Personal Reflection

          Reading “The Trial” by Franz Kafka has helped me to evolve intellectually as well as academically as a student in many different senses. First off, this classic literature study has helped me evolve intellectually mainly because by reading “The Trial” I was placed outside of my comfort zone; normally when selecting novels I stick with works by my favorite authors and genres. “The Trial” was a novel which I probably wouldn’t have selected to read on my own time, seeing as its much different then literature I am used to reading. However, once I started reading “The Trial” I found myself hooked immediately. I thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of this novel, the plot was original and interesting, the characters had a likable aspect and the author’s writing style was much different then anything I had ever read in the past. By studying classic literature, I feel as though it has enabled me to open myself up to a broader spectrum in regards to my selection of literature. I hope to be able to experiment more with different styles of novels and authors.

          I feel as though I have evolved academically through this assignment, mainly from the postings below that relate to my novel. By writing reflections and responses, I was really able to grasp every detail of “The Trial”. By reflecting on aspects like the setting, themes, characters and plot I was able to grow a better understanding of what the author was trying to get across to the reader. From my experience, I was able to take from this novel thoughts towards the situation of unfair justice. The lasting impression I was left with reflects on the lives of many who may have gone through situations similar to what the main character K experienced. People all over the world are wrongly accused all the time, and both them and their loved ones must cope with the situation, which can be devastating. This also made me consider what an unfair world we live in…which is something that wasn’t as bluntly obvious to be prior.    

          I hope you enjoyed following me throughout my experiences of “The Trial”. Thanks for reading!

Works Cited

"Franz Kafka - Biography and Works." The Literature Network. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2010. <http://www.online-literature.com/franz-kafka/>.

Hornek, Daniel. "Franz Kafka Biography." The Franz Kafka Biography Website. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2010. <http://www.kafka-franz.com/kafka-Biography.htm>.

"The Trial - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., 21 Nov. 2010. Web. 23 Nov. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Trial>.

"The Trial by Franz Kafka Study Guide." Scribd. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2010. <http://www.scribd.com/doc/18623436/The-Trial-by-Franz-Kafka-Study-Guide#>.

The Trial- Apologia

“Franz Kafka was born 3 July, 1883 in Prague, Bohemia, now the Czech Republic, into a Jewish middle-class, German speaking family.” (Franz Kafka - Biography and Works). He was the first child of Hermann and Julie (née Löwy) Kafka, He was also the brother of three younger sisters (Hornek, Daniel). Seeing as Franz Kafka was born and raised in a Jewish family during WW2, they were ridiculed and discriminated against over something they had no control over. “All Franz three sisters were murdered by the Nazis for being Jewish at Lodz Ghetto and Auschwitz.” (Hornek, Daniel). Perhaps the unfair accusations and actions that were taken out on Franz Kafkas’ family had an influence on his writing of “the trial”. “The trial” deals with situations of unfair judgment, justice and religion, all of which have relevance to the murder of his sisters and the treatment that his friends and family were faced with. In “the trial”, the main character K is murdered without being given a reason, or a fair trial. His battle with the law appears to be close to impossible. This plot may be significant to Franz Kafkas’ life seeing as his sisters were murdered for no conspicuous reason. They, along with many others had their lives taken from them without any say in the matter; this appears be significant to the themes that occur in Kafka’s writing, seeing as in intertwines with the plot of the novel.

As for the outcome of Franz Kafkas’ life, his health began to go downhill in 1923. As a result of this, he retired from business in order to devote himself to writing. “Kafka died of tuberculosis on June 3, 1924, in Kierling (near Vienna, Austria).” (The Trial by Franz Kafka Study Guide). The trial was not published until after his death (published in 1925) (The Trial - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). Yet why is “the trial” considered to be a classic novel?

Time is a major indicator in the shelf life of a novel. In order for a novel to be considered a classic, it must possess staying power. In order for a novel to accomplish this, the work should be of lasting interest. The comments the author makes about people, situations, and problems of life should still be relevant to a modern audience. The trial was published in 1925 and it is still being read today (The Trial - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia), this indicates that the component of time is something that has not stopped people from continuing to read the trial. The situations and problems that occur in “the trial” are still relevant in today’s world because both justice and unfair accusations are issues that are dealt with frequently. They are situations that most people have heard of, some may have even experienced something similar.

Another characteristic that a classic novel should contain is the concept of morality; the novel should say something of value, draw attention to human problems and condemn or applaud certain points of view. The novel should make a statement which leaves the reader with a lasting impression, or a better understanding of the statement. In the case of the trial, the writer achieves morality by writing about a topic that draws attention to human rights (this topic deals with human problems and expresses a mans’ battle with the court from his point of view). I found that after the completion of the trial, I was left with the impression of life’s outcome sometimes being unfair. With this in mind, I began to think about the main character K’s situation being relevant to those in the real world. The impression I was left with enabled me to connect the novel to situations present in the actual world.

A final key characteristic which a classic novel should possess is the interest level of the characters. A good novel should have characters which are appealing to the reader, engage their interest and have a likable aspect. The trial exemplifies all of these qualities quite well. The main character Joseph K is a real attention grabbing character. Since the reader does not know many details about K and his life, it engages their attention, drawing them in so that they continue to read in order to learn more about this character. At the end of this novel, the reader has grown a sense of attachment towards the character, so when K is murdered the reader feels sympathy towards the character. This sympathy is felt because of the likeableness towards the character. 

“The trial” is a novel which contains a great plot, intriguing characters, relatable themes and a unique writing style. It is a fantastic piece of work that has been read by many generations, and hopefully more generations to follow. This novel contains all of the key components that a novel should possess, and for that reason, I feel like it is entitled to classic novel status.

Reading Response Post #4 (Chapters 8-10)

This novel ended in a way that left me both shocked, astounded and curious. The reoccurring question that is constantly being looked at throughout this novel is the question of why Joseph K was arrested. That question acted as the hook throughout this novel, it provoked curiosity and made the reader want to continue reading (at least in my case it did). I was shocked when the author ended this novel without revealing what the main character was under arrest for to begin with. This whole novel is centered around the story of Joseph K’s trial. At first I was disappointed that the author left out such an important factor, but the more I thought about it, the more I began to appreciate the author’s choice to end the novel this way. In a way, this opens so many doors in the imagination. By ending the novel this way, there is no limit to the amount of possibilities that the reader can come up with. My personal guess was that K was arrested for either murder or theft. 

The reason that I was shocked in regards to the ending of this novel was because it ended with the main character K being killed because of the crime he committed. This was something I did not see coming. Early on in the last part of this reading, K met a man who had been facing an ongoing trial for five years. This lead me to believe that K would just continue his battle with the law for an extended period of time. Another misleading aspect that enabled me to believe the outcome of K’s trial would be good was the fact that just before his murder; K met a priest who was involved in the court. The priest told him that his trial was not going well, but K thought that the priest may be able to help him. This created a glimpse of hope, only to be later shattered by his death. Usually endings in novels can be predictable, that was not the case in this novel. I did admire that the author decided to approach the ending by making it such a shock to the reader. This just added to the style of this novel-which I found to be unpredictable, captivating and written in a very clever manor.

My feelings in regards to the ending of The Trial are feelings of grief and anger. As K was being lead to the spot where he would be killed, he thought he saw Mrs. Burstner (a women who he was in love with at the beginning of the novel-as mentioned in earlier posts). This made me upset because she disappeared early on in the novel and K had not seen her since. Seeing as he was killed, he never got to say goodbye to Mrs. Burstner nor did he get to tell her how he felt about her. This is tragic because these two characters who clearly had feelings for each other ended on bad terms and sadly those terms can never be set good. I felt anger because I felt as though K was innocent. There wasn’t necessarily anything to prove this other then the fact that K stated he was innocent, but since I followed K throughout the book and got a feel of what type of character he was, I believe he was innocent. I find it devastating that his life was taken away from him before he was given a fair trial. His murder left me with a feeling of grief and a sense of unfairness because a life was robbed from an innocent man.

            To the readers of this blog, although I have spoiled the ending of this novel I would still highly recommend reading it. I can honestly say that I have never read a novel with a storyline anywhere close to this one. Ive never really thought much into it before I read this novel, but people are wrongly accused on a day to day basis. Joseph K’s trial really made me consider the feelings and rights of those who struggle with their battle against the law.  

Reading Response Post #3 (Chapters 6-8)

In the third segment of this reading, as we come closer to K’s trial I still have not discovered the reason as to why K was arrested. Although I am still left with unanswered questions, there are a few clues stated in regards to K’s trial. The first one being that K is facing criminal charges and the second being K states he is innocent.

During this section, some new personality traits were revealed about K; seeing as the trial date is quickly approaching, K is trying to compose documents for his case. Although K struggles with the completion of the documents, he still finishes them. He submits them numerous times to be sure that they are looked at. This situation demonstrates examples of perseverance, devotion and determination.  

Numerous new characters were introduced in this section of the novel. One of these new characters is K’s Uncle Karl. He is in the area visiting and insists on helping K out with his trial. He recommends hiring a lawyer- Huld, Thus the introduction of Huld the lawyer. Huld is very ill and is willing to try and help K with his case, but he makes no promises. Another character we meet in this section is Leni, Hulds nurse. Leni finds accused men extremely attractive, which provokes her lust towards K. K has mutual feeling of attraction towards Leni, this results in a secret romance between the two characters.  The last new character introduced to us is Titorelli the artist. Titorelli is very knowledgeable about the court system and offers to help K win his case. The thing I found most interesting about Titorelli was that he seemed to know that K is innocent. I interpreted this as a possibility of Titorelli knowing something about K’s case that K himself is not aware of.  

The author does a fantastic job at describing the setting in chapter 7. His detailed description enabled me to in vision the setting clearly in my mind. The setting that most stood out to me was found on pages 101-102; “In the great gateway to the building where the painter lived only one of the two doors was open, a hole had been broken open in the wall by the other door, and as K. approached it a repulsive, streaming liquid shot out causing some rats to scurry away into the nearby canal. Down by the staircase there was a small child lying in its belly crying, but it could hardly be heard because of the noise from the metal-workshop on the other side of the entrance hall, drowning out any other sound”. This setting is describing the building where Titorelli lives. By reading this I can assume that the location of this building is in a poorer area of the town. It seems to create a gloomy, eerie and uninviting atmosphere.

My final thoughts on this segment of the novel are; where did Ms. Burstner’s character go? Seeing as she has not been mentioned for quite some time, and finally the obvious question of; why is K under arrest?

Reading Response Post #2 (Chapters 3-6)

          A new character introduced in this segment is Mrs.Burstner. Mrs. Burstner boards in the same house as K. There seems to be a bit of romance occurring between these two characters. One night Mrs. Burstner lets K kiss her, but after that night she begins to act distant with K by avoiding him and not responding to letters that he sent her. I feel as though Mrs. Burstner is in denial about her feelings towards K. I think that after the night he kissed her, the possibility of love suddenly became a reality as opposed to a fantasy or a fairytale. This may have frightened Mrs. Burstner, causing her to deny her real feelings towards K.


          In the second section of this novel, a setting that really stood out to me was the offices in the court room. K came to the court for a session, only to find it postponed. This caused him to be lead up to the offices. I pictured this setting as a dimly lit, long and narrow hallway with many doors on either side. Since K was having trouble breathing as he continued wandering down the hallway, I imagined the air to be thick and heavy. The whole dim and heavy atmosphere gave this setting its gloomy feel.


          The question of “why has Joseph K been arrested”? has still not been answered. Throughout this read I continue to look for clues or hints that may give me an insight as to what K did wrong. So far no luck, but it has been a captivating read. My favorite aspect of this novel so far is that it always keeps you guessing. There is never a possibility that’s out of the question, which I enjoy. Im looking forward to being able to decipher the mystery of this novel and I am hoping to come across some answers sometime soon.

Reading Response Post #1 (Chapters 1-3)

Joseph K, referred to as K in the novel, is the main character. He is an aspiring thirty year old who is geared for success. “K” has a significant position at the bank as chief clerk, which makes him both important and responsible. In the beginning of this novel “K” is arrested on the morning of his thirtieth birthday for no apparent reason, at least not one that he can recall. This begins his battle with the authoritative court and invisible law.

             The atmosphere is set as early on as the first page. The opening sentence of this novel is “Someone must have been telling lies about Joseph K., he knew he had done nothing wrong but, one morning, he was arrested.” (Page. 1). This sentence alone sets a mysterious and chaotic atmosphere. The first thought that enters your mind when reading the opening line of this book is “what?!”. It’s almost as if your mind stumbles upon trying to decipher an answer as to what is going on. I found this to be a great opening seeing as it starts off by drawing the reader in by asking a question. The reader wants to keep reading so that they can determine the answer to the question-I found this to be a good tactic on the author’s part. This opening sentence also sets the tone of the book; the tone can be seen as stern and/or incomprehensive (in the sense that there is a midst of confusion in occurrence)

            After reading the beginning of the trial I am left with many questions that I am still pondering upon. The main one being; why was Joseph K arrested? As I continue this read I am hoping to have my questions acknowledged.