Throughout the first two chapters of the novel, K. is characterized as being an arrogant and irritable type of person. He's all business. This is expressed in his need to get out of the meeting in the morning between the inspector and the three other bank clerks. At the end of Chapter 1, K. chastises himself for not paying detailed attention to what the three clerks were doing in Fraulein Burstner's room during their meeting, which leads him to meeting with them at the bank. This shows us how K. has gotten to where he is in life. He consistently wants the best out of himself, often shown through his persistence mentally and physically to be better.
K.'s irritability begins with the confrontation with the inspector and his underlings. He is angry and wants to get out of the situation as fast as possible, rather than as efficiently as possible. This is shown again in Chapter 2, when he yells at Frau Gubrach (his landlady) for hinting to K. that Burstner was out with other men that evening. Instead of thinking the moment through and relaxing, he acts impulsively and slams the door.
These two chapters have been a good indicator of what we are going to get out of Kafka's work, and I am eager to see how the plot of the novel will unfold.
I agree with you about K. being "all business". It is prevalent in both chapters, especially the second. He automatically assumes that his meeting will be at 9 o'clock because that it the typical time for a business meeting.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, the confrontation with his landlady shows his need to be in control. He attempts to dominate his meeting with her as he does in his interrogation. K. always thinks that he is above everyone else, and this is shown in the meetings that you described.
The part of your response that I found most interesting is how you pointed out that he always needs to be better. He is very persistent as shown through everything he does. He constantly needs to try to out perform everyone else around him as shown when he tries to outthink everyone.