End of Chapter 7

I know I spoke briefly about Chapter 7 and K.'s encounter with Titorelli, but after refreshing my mind on the topic, I think it still needs some blogging about. This idea of the state controlling our lives by the consequences and threats presented to us is developing more as the chapter moves along. K. starts by realizing that his lawyer is making some progress in his case, but nothing significant. The way Kafka is starting to shape the people around K. is reminding me a lot of how the institution of the state can really control your fate. First, you have the lawyer. He seems like he is working against K. in an indirect way. K.'s boss (the VP of the bank) also sends off that same vibe. After getting rid of the manufacturer and getting rid of K., he snoops around his office. It could just be that he's curious to know what is up with K., but the characters seem to be intertwined in a way that is not directly presented to the reader. Titorelli sends off that suspicious vibe by a lot. It triggered into my mind when K. leaves through the back door, and is in the hallway of the courtrooms. To me, that was Kafka's way at telling the reader that Titorelli is directly connected to the case.

K. fires his lawyer shortly after, and tries to take the case into his own hands. A once intense, hard working, confident, successful man now cannot even muster up the energy to come up with a petition. The state institution has not only physically deteriorate this man's life, but also single handedly deteriorated his spirit and personality. That idea presented in the lecture just continues to grow more and more as I read deeper into the novel. You have the court, which is directly related to K.'s demise. But now you have all of these supporting characters that strengthen and surround the court/state and bring down K. even more.

After reading 20 pages out of Notes from the Underground, I stopped my complaining about how Kafka's work is hard to read. After read NFTU, I realized that The Trial is not that hard of a read, and it is beginning to flow much better.