TERM PAPER

Max Bochner

Mr. Shapiro

Period 1

May 5, 2014

The Trial: A State of Alienation

Many people in society believe that in a time of need others will provide one with necessary aid in order to help in the predicament that one is situated in. This includes a wide range of people from friends to families to lawyers. However, In The Trial by Franz Kafka, we see that sometimes there is nothing that these people can do as a higher force may tie their hands. Joseph K. an ordinary businessman many trying to make a name for himself in society is arrested for a crime he is unaware he committed. Furthermore, the government refuses to acknowledge his request to inform him what the crime he is being accused of is. This pressure from the oppressive government causes him to be both alienated by society and stubborn to accept any aid being offered to him.

The governing body that is mainly responsible for alienating K. from society is the court. In the novel, the court represents a society where everyone is forced to conform and adhere to a specific standard. No one can be different and the court does everything in its power to attempt to alienate those who are different. When K. is initially arrested one of the guards points this out. They tell him “you should talk less in general; almost everything you’ve said up to now could have been inferred from your behavior, even if you’d said only a few words, and it wasn’t terribly favorable in any case,”  (Kafka Ch. 1). This guard is blatantly telling K. that no matter if he is being truthful or fictitious, the court has a way of turning what he says against him, so it is in K.’s best interest not to act at all as what he does can incriminate himself even further. The court sees itself as a body that is never wrong, which allows them to make the “correct” decision regarding every trial. In fact, at one point in the novel K. is told that because the court never sees its accusations as being wrong his life will be contained by this trial for an extended period of time. There is even a hint that the trial might be in existence for the entity of K.’s life. When K. hears this, he realizes that this is not the only one being oppressed by this power hungry governing body but that it is happening to many people in society around him. “What has happened to me is merely a single case and such of no particular consequence, since I don’t take it very seriously, but it is typical of the proceeding being brought against many people. I speak for them, not for myself!” (Kafka Ch.3). In this quote, K. is showing how a governing body such as the court has way too much power. In fact, they have enough control and influence in society to force K. to act by himself. Every single victim that K. is speaking about is alienated. They need to realize that the court is in complete control of every aspect of society not only the government. When speaking about the court a priest notes “It receives you when you come and dismisses you when you go,” (Kafka Ch. 9). In other words, the court controls more aspect of the world than K. can even tell. It influences the government and church, which shows its great amount of power. Many times when someone is in a state of alienation they turn to religion as a safe haven. However, this trial has even eliminated that factor. The church has been influenced by the court and makes it so K. cannot turn to this body for support on getting out of the isolation caused by the trial (Kafka).

Due to the corruption of the governing body, K. is forced to attempt to create a defense in order to rid himself of these ridiculous crimes. However, the theme of isolation heavily applies to this situation. K. is forced to take matters into his own hands and eventually defend himself due to lack of effort and focus from the outside world including Huld. K. begins to analyze each aspect so crazily that he believes only he will be able to defend himself in the correct manner. However, in terms of his defense this might have not been the best idea.  “Don’t go into shock at every word… You should be ashamed here in front of my client!... It’s senseless anxiety!” (Kafka Ch. 10). This statement was directed towards Block in front of K. by Huld, K.’s lawyer. It displays how even though K. might think that he is getting a fair defense, in reality there is nothing K. or Huld can even do about to alter his current situation. The court has isolated them and Block knows this. Block is acknowledging the fact that from what he knows about the courts through experience, it is not a governing body that you would want to mess with. He is explaining that K. should become nervous due to his blindness in this situation. Another very interesting aspect of the defense is how he is sent from person to person as everyone is starting to admit that they have no control. For example, he is sent from his uncle to Huld to the court painter. Everyone thinks that someone else will have a greater influence in the court than he will. However, K. neglects these professionals and decides to isolate himself and create his own defense. He shuts everyone out of his trial including his own lawyer. In fact, he does not even acknowledge the lawyer anymore when he starts to go to his house and eventually begins to sleep with his housekeeper instead. This upsets Huld and makes it so that he probably will not want to put a lot of effort into helping K. out. Although some may argue that K. forced himself into a state of isolation in this circumstance, did he really have a choice? No one in society had a fighting chance of changing the outcome of his trial. Due to this, it is the court that forced him into this state (Kafka).

At the beginning of the novel, Kafka characterizes Joseph K. as a man who devotes a significant amount of time to business. In fact, he describes himself as being a businessman thinks of himself higher than he does others in his workplace. K. describes how others were jealous because he is so devoted and excels in his occupational environment. However, the alienation that is caused by the trial begins to impede on this environment due to the fact that it is drawing all of his attention and time. People in his workplace begin to recognize this odd occurrence and attempt to alleviate any extra stress or pressure that is caused by work. In fact, the Vice President of K.’s company steals a client from K. and goes as far as explaining the predicament that K. is in to the client. “While his trial rolled on, while the officials of the court were up in there attic going over the trial documents, he was supposed to conduct bank business? Didn’t that seem like a form of torture, sanctioned by the court, a part of the trial itself accompanying it,” (Kafka Ch.7). In this quote Kafka is noting on the fact that it will be very difficult for K. to have this sense of professionalism when he has a daunting trial creeping over his shoulder. This just further alienates K. instead of helping him in a positive way. He is now forced to act alone in work and lets the trial consume more parts of his work. Even though the boss thinks that he may be helping Joseph, in reality, he is probably just creating more chaos for a man who does not need more of that. “Didn’t a painstaking defense simultaneously imply the necessity of cutting himself of as far as possible from everything else? Would he successfully survive that?” (Kafka Ch. 7). This quote explains the idea that the different aspects his life from before the trial kept K. sane. While others may think that alleviating work from a man may make him better, you are in reality taking away something that he is used to doing everyday and it makes him happy. This image that is created at the beginning of K. being a businessman is slowly beginning to disappear. He is now being looked at as a charity case who needs help in everyway possible or else he may not survive the trial. The trial is starting to take over the one part of his life that he cared the most about and once you take over that part of K.’s life, he is going to be completely shut out from the outside world. This situation is going to force K. to begin to work on his trial more and more ultimately causing him to fold and crash. If the trial did not consume his entire life, then he might have pursued his career further and ultimately had a better life for himself. The trial truly messed up his chances in this regard (Kafka).

The one reoccurring aspect in the novel that is most responsible for the alienation of Joseph K. is the unknown. Throughout the novel there is multiple significant events that cause K. to be isolated from society. If K. would have been told what he was being accused of at the beginning of his trial then he could have formulated a sufficient defense. As a result, he would not have been left helpless with a lawyer who has his hands tied. His personal relationships would have most likely remained intact as he would he would be clueless the entire duration of the trial. Furthermore, his business career would not have been ruined, as he would have had more time to devote towards the trial. However this is not the case and it is the unknown that causes all of these different institutions to turn against K. He has no choice but to give in. In fact, Kafka even notes, “K. felt threatened by from a thousand directions,” (Kafka Ch. 9). He is certainly being threatened by the trial as it is leading to both physical and mental isolationism (Kafka).

In conclusion, the novel ends with K. being killed by two men in suits on his own birthday. At this point in time K. has hit rock bottom in his trial. He has realized that no matter what he does that the court will control it and make it so that K. has no way of escaping the trial. By including the death at the end of the novel it makes it so K. dies alone. He was forced into this isolated state and ended up perishing because of it.

Works Cited

Kafka, Franz. The Trial. Definitive ed. New York: Knopf, 1957. Print.

Shmoop Editorial Team. "The Trial Quotes." Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 4 May 2014. <http://www.shmoop.com/the-trial-kafka/quotes.html>.