"The Trial" (German Der Process, also Der Proceß, Der Prozeß, in the first edition: Der Prozess) is a philosophical novel by Franz Kafka, published posthumously in 1925.
“It's only because of their stupidity that they're able to be so sure of themselves." ― Franz Kafka, The Trial
The period of creation of the novel - from July 1914 to January 1915 - coincided with the most important events in the life of Franz Kafka. In July 1914, the writer breaks off his engagement to Felice Bauer. Kafka compared his position at this time with the existence of the accused, and the final conversation with his beloved, which took place in the presence of her sister and friend, called nothing more than the "Tribunal". Shortly thereafter, Kafka begins writing "The Trial". On July 28, 1914, the Austro-Hungarian Empire declares war on Serbia, which entails the outbreak of the First World War. In the fall of 1914, the writer moves to his own room, where for the first time he lives separately from his parents.
At the initial stage, Kafka's work on "The Trial" went on continuously, and in just two months the writer managed to prepare about 200 manuscript pages. Despite this, his creative impulse quickly subsided. In October 1914, Kafka was fond of writing the short story "In the Correctional Colony", after which he gradually returned to the novel.
"The Trial" was created nonlinearly. According to the writer Max Brod, first of all, Kafka wrote the first and last chapters of the novel, while work on the rest proceeded in parallel. To write chapters, Kafka used the same notebooks in which he repeatedly entered other texts. The writer tore out the pages related to "The Trial" from notebooks and divided them into fragments and chapters, while not arranging them among themselves, which subsequently made it difficult to recreate the plot of the novel.
At the beginning of 1915, Kafka interrupted work on the novel and, with the exception of a brief attempt in 1916, did not proceed further. Already in November 1914, Kafka declared: “I can no longer write. I have approached the border, before which I will probably have to wait more than one year again, in order to then start again with another once again infinitely long story. "
THE PLOT
In the morning, on the day of the thirtieth birthday of the main character of the novel, an employee of the bank, Joseph K., is arrested, but the reasons are not given. However, Joseph continues to lead his life as before. He is trying in vain to find out what he was convicted of and how he can be justified. He visits the court, whose offices are located in the attics of densely populated apartment buildings. Women who are related to the judicial world and try to appear to him as "helpers" in his business, only arouse his physical attraction.
Joseph K. is desperate to find access to the courts, but to no avail. He is seriously concerned about his process, although at first he was disdainful of him. K. is more and more entangled in the labyrinth of surreal bureaucracy and penetrates deeper and deeper into the world of the court. At the same time, the court penetrates deeper and deeper into K.'s life. Whether K.'s trial is progressing remains unknown to either the reader or the protagonist himself. The court's decision is also unknown, but K. feels that his time is running out. Joseph K., in pursuit of the mysterious verdict, will never know if he was pronounced and what K. was accused of. On the eve of his 31st birthday, K. notices that he is being pursued by two unknown persons who are stabbing him in the quarry, "like a dog."
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