Kafka (who apparently had a great sense of humor) seems to really enjoy writing people who die from too much second guessing. In the trial, K. keep failing by attempting to outplay the system at every step, because he thinks that he can stay above it all (don't we all). It's what you might call an awfully credible idiot plot.
replyI wondered whether K’s original crime was being “the sort of person who would express excessive pride before the law” - a Minority Report style “Contempt of Court”.
replyOr was it originally just mistaken identity?
I've always been wondering if the crime matters at all. A lot of people say that going through a trial, even as a victim, is a punishment; it's the process that counts (hence "der prozess"). Perhaps the lack of a stated crime reflects that we the general public never fully understand under which specific provisions someone gets locked up. And so the actual deed may have been done before K. was born, etc.
reply> A lot of people say that going through a trial, even as a victim, is a punishment …
reply“You can beat the rap but you can’t beat the ride” (rap being the charge and ride being the whole process from arrest to acquittal: time, money and emotional trauma)
Thanks for the interesting read. But, I have to say, I didn't understand it at all.
replyIt's part of a novel, so it has a larger context. The parable is not intended for you, the reader, but for the protagonist of the novel Josef K., who is spending time in a futile effort. I'd say it's basically about futility of seeking unattainable answers, and frustration. But it's probably not meant to be 100% understood, as Josef K. is a confused character full of doubts (like Kafka's characters tend to be), the purpose of the parable is not to dispel his doubts but to entrap him more in the frustration.
replyLove your username if only because it reminded me of that grad algo class and Prof, some hilariously awkward dude who invented some quantum alkhwarizmi, started ... "There was this guy
... Named Al Khwarizmi.
Al..Khwarizmi
Alkhwarizmi
Hehe.
Get it?"
he also once started the class with a lecture for a different class and everyone was confused till the TA intervened. convinced it was all precalculated comedy of errors.
replyHaving worked a large bureaucracy, when we'd sometimes get into some catch 22, I used to quote the line "I am only taking it to keep you from thinking you have omitted anything" sometimes to a friend who also knew the short story, and we'd laugh.
replyExcercising your rights is a duty, responsibility and experience that is individual to everyone.
replyYes I thought at the start it was about how our expectations of how the law works are at odds with the reality
replySo the gatekeeper is the system keeping us from Justice - mostly money, but also other less tangible barriers. In theory, everyone gets a lawyer, in practice some people can afford expensive ones.
Then the end twist got me confused.
The end twist makes me think it's about an individual attempt to learn and understand the law, but I'm not sure what the inner gatekeepers would represent there.
replySomething about how we want to understand The Law, capital letters, but then there's only systems we make ourselves and understand ourselves would feel properly Kafka, I suppose. But you think that would be mapped to journeying towards some kind of Law?
I’m in the middle of using the courts to get State Farm to make me whole. Even at the small claims level, the law and procedures are stacked against the non-lawyer. There is an obvious power imbalance and it’s exploited because most won’t ever make the effort to even try, and those that do will be buried with so much work as to not make the pursuit worthwhile. The story seemed pretty accurate.
replyI didn’t get it either. Maybe it is the opposite of the Gordian knot story?
replyYes, it was very kafkaesque. (I also didn't get it.)
replyKeep in mind that the story is actually embedded in Kafka's "The Trial", and discussed by two characters within that story, who have very different views of its meaning.
replyI think it is very deliberately written to be impossible to "understand". If you think you have found its clear and unambiguous meaning, you're wrong.
Big thanks this was a wonderful read. Maybe I'll get The Trial today, I tried The Castle and didn't like it but y'know
replyPersonally I like Kafka’s short stories more than his novels, so I’d look for a collection of those first. (And The Trial too.)
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replyHere is a longer article on it:
replyKafka would find your attempt to explain his story with AI hilarious.
replyThat essay was published in the 60's
replyHe was replying to the parent comment which the poster deleted.
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