"Sometimes we need to burn our bridges in order to walk ahead."

October 19, 2008

The trial

While nearly everyone will burn Kafka's book the days after March 26th, 2009 I will keep it safe in my shelf for I will need it again. While everyone's grown sick of K.'s trial I'm amazed by this crazy story.
A short summery of Franz Kafka's 'Der Proceß': The day of his 30th birthday Josef K. - a quite ordinary citizen - is arrested. He doesn't know why and he won't find out until he dies (being guilty). Everyone has heard about his very serious trial; K. tries to get any help to win. But the more he gets occupied the more he finds out there is unlikely any way to win nor to stand in front of the 'great court' that would convict him. But what is this trial about? What sort of guilt are we reading about? What court is allowed to judge him? Why must K. die not knowing nor even closely having found out why?
I'm certain the great court, the judge and the guilt meant by Kafka is far from our common imagination of law(s) and justice. My conclusion is: Kafka either had schizophrenia and put that on his character Josef K. or he's had an entirely big knowledge about another sort of guilt; the guilt with which everyone has been burdened ever since Adam and Eve ate that fruit.
I admit I haven't yet completely broken up my mind about it, but after reading it for the second time I'm more being convinced that the sense behind that story is an enormously big one and that whoever wants to burn that book is just too lazy to think about it.
...German language and literature studies, I'm coming!

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