Analyse af Franz Kafkas roman 'The Trial'

The Trial is a novel by Franz Kafka written in 1915, published in 1925. Kafka is considered one the most notable authors of the 20th century and The Trial is one of his best-known writings. With the opening-line, “Someone must have been telling lies about Josef K, because he had done nothing wrong, but one day he was arrested...”, Kafka sets the tone for the novel and what follows to be a disturbing account of the main character who is put under charges by an unknown court. Josef, often referred to as ‘K’ maintains the idea that he is innocent without being told which crime he has committed. “K” is not a sympathetic character, but rather an anti-hero. Already from in the beginning chapters of the story, “K” treats his householder Mrs. Grunbach unfairly and takes advantage of his neighbor Mrs. Burstner. Generally, he acts very selfishly and carelessly towards others. He does not value the help that he gets with his case, which can be seen in chapter 8 when he dismisses his lawyer who has been working for him while sick. He also sleeps with the lawyer’s house-maid several times and humiliates the business man, Block, who is one of the lawyer’s other clients. However, he uses Block to get information regarding his trial. On top of that he does not show any personal development despite slowly accepting the fact that he is guilty, and that an absolute acquittal from his charges is not a possibility. Another weird thing about the main character is that he is only referred to as “K”. The narrator only uses his first name in the opening line and shortens his last name into one letter, while every other character is referred to by their entire last name. This objectifies him and makes him seem unimportant, which is the same way that he is being disempowered by authorities from the court. The ironic thing of him being a convict is that although he is put under charges, he is still referred to as a free man. However, he does not realize his own freedom. In chapter 9 there is a parable which describes the situation of “K”. In the chapter, “K” is told a story about a doorkeeper and a man. The doorkeeper is guarding a door that leads to the law, and the man can’t enter the door. When he in his last hour asks the doorkeeper why no one else has tried to enter the door, he is told that the door was only meant for him. The story is a parable to “K”’s life. He can’t get free of his charges and enter the door. However, he is still a free man and can leave the place whenever he wants to, but he chooses not to. The story’s message is that “K” has put himself in the same situation. There is a lot of interpretation that “K” and the prison chaplain discuss, but every interpretation points out that “K” does not realize the freedom that he has: