpleasantness because filial piety requires him to play his role. His role as a son demands him to help pay off his parents' debts and to send his sister, Grete, to a conservatorium because she loves music and is able to "play the violin soulfully" (29). In Gregor's opinion, his family needs him for financial support, but Kafka approaches this belief differently and has a larger message to convey. At the beginning of The Metamorphosis, Gregor's transformation into a distasteful and worthless dung beetle is appropriate because of the downtrodden and scornful way he's treated by those around him. Gregor is oblivious to the reality, that he is useless and good-for-nothing. Gregor is a character that does not receive much attention or care. He is looked down by his boss, as if no matter how hard he tries, he is "lazy" (12) and will never be good enough. Also, despite the fact that Gregor provides for his family's financial needs, their attitude towards him does not seem to be "warm." Grete, Gregor's sister, is the only one in the family that really cares about him. This is shown at the beginning of his transformation when Grete asks him, "Gregor? Aren't you well? Are you needing anything?" (13) but even his sister gradually alienates him after his transformation. A few months after Gregor's metamorphosis, even Grete has given up all hope and insists that "[they] have to get rid of [Gregor]" (47). Grete's attitude is important because even the melody from Grete's violin - their only source of communication up to this point- is unable to recover the connection she and Gregor once had.

Albert Camus portrays Meursault and makes him appear to be a social wreck because he does not have a purpose in his life; he has nothing to live for and nothing to die for. For example, when Meursault and his girlfriend, Marie, spend time together, it is usually Marie who does the talking whilst Meursault observes and makes a few mental notes here and there. Marie feels insecure with Meursault's indifference. For instance, when she asks him if he wanted to marry her. Meursault said that it "didn't really matter and that if she wanted to, [they] could get married." (41) Marie then wanted to know if Meursault loves her, his response was, once again, apathetic, "I probably [don't] love [you]." (41) the answer frustrates and upsets Marie. Although it seems like a heartless and ridiculous response to the subject matter, Meursault's existentialistic honesty makes him heroic. In a way, Meursault loves Marie, but his problem with communication is one of the root cause for his alienation because his response never satisfies