Comparing Themes of The Doll Queen and Metamorphosis

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Comparing Doll Queen to Metamorphosis

The novellas ‘The Doll Queen” by Carlos Fuentes and “Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka, both share themes exploring human behavior. They explore dark emotions and tragic stories. In “The Doll Queen” a man goes back to find a childhood friend of his that he had forgotten and in “Metamorphosis” a man wakes to find his body transformed into an insect. Although these stories are different, they share similar themes of alienation, imprisonment and personal identity.

The theme of alienation is a common dream shared between ‘The Doll Queen’ and ‘Metamorphosis’. In ‘The Doll Queen’, Carlos initially embraces the emotional and intuitive nature of Amilamia, joining her in play. He eventually rejects her for his books, symbolizing a more rational way of life. When he visits the house, he pretends to be other people in order to hide his real emotional intentions. Even the mother’s rosary beads and ‘doll queen’ shrine, representing religion, disgust him. Whereas the theme in ‘The Doll Queen’ is alienation from the emotional, the theme in ‘Metamorphosis’ is alienation from the physical.  Once Gregor’s body has been transformed into an insect, his entire family rejects him. His father locks Gregor in his room after seeing his transformation and throws apples at him, wounding him. His transformation has left him unable to communicate with his family and he can only stand by in silence. Even Gregor’s body, once it had transformed, shows alienation between Gregor and his body due to his lack of concern for the transformation. The extent of his isolation is symbolized by a magazine image of a girl he framed to keep him company.

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        Another common dream shared between the two stories is the theme of imprisonment. Amilamia, in ‘The Doll Queen’, is imprisoned by her parents as a way for them to celebrate and remember her past rather than the present. When Carlos begins to share stories of their daughter, the parents show genuine sadness showing that they miss the young, happy child they once knew. Amilamia, now imprisoned by her parents and physically trapped in a wheelchair, stands in contrast to the child-sized doll that her parents created in the hopes of preserving their daughter’s youth and innocence. In ‘Metamorphosis’, Gregor ...

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