When I first read The Trial, I disliked it. The story felt so tiresome. I hated the protagonist, Joseph K, and his egotistical behaviour. I didn’t care about his trial that was on a charge unknown to him, or what would happen to him in the end. Neither Joseph K nor his story interested me. I took the story as a political allegory that highlights the nature of bureaucracy in a totalitarian state. It was my first experience with Kafka, and I wasn’t prepared to meet his thematic density. Revisiting it after so many years, I was much better equipped to face the challenge of reading Kafka. And yes, I do regard reading Kafka as a challenge.
The whole story of The Trial is an allegory. Although in my first reading I considered it only as a political allegory, the rereading made me realize there is more to the story than mere satire about bureaucracy in a totalitarian state. Of course, Kafka wanted a demonstration of the ordinary citizens’ position in the face of the bureaucracy. In his story, Joseph K is facing a trial for a charge that is not communicated to him. He is expected to prepare his defense without knowing the nature of his charge. Throughout the story, hints are dropped that no matter how hard K tries, he might not be acquitted. The justice system seems to be operating under the notion “guilty until proven innocent” rather than the accepted legal maxim “innocent until proven guilty”. The absurdity of the story exhibits not only the defenceless position of the ordinary citizen in an authoritarian governance but also the bureaucratic inefficiency in a democracy. The governing bodies are distant, and the law is unintelligible and inaccessible to ordinary people.
Moreover, this rereading made me perceive the whole story in another light. I read the trial of Joseph K as an allegory for life. Life itself is a trial. The very ambiguous nature of life makes us individually strive towards finding the true meaning and our purpose in life. Joseph K’s struggle to defend himself against an unknown charge is similar to our struggle to find meaning in life in an incomprehensible world. In his struggle, K finds himself physically isolated from society. And likewise, in our quest for meaning, we’ll be increasingly emotionally isolated from society. The deeper we delve in our search, like K in his unfathomable trial, the more we perceive the absurdity of the nature of life. K accepts the absurdity and faces his end. But if we persevere in our pursuit without surrendering to the absurdity, we could gain a better understanding of existential guilt. Its constructive power will help us grow and heal, emotionally strengthening us to weather the storms of an absurd world. It is this new light that lifted The Trial in my estimation.
Nevertheless, reading the novel wasn’t easy. The story didn’t attract my interest despite the powerful themes it explored. Some parts dragged on, and I was bored. Reading Kafka is always a challenge, even when you grasp his meaning. I won’t say I enjoyed the novel, but I understood and appreciated it better this time.
Rating: 3/5
