In Franz Kafka’s timeless The Trial, protagonist Joseph K. is arrested on the morning of his 30th birthday for unknown crimes he has no reason to believe he has committed. Over the course of the next year, Joseph K. is taken through the shadowy and laborious machinations of the legal system. Although he is represented by a lawyer, he has trouble trusting the man, or even understanding what he says about his case and the larger legal system. One year later, on his 31st birthday, he has resigned himself to his fate and willingly accompanies two prison guards outside the city, where he is executed. What does this early 20th century work have to teach us about legal representation today?
Impenetrable Bureaucracy
Joseph K. is a man who blends in, colors inside the lines, follows the rules. He falls into place at work. One morning he is greeted at his own door by two police officers who inform him that he is under arrest on unknown charges. Incredulous, his first thought is that his friends at the bank are playing a birthday prank on him.
He dedicates an entire Sunday to appear in court, which turns out to be located among tenements in a part of the city he seldom frequents. Upon his arrival, he finds labyrinthine staircases, offices, and courtrooms inside. The courthouse imparts a distinct sense of dark and dusty stuffiness, whose air he finds hard to breathe. Though he has always assumed the court system functions properly and in accordance with fairness, he now starts to doubt whether he will ever get straight answers about his case.
Helplessness
As Joseph K.’s case wears on, he encounters circumstances that seem orchestrated to precipitate his eventual mental breakdown. He has no control over his case’s development and feels beaten down by it, like rocks being reduced to sand by ocean waves. The reach of the court system extends to every facet of his life, even to his work. An important customer at work has heard of his case, and astonishingly recommends he speak with a lowly painter who produces portraits for the courthouse—this person may have some information that could help him. Meanwhile, his lawyer tells him that it’s best to avoid any direct, overt actions that may set proceedings even more against him.
As time passes, justice and fairness in the court proceedings is eclipsed by the role of good relations with subordinate court clerks and officials. The higher officials remain unknown and unreachable behind an impenetrable bureaucracy. Joseph K.’s aloof detachment from the gravity of his case gives way to obsession, as he neglects his work and personal relationships in devotion of doing whatever he can to free himself from the grip of the law.
Resignation
Tension culminates as Joseph K. decides to withdraw from his lawyer, portrayed in the work as ill and near death, taking clients at his sickbed rather than an office. Joseph K. makes one last contact with a representative from the court: this time a chaplain. Their conversation offers a glimpse of a life outside the reach of the law—sustained by technicalities and flight, with no possibility of victory through a direct confrontation with his charges or accusers. In the end, Joseph K.’s trial never comes; instead, a year after the ordeal began, he is greeted by two prison guards who lead him, unresisting, outside the city to his final demise.
Kafka’s masterpiece explores the complex themes of social alienation, existential absurdism, and the unresolved plight of the human condition we all feel to varying degrees. But more practically, the work showcases these themes in the context of the criminal court system, one of the most threatening and disorienting environments a person may find himself in. The American legal system was organized to avoid catastrophes like the one that befell Joseph K. But as many know firsthand, there is often great difficulty finding justice in the courts. Most are pressured to accept an unfavorable plea bargain, or worse, tricked into pleading guilty. Lawyers are often ineffective and confusing, and a person is stopped from presenting their perspective of the entire truth of a matter, forced instead to jump through a series of hoops focused more on technical fidelity to procedure than to justice.
Help in Your Time of Need
But why does a literary critique appear on an attorney’s website? Early in my legal career, I read The Trial and was struck by its shocking portrayal of an innocent man suffering demise at the hands of an unjust legal system. I realized early on that representing the interests of everyday people in need of real help—not big corporations—would make for the most stimulating and rewarding legal work. If you’ve been charged with a crime, call the Law Office of Walker Fults today at (214) 838-0557 to find out how our smart, aggressive legal representation can be put to work for you.
