Power and Corruption in Frank Kafka essays

Power and Corruption in Frank Kafka essays The Trial is, on the surface, the story of a man who works at a bank, Josef K., who wakes up one day to find that he is being charged on an unspecified charge. The story relates his court case, his attempts to prove his innocence, and his eventual death. K. is morally detached from his society but also knows how to play the social game very skilfully to maintain his total detachment from all social conventions and formalities. Under the surface, however, this rough seeming novel has deeper meanings. It is the story of an individuals struggle, against corruption, against a faceless and petty power, and against himself. Through all the events leading up to K.s death, much is said about the court he is on trial in, but little is explained. Kafka appeared quite contemptuous in his opinion of law and power. Throughout the novel, most of the characters speak of the law courts in an awed manner, but the reality that we see is very different. The Examining Magistrate spends his time during the trials reading pornographic novels, and Titorelli, the court painter, tells K. that none of the Judges are very important or intelligent at all, theyre just exceedingly vain. Kafka also writes of the law courts lack of concern about the public. When walking through the law courts, K. stumbles over a step that has been placed beyond a door. They dont show much consideration for the public, K. said. They show no consideration of any kind, replied the Law-Court Attendant. K. visits an Advocate, a man who through his influence with officials in the court, can manage to get their client acquitted. His advocate, Herr Huld, assures him that his case is moving forward satisfactorily, but K. is unsatisfied, and soon dismisses him to move forward on his own. The law court has a huge amount of power. They are able to, for incomprehensible reasons, charge any perso...