The Trial, by Franz Kafka
The Trial (original title: Der Prozeß) (Franz Kafka, 1925). One morning Josef K. is arrested by two men without being told the charges against him. This is the beginning of a large process against him. It’s not conducted by a formal court of law, but by friends, relatives and co-workers. This court is characterized by the impossible bureaucratic methods required to do something, methods that usually end up doing nothing to further K’s case.
The way I read the book it’s not about an actual trial, but the common human feeling of being trapped and of feeling guilty over things without an actual cause. He’s forced to defend himself without knowing the formal charges against him, by soul searching for mistakes he has done. The way the court works when it arrests K. without accusing him of doing anything wrong is a good description of how the human conscience works. Josef K. seeks help from a defence attorney, an artist and a priest, without success. The court is divided between the lower court that the people he meet know about, and the higher court that is unknown to all. The lower court can only temporarily remove the charges against people, and only the higher court can make the final decision on whether a person is innocent or not. That’s a symbolic view of how people can live with their bad conscience, but only after death can God make the final ruling of innocence according to Kafka.
Kafka wanted the book to be destroyed after his death, but a friend instead saved it and published it. I’m glad he did. This is the first time I read the whole book, having started two or three times. I have seen the film The Trial (David Hugh Jones, 1993) with Kyle MacLachlan and Anthony Hopkins before, and thought it was really good. As far as I remember it follows the book closely, so if you’re not up for the novel you should at least catch the film.