First of all, it should be stated that Oxford Learner`s Dictionaries web-site suggests the following definitions for the word “process”:
The flow, course, progress of a phenomenon. The set of sequential actions, aimed at achieving a certain result.
The active development of a disease.
The procedure of trial in a court and administrative proceedings.
At the first glance, the third meaning of the word, namely “the trial”, seems to be more in line with the content of the novel. However, there are two more meanings, and if you think well, you will find even more. Moreover, at the last page of his novel, the author stated: “Logic may indeed be unshakeable, but it cannot withstand a man who is determined to live” (Der Process, 271).
Therefore, my thesis for this essay is that Franz Kafka tells us not only about the court. In this work, I will prove that the whole novel contains an allegory on how an average human is unable to break the logic of life. Life is the process, which Kafka was writing about.
It should be stated, that in its genre “Der Process” is a deeply philosophical novel. Moreover, it contains surprisingly subtle combination of features, which are typical for a classic realistic novel as well as for a fiction novel. United all together, those features helped to create a stunning literary result.
Throughout the narrative, which describes one year in the life of the main character - the senior proctor of the Bank, Josef K., the reader is immersed by the author into familiar world of the early 20th century. Here we see a boarding house, where ordinary people used to live in the beginning of the previous century. We also witness the bank, where unremarkable officials and couriers work. Kafka describes a typical city with its streets, houses and suburbs, its way of life and its people. Everything is depicted as regular and logical, which I consider to be an allegory for the human life as it is.
However, here comes the Court. As an invisible hand of the fate, it constantly breaks into a familiar reality and destroys it with its presence: “Someone must have slandered Josef K., for one morning, without having done anything truly wrong, he was arrested” (Der Process, 1).
The composition of the novel is based on the classical principle. We see exposition at the beginning of the story (Joseph K. awakes and finds out that he was arrested. He is further questioned in the room of Miss Burstner). The exposition is followed by a very slow development of actions. (This development goes very slowly, provided that it took several months for the defense barrister Dr.Huld to write the first petition to the Court). The culmination takes place when Joseph K. decides that he does not need any barrister. The main character listens to a deeply philosophical story “Face to face with the Law”. This culmination is followed by an unexpected, however, logical, outcome – the death of Joseph K., the main character. He will never have a chance to understand the true reason behind his punishment, even when he is killed “like a dog” – by a knife in the heart (Der Process, 271).
All the characters in the book are somehow connected with judicial proceedings, with the Process. There is an endless raw of judicial officials of different ranks and suits. There are alsothe lawyer Dr.Huld, the Court artist Titorelli, the nurse of the lawyer named Leni - all of them either work for the Court, or for those, who have entree into it. Even a completely neutral Miss Burstner (a typist by profession), who appeared in the life of Joseph K., long before his arrest, immediately wants to learn jurisprudence in order to be able to help the main character to be justified.
It should be noted that during the entire “Der Process” various women stick to the main character. Lawyer Dr.Huld explains this by the fact that women subconsciously see all defendants as beautiful. This trait is especially strongly manifested in the nurse of the barrister, Leni. She is ready to give her love to each defendant - and not one by one, but to all at once.
Moreover, Franz Kafka shows the absurdity of life also through the time and space. Josef K. is constantly confronted with the judicial system in the closed, stuffy spaces - in his room (and almost in bed), in the attic of the judicial offices, in the company with tightly boarded up windows. Over time, the space begins to close within the regular life of the main character: the view in the windows, which he opened, is obscured by tiny pieces of walls and roofs of neighboring houses. Furthermore, indoors he is constantly surrounded by the crowds of people - court officials, bank employees, licentious teenage girls.
I believe that by refusing to work with the barrister, by choosing self-defense, Josef K. consciously dooms himself to death because he is not willing to play by the rules of the Court. That is his tragedy, but he saw it as his happiness because he was tired of living such a meaningless life.
As to the structure of the novel, even the periodic appearance of fantastic elements in “Der Process” is not highlighted by the author of the book. Franz Kafka makes those elements to be the part of the story in a natural way. Even when describing the most incredible things. For instance, one of such scenes is the repeated process of the two guards` execution in the bank closet, which could only be seen by Joseph K.
Moreover, Franz Kafka does not use any specific literature means or artistic figures that could make the language of the novel more expressive. His literary style, his language is equally calm, detailed and even boring during all the situations. However, this disregard towards the oddities is aimed to creating the usual picture of reality. It allows “Der Process” to demonstrate the absurdity of the reality.
Once upon a time, the author of mentioned “Hamlet”, William Shakespeare has compared human life to the theater. Franz Kafka went even further: he saw the life as a constant, endless trial, full of senseless and merciless proceedings. The main character was arrested on his birthday. I am entirely convinced that it was not an accident. It is a certain kind of hint to the reader, indicating that all the subsequent events will be more allegorical than real.
The last year of his life, Josef K. lives in the judicial process, without knowing anything specific about the trial. The fault of the character is unknown even to the judges, working on his case. I consider that he was guilty simply because each person in this life can be blamed for something, that is enough. All the religions state that a human is a sinner.
Finally, there is a year, which takes place between the first and the last scenes of the novel. Or may it be just a day? In the first scene, the two unidentified men made Josef K. angry. He was then prosperous and confident. The last scene also shows the two unknown, and Joseph meekly went with them. Is it one and the same Joseph K.? No! The changes that have occurred to him are obvious. He is no longer “a man, who is determined to live” (Der Process, 271).
Overall, the point is not in how the Court relates to a human, but in how a human`s relation to the Court (or to his destiny as long as the trial is an allegory for the fate). It is the Process, described in the novel. The evolution of Josef K.`s attitudes towards the Court and the Trial; towards his guilt and his innocence; towards the life and the system: ‘The Court doesn’t want anything from you. It accepts you when you come and it lets you go when you leave” (Der Process, 264). Therefore, it is not the Court, which changed Joseph K. The main character agreed to die because his life was empty and senseless. The Court helped Joseph K. to finally realize the meaningless process of being a human.
It may be stated that the whole plot of the novel reminds us of a classical Hamlet`s question: To be or not to be? On the one hand, deep in his soul, Joseph K. was not satisfied with his regular being. He was an ordinary man. In fact, we may regard to Joseph K. as to the character, which symbolizes everything average, which exists on the planet. Fortunately, there is a standard model of a human life, which provides an ordinary man with an ability to give up critical thinking.
Moreover, all the women immediately fall in love with Joseph K. I believe that this is metaphor, intended to depict a human, who is hungry for intimate, sincere, open relationships. The main character suffered from the deep feeling of loneliness.
Nevertheless, we must admit that Joseph K. considered himself to be an element of the logical system (the human life). He used to think that he had the answers for everything. Nevertheless, the life does not always go a usual way as long as it is not a logical system. Eventually, the Court, which symbolized the fate, demonstrated to the main character the chaotic nature of the real life.
On the other hand, when a human finds certain meaning in doing everyday activities and enjoys the results, he would not have time to time to search for an answer on the question of the impermanence of life. Yes, everything is vanity, but what sweetness there is in the soul if everything is going well! However, in the case of Joseph K., such meaning disappeared. He felt like a child or a dog, punished by taking away toys or food. Neither a child, nor a dog is able to understand the reason behind the punishment. Neither could the main character comprehend his own fault. The feeling of abandonment and guilt appeared, but they were mixed with a sense of grievance and innocence.
It is then, when we realize that a human, who doesn`t want to live, will not struggle to save his own life. The Court, the logic and the system are not the guilty ones. Joseph K. is the only person, responsible for his death. His death was purely his own decision. He could have fought, opposed, rebelled. However, Joseph K. did nothing of the abovementioned.
Arriving to the conclusion, I am entirely convinced that the main message of “Der Process” is embodies in the following quotation: “Logic may indeed be unshakeable, but it cannot withstand a man who is determined to live” (Der Process, 271).
All things considered, in this essay I have analyzed the tragedy of Joseph K. Apart from it, I have also argued that the main idea behind the novel is the allegory between the Court and the fate. The key conflict is represented by the struggle of a human with the meaningless (but logical) system, which the human calls life. Along with that, I have stated that, by choosing to die, Joseph K. has lost his own struggle and that was his tragedy.
Works Cited
Kafka, Franz. Der Process. Trans. Mitchell, Breon. New York: Schocken Books, 1999. Print.
Oxford Learner`s Dictionaries. Web. 22 Mar. 2016.
‹http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/›.
