After sitting through the Kafka lecture, I started thinking about where/how this idea is expressed in Kafka's Trial novel and even in the outside world. The idea of being born guilty, based on the contradictions present in society's three main institutions (Church, Family, and State), is easily identified in the first chapter, when K.'s character is initially 'born' into the plot as being arrested for some unknown reason, ultimately guilty. It's obvious that the state is playing the biggest role in his arrest, but there has to be some other institution with or against the state in K.'s trial.
Another idea spoken about in the lecture was that no matter how hard you worked for something, society doesn't always tend to give you what you've been working toward. In K.'s case, he has worked extremely hard to get where he is as a successful banker, yet is challenged with his whole situation, due to society's institutions imposing their natural contradictions onto the public. The institutions each seek as much power as they can get, and through that process they must create rules to regulate and organize the public to reap as much power possible.
It may be extremely obvious in the novel, but so far, I have not seen all three institutions supporting each other in The Trial. K.'s family has not been mentioned too often, and any religious aspects to society also seem to be subdued to a degree. So, I was watching the movie Independence Day on Friday, and it was immediately clear to me that in the work, all three institutions work together in the film to create a great deal of American propaganda. You have the state working to fight and find away to fend off the destructive aliens. Religion plays the role of emotional support, especially in the final third of the movie, and the same can be said about family, yet family is magnified much more. The three are combined and paired up with some pathetic American war music to create some of the greatest propaganda to the United States Army and Country that I've personally witnessed. I know that this blog is meant primarily for The Trial, but I thought that this link was relevant to Kafka's ideas and possible endings to The Trial.
Im currently on page 88 and finished up chapter 5. I'm sure that the three institutions will begin to reveal themselves more toward the second half of the book, when we finally start to find out the true details behind K.'s trial.
I also see the correlation between the lecture and the first chapter of “The Trial.” The institutions are clearly identified here, and we see the way they work together in K.’s life. Ben’s second paragraph is probably the aspect of the lecture that stood out to me the most in the novel so far. Looking at K.’s actions once he begins to be more involved in his trial, we see that there is always something holding him back from proving his innocence. Whether it be his lawyer, or the fact that the only way to get positive results is through connections, the “state” institution prevents him from progressing. And once he decides to take charge of his trial himself, there are still signs that society does not want him to succeed. Though K. is a powerful man, the institutions are even more powerful and make him impotent in his situation. As the book went on though, it was harder for me, as well, to identify the collaboration of these institutions in K.’s life, as Ben said in his last paragraph.
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