EXISTENTIALIST WORKS
[THE TRIAL] - franz kafka
SETTING: unknown
MAIN CHARACTERS: Joseph (Herr) K., Erna K., Dr. Huld, Franz, Willem
>Anonymous claims of a Possible Law Court Corruption Scandal
There have been several nameless, indistinguishable voice messages left for the editor of this newspaper, stating that they know of a corruption scandal occurring right here in our own highly esteemed courts of law. Huld, a local lawyer has been working with and representing some of the oddly arrested men in this possible scandal, two of which have been mentioned in this paper before for good deeds of conduct and superior work, Block a prosperous tradesman, and Joseph K. a prominent bank clerk. When Huld was asked about these anonymous accusations, he stated that he needed some solid proof or else he was going to take no action in speaking up against the highly powerful courts of law. He said as well, that several other lawyers have questioned the court's dealings in the past and that it was out of the normal procedures of other courts of law. Huld would say no more of the subject for he could not speak of specific cases. It is maybe possible that the police have knowledge about corruption within the law. When the paper spoke to Joseph K. briefly on this new issue, he had something interesting to point out, "When I was arrested that morning one of the officers was very uneasy and fidgety about what him and his partner were doing as if there was something wrong, I had a feeling they knew exactly what they were sent to do and why, but were told to keep it confidential and not to say a word of it, even to their innocent man, me." If all of the law enforcement and maybe even some of the lawyers feel and act this way about a scandal, there is not going to be much action for the courts to worry about in the future. No one is willing to stand up against the law, all of them being silenced with money or fear.
>There
is No Answer
No one knows what is going on at the moment, not even the lawyers involved in these multiple cases. It is the same for many people who have been arrested without being told the reason for which they have been placed under arrest. One such unfortunate man, Joseph K. refused to speak to reporters but we have been told that he was a reputable bank official who was arrested by two warders who he woke up to in his home. This same exact way has been used every time an arrest occurs. Two warders appear at your home and tell you to do exactly what they say, get dressed and clean, but do not speak unless you are spoken to. Another man, who has been in the exact situation as K. but for a longer period of time, is Blocking. Block agreed to speak to us briefly. He simply stated how helpless he feels, constantly waiting for some kind of answer to the burning question that has been eating away at his mind for five years now, and that is, "what did I do?" From what was gathered from each accused man we spoke with, was that each had been prominent figures that, after their arrest, had slowly become indignant and frustrated all of the time. As well as becoming more sluggish, putting all of their time and energy into their cases, at the same time pathetically becoming a subservient to the lawyers, which in K. and Block's cases is Huld. People should be extra careful about what they say and what actions they take at all times.
The Trial, a novel by Franz Kafka, takes place in a single year in the life of Joseph K., who began as a promising, already prosperous young bank official, and ended up being killed in the name of the Law. Throughout the entire novel the Law is always looked at as invisible but omnipresent and the Court is depicted as untouchable and superior to all. This story was written from 1914 to 1915 during the time in which Kafka was living and dealing with the Austro-Hungarian bureaucracy, to which the plot of The Trial can be satirically related. This novel is not only read as a fictional existentialist work, but is also criticized and read by students of the law. The novel leaves itself up to interpretation by creating a mysterious presence, which is never really seen but spoken of. Existentialists would say that this work has a revealed truth because it is "ultimately unresolvable." It shows the absurdity of life and it deeply stresses the importance of the individual existence and constantly, but indirectly refers to choices. Existentialists believe that every person must choose their own risks and responsibilities as well as individuals deciding their own morality and truth. Kafka shows what life could be like if there were no freedom of choice, it would be like being arrested and never knowing why or by whom. Because the book chronicles Joseph K.'s life through one year until the two warders kill him, it shows finality in death, which existentialists definitely believed in, saying that death is " the wiping out of my existence as a conscious being." The Trial can be scrutinized and analyzed in several directions and points of view, but one fact that cannot be argued is that it is undoubtedly an unforgettable existentialist literary work.
["NO EXIT"]