Identity in Metamorphasis and The Dead

In both Joyce's The Dead, and Kafka's Metamorphasis, the central charater is suffering from a severe delusion about their own self. Gabriel, in Joyce's The Dead, believes he is the one true love in Gretta's life. When this deception is revealed his world becomse shattered. Similarly, in The Metamorphasis, Gregor Samka realizes that he is only a drudge in society, and his entire life is changed in consequence. The importance of self knowledge becomes apparent …

…the understandings of men and women. Each author again challenges the reader to look into themselves and to examine their own lives to see if these illusions apply. The impossibility of true love and meaninglessness of life are constant struggles for the cynic and never given thought by the optimist. It takes a very strong person to be able to sweep the illusions of society aside and bare one's self to the realities of life.