In the novels The Metamorphosis and The Stranger by Franz Kafka and Albert Camus, Kubler-Ross's five stages of death are incorporated to emphasize the themes of individualism and insulation. While denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance are common emotions when dealing with death, denial, anger, and acceptance are essential to connecting to Kafka and Camus' ideas about death. individualism. Through their experiences relating to these three stages of death, the protagonists, Gregor Samsa and Meursault, are isolated from the larger society and forced to recognize their own individuality. Both Gregor and Meursault have crucial experiences with denial, the first stage of the grief process, in their respective novels. While Gregor refuses to accept his transformation to remain part of society, Meursault denies God in Algerian religious culture, demonstrating his individuality by isolating himself. Gregor's denial occurs when he prepares for work, ignoring his transformation: “First of all he wanted to get up quietly, […] get dressed, […] have breakfast, and only then think about what to do next” (Kafka 6 ). By portraying Gregor as determined, Kafka shows his protagonist's determination to remain steadfast in ignoring his transformation for the sake of his family. Typically, such a metamorphosis would justify panic, but Gregor is so altruistic that he denies that his emotions are of any use to his family. Through the sequential syntax employed in this quote, Kafka shows that Gregor does not want to stray from his usual routine. This attribute, along with his physical transformation, separates Gregor from humanity. With his unusual mentality, seen through the denial of his metamorphosis, and his lack of human physical characteristics, they can be applied to the experiences of Gregor and Meursault to give a sense of humanity to surrealist and absurdist novels. By allowing their characters to go through the cycle of death alone, Kafka and Camus highlight the importance of individuality and how it leads to isolation. Despite the fact that both males encourage uniqueness, the end results differ greatly for Gregor and Meursault; Gregor seems to show the negative side of individuality while Meursault's is positive. Kafka and Camus use the emotions of Kubler Ross' five stages of death in The Metamorphosis and The Stranger to emphasize individuality and isolation. Works Cited Camus, Albert. The stranger. Trans. Matthew Ward. New York: Vintage International, 1988. Print.Kafka, Franz. The Metamorphosis. Trans. Stanley Corngold. New York: Bantam, 2004.Print.