The Trial
On the morning of his thirtieth birthday Josef K., a senior bank official, is arrested without being told the charge, yet remains free to go about his work. He turns to lawyers, intermediaries and women connected with an elusive court that sits in tenement attics, until, a year later, two men lead him out of the city and kill him.
Understanding the text
Kafka wrote it in 1914 and 1915 and left it unfinished; Max Brod published it in 1925 after deciding the order of the chapters. The critical edition of 1990 follows the manuscript, restores Kafka’s spelling Der Proceß and sets the unfinished chapters apart.
Key points
- 01
Arrest
The opening sentence withholds the cause: someone must have slandered Josef K., since he is arrested one morning without having done anything wrong.
- 02
Intermediaries
The lawyer Huld and the court painter Titorelli describe a procedure in which real acquittal exists only in legend, leaving apparent acquittal or endless postponement.
- 03
Parable
In the cathedral a prison chaplain tells the story of the doorkeeper before the Law, then discusses its conflicting interpretations with K.
Explore the ideas in depth
Reading the court and its parable
Examine the arrest, the intermediaries and the doorkeeper parable in The Trial, keeping its unfinished state in view.
Situating the text
Kafka wrote it in 1914 and 1915 and left it unfinished; Max Brod published it in 1925 after deciding the order of the chapters. The critical edition of 1990 follows the manuscript, restores Kafka’s spelling Der Proceß and sets the unfinished chapters apart. On the morning of his thirtieth birthday Josef K., a senior bank official, is arrested without being told the charge, yet remains free to go about his work. He turns to lawyers, intermediaries and women connected with an elusive court that sits in tenement attics, until, a year later, two men lead him out of the city and kill him.
Following the arguments
Arrest : The opening sentence withholds the cause: someone must have slandered Josef K., since he is arrested one morning without having done anything wrong. Intermediaries : The lawyer Huld and the court painter Titorelli describe a procedure in which real acquittal exists only in legend, leaving apparent acquittal or endless postponement. Parable : In the cathedral a prison chaplain tells the story of the doorkeeper before the Law, then discusses its conflicting interpretations with K.
Continuing the reading
Begin with the arrest and the cathedral chapter, then check which chapters your edition marks as unfinished before drawing conclusions about the whole. Kafka wrote it in 1914 and 1915 and left it unfinished; Max Brod published it in 1925 after deciding the order of the chapters. The critical edition of 1990 follows the manuscript, restores Kafka’s spelling Der Proceß and sets the unfinished chapters apart.
Questions to carry into your reading
- What does the opening sentence leave unexplained, and who seems to benefit from that silence?
- Does the chaplain’s commentary clarify the parable or show why it cannot be closed?
In The Trial the law appears less as a code than as a relation of waiting, interpretation and self-accusation.
How to read it
Begin with the arrest and the cathedral chapter, then check which chapters your edition marks as unfinished before drawing conclusions about the whole.
Editions & sources
Summaries and key points are original editorial interpretations. They accompany reading the work and do not replace an edition of the text. Editorial method ↗