Reading Time: 3 minutes read

“The Trial” Kafka

Starting off with the face that I needed some New York in my life. Digging the people, the architecture, the little coffee shops and busy subways.

First two chapters.

Kafka writes The Trial in a slight mysterious plot line that Im not used to reading. Reading the news and twitter streams has made me expect the core of the manner in a short burst. The Trial lays out a plot line by painting a clear picture and scene. The scene is filled with distinct emotional expression and tension, but there are no defined characters or causes. In a buddhist explanation, The Trial describes the world through effects, rather than causes.

Home invasion

The book begins with an abrupt awakening of the main character. Two men disrupt K. from his morning regime of breakfast and preparing for work. Instead, he is observed and kept from leaving his room. He is arrested.

The arrest is not explained to the reader or the main character and unfolds into the dangers of a hierarchical authority system. The figures arresting K. do not know why he is being arrested, but feel quite justified in their restriction of K.’s freedom. The invasion of privacy, disruption of personal space, and disregard for another’s humanity is seen in so many facets of society. The authority figures are not alone in their expression.

K., who hopes to reclaim his dignity, seeks answers. After being detained in his own home, he encounters the figure of higher command who personally interview the detainee. K., who continues seeking the cause for the injustices of the morning, encounters yet another response absent of reason. The invading figures freely roam K.’s home and declare their departure.

Court appearance

Forced to face his day without comprehending the complete background of the morning’s events, K. braves the rest of his day at work. Left only with a notion that he is expected to appear in court, he is forced to make assumptions as to his appearance date. Again, lacking all information to help understand the situation, K. decides to make his way to the courts on the first potential day court gathers.

Finding his way to the courthouse is no simple task. K. wanders the neighborhood and buildings near the courthouse, hoping to glimpse upon the place of his belonging. K. discovers the courthouse only too late and is forced to stand trial the moment of his arrival. Again, no explanation, he is placed in front of, what seems to be a divided courthouse.

Giving his all, K. argues for the injustices he is forced to undergo. Again, little understanding behind the disruption’s cause makes the argument one of unwarranted personal invasion.

Realm of foreign rules

Throughout K.’s series of events, the reader is left to wonder how easily the same events could happen to themselves. K. is a everyday well respected citizen. There is little that he did to provoke these events. More so, he seems to do everything in proper order to understand the dilemma, but is given no regard.

Replace K.’s story with any individual, young or old, and The Trial reflects their own experience in a judicial system. When expected to defend oneself in a realm of foreign rules, it matters little that there is any reason at all. The senselessness of the book’s plot captures closely the “in the moment” activity one is forced to experience in any mode of heavy jurisdiction.

The digestion of events is difficult in foreign systems of operation. More so, in moments of extreme consequence, the notion of clear reflection is nearly impossible.