The Trial: A New Translation Based on the Restored Text
by Franz Kafka
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Book Summary Information
Author: Franz KafkaTranslator: Breon Mitchell
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); German (Original Language); English (Published)
Format: Deckle Edge
Published: 1999-05-25
ISBN: 0805209999
Number of pages: 304
Publisher: Schocken
Book Reviews of The Trial: A New Translation Based on the Restored Text
Book Review: Analyses of Kafkas', "The Trial"
Summary: 5 Stars
"The trial" is a deeply symbolic novel and opens with the protagonist Joseph K., being arrested by two warders followed by an interview with the inspector. Joseph K. is told that he is under arrest but is free to go about his daily duties. Throughout the first half of the novel, Joseph K. strives at all costs to comprehend why he has been arrested. Although all of his attempts to shed some light on his charges are unsuccessful, he still attempts to mount a defense...claiming innocence. Throughout the novel, the way in which Joseph K. handles his trial compounds his guilt and at the end of the novel he is executed by being stabbed. Throughout the novel, Kafka is ambiguous and leaves many open ends with respect to the point and meaning of the novel. Thus, several interpretations can be made with respect to the significance of the novel. However, focusing on the symbolism inherent in this text, it can be argued that Joseph K. represents every person living and working in modern society and that the trial represents a lifelong process that all humans must endure to some extent. Further, "The Law" represents the laws of nature, God and evil to which all humans are bound. Therefore, Joseph K, representing modern bureaucratic society, breaks "The Law's" of nature/humanity by being morally shallow, self-centered, and superficial and hence must face the trial. However, due to his own failing attempt of searching and finding what he was guilty of and blindly associating himself with innocence, his trial (life's journey of trial and error) was ended, and Joseph K. executed, symbolizing his ultimate fate of death and complete ignorance.
When the novel opens, the narrator explains how Joseph K. routinely receives his breakfast from the cook precisely at 8:00 am. However, there was an interruption to his routine that day. Instead of his breakfast, two guards showed up and after Joseph rang his breakfast bell, the warders notified him that he was under arrest. From that moment, Joseph attempted to find out why he was arrested and what he was being charged with. He stated that he had no knowledge of the law and the guards in reply took that statement as further evidence that he was indeed guilty. Following his arrest, he was instructed by the guards to dress up so that he could meet the investigator. Having met the investigator, Joseph K. realized that he would be equally unhelpful in clarifying why he had been arrested. However, the inspector notified him that he is free to go and return to his daily activities. This gesture symbolizes the need for Joseph K. (society), to focus in on themselves and realize how they have been living their lives and in this case leading it in the wrong direction. As a matter of fact, the court encourages Joseph K. to find out the reasons for his arrest. However, Joseph K. seems to be focusing more on his innocence than on what he has done wrong. In fact, when he appears for his interrogation at the courthouse, instead of attempting to find out what he has done wrong, he criticizes the court, the proceedings and states his innocence. Joseph K., is also easily distracted by small, meaningless details that surround him in daily life. However, rather than pay attention to the details that can help him solve his problem of guilt, he seems distracted by his observations. The inspector's charge that, "Joseph K. is insensitive to the nuances of his situation." This implies that the court is indeed encouraging Joseph to focus on detail, but once again, Joseph K.'s approach to the trial further compounds his problems and both approaches that Joseph uses to prove his innocence fail him as he should be searching for his guilt and is therefore not focused on the appropriate things.
As Joseph K. begins to mount a defense for his trial, he in no way has any idea what he is being charged with, or what he is guilty of . As a matter of fact, he remains focused on his innocence and doesn't even fathom what he could be guilty of. This represents his blindness to his situation. His (societies) defense should have focused on what wrongdoings were done and how they could be avoided in the future at all costs. Instead, the defense showed general stubbornness and apathy to "The Law," and just like the laws of nature in the world we live, in Kaska's, "The Trial," "The Law," is never wrong. Joseph K., while being interrogated at the courthouse, stated that he would fight the court not merely for himself but for all other's indicted. This line has several implications the first being that he is not the only one being accused. Therefore, even in the novel, Joseph is representing not only himself but also all others indicted. The major problem to his statement is that he is fighting an institution that cannot lose. He does not realize that the trial that is being held because he broke the law is a process that all humans must go through. Further, if he freely accepts his wrongdoings, he can in a way win, by being able to go on with life and better himself. However, he constantly chooses to fight the entire process and this leads to his downfall and eventual death.
Throughout the novel, Joseph K. comes across three women. The most important meeting is with his neighbor Frailein Burstner, who warns him to focus on his trial and is also present when he is being dragged to his death. Blindly, Joseph K. only wants to see her in a sexual manor and in the novel wildly kisses her on the lips and neck. This symbolizes his animalistic nature and immorality. Further, as Frailein gives Joseph the invaluable advice of focusing on his trial he only focuses on her and doesn't heed any attention to her warnings. The other two encounters with woman are purely sexual in nature. Joseph K. comes across his lawyer's assistant Leni who wants to be his mistress as well as everyone else's mistress, and the usher's wife also offers herself in a sexual way to Joseph. These latter two women again symbolize immorality. They function to take Joseph's attention off of his trial and what he has done wrong and instead attempt to lead him astray.
This novel can be interpreted in many ways. It is sometimes argued that "The Trial" is a satirical political novel, however, the fact that the defendant is allowed to rest before his interrogation and that he roams freely whilst arrested is a hint that this novel doesn't address the issues of a police state. Further, it can be interpreted as an existential piece that symbolizes the meaninglessness of life and what leads up to one's death. Similarly, it can be argued that this novel depicts the adventures of a paranoid schizophrenic. With the aforementioned analyses that could be attributed to "The Trial," one can imagine the loose ends that Kafka leaves for the reader. However, the symbolism of society, the laws of nature, and Joseph's eventual expulsion from the world seem a more valid argument. Therefore, throughout the entire novel, Joseph K. (society) focused on the wrong thing. When it was brought to Joseph's (societies) attention that he was to be arrested, he reacted by immediately identifying with innocence. This was the identity that made him and makes society feel comfortable. But, instead of claiming innocence, Joseph should have focused more on what "laws" he was breaking and not adhering too. In essence he and society were attempting to go against "The Law" of nature/God and when it was brought to his (societies) attention, he ignored where he had gone wrong and rather blindly focused on what he had NOT done wrong. Therefore Joseph K.'s reaction to his arrest and the way he handled his trial was his (societies) ultimate failure. If Joseph (society) would have abandoned immorality and admitted guilt at the "trial" of life and then turned his (societies) ways around, he (society) may have been allowed to live a meaningful life, rather than facing ultimate death.
Summary of The Trial: A New Translation Based on the Restored Text
Written in 1914, The Trial is one of the most important novels of the twentieth century: the terrifying tale of Josef K., a respectable bank officer who is suddenly and inexplicably arrested and must defend himself against a charge about which he can get no information. Whether read as an existential tale, a parable, or a prophecy of the excesses of modern bureaucracy wedded to the madness of totalitarianism, Kafka's nightmare has resonated with chilling truth for generations of readers. This new edition is based upon the work of an international team of experts who have restored the text, the sequence of chapters, and their division to create a version that is as close as possible to the way the author left it.In his brilliant translation, Breon Mitchell masterfully reproduces the distinctive poetics of Kafka's prose, revealing a novel that is as full of energy and power as it was when it was first written.
The story of The Trial's publication is almost as fascinating as the novel itself. Kafka intended his parable of alienation in a mysterious bureaucracy to be burned, along with the rest of his diaries and manuscripts, after his death in 1924. Yet his friend Max Brod pressed forward to prepare The Trial and the rest of his papers for publication. When the Nazis came to power, publication of Jewish writers such as Kafka was forbidden; Kafka's writings, many of which have distinctively Jewish themes, did not find a broad audience until after World War II. (Hannah Arendt once observed that although "during his lifetime he could not make a decent living, [Kafka] will now keep generations of intellectuals both gainfully employed and well-fed.") Among the current crop of Kafka heirs is Breon Mitchell, the translator of this edition of The Trial. Rather than tidying up Kafka's unconventional grammar and punctuation (as previous translators have done), Mitchell captures the loose, uneasy, even uncomfortable constructions of Kafka's original story. His translation technique is the only way to convey the comedy and confusion of this narrative, in which Josef K., "without having done anything truly wrong," is arrested, tried, convicted and executed--on a charge that is never disclosed to him. --Michael Joseph Gross
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