Kaylee's Response to Natalie

Like Natalie, we continue you too see just how unorganized the courts. The informality of the events and lack of organization makes the reader question how serious the court can be and how validated it is. The way they use the court ushers wife and the wife herself allows them to disgusts me. Her submissive behavior makes me believe that males predominantly control the courts. Which would make sense considering the courts lack of legitimacy. It is common knowledge that you can predict how advanced a society is by the role of women in it. We have yet to see if women truly lack power. It is possible that the usher’s wife is just a promiscuous woman. 

In addition, the element of supremacy in K. personality continues to be highlights by his desires to make the court usher jealous and overshadow others. I believe that his attitude may hurt him in the end when dealing with the courts, not only because they are pompous and lack of awareness. They might recognize this attitude and have negative bias verdicts. 

Maya's Response to Raoul

I agree with Raoul’s reaction completely. So far, the novel has done nothing but leave me more confused than I was at the beginning of it. I also mentioned a strange and extremely rapid shift in tone. A lot of sexual tension between the woman and K. is, to me, inappropriately juxtaposed to K. asking to see the books that could possibly help his case. 

I, frankly, can see the court case just being dropped all together. So, I understand why K. shows some confidence when he proposes this possibility to the woman. Even as the court was in session, the judge did not reveal the reasoning behind K.’s attendance. It would be strange to see a legal matter that has already been acted upon be forgotten, but I cannot say that it is something to be completely ruled out. The inconsistency of the legal system and the unintelligible ways in which things are handled make it a possibility. Maybe they will not just simply dismiss K., but I can see this being dragged out to the point where no one, not even the court officials, will want to deal with it and they end up never reaching a verdict. 

I, too, am upset that I have not gained any further knowledge as to how the legal system of K.’s country works. But, maybe this is Kafka’s point. Maybe he is trying to portray the incompetence of the legal system of his native country. 

Maya's 4th Reaction

My opinion towards this book has somewhat turned. At first, I was eager to continue reading, hoping that each chapter would shed more light as to what happened to K.. Unfortunately, what has actually happened in the novel is contradictory to my expectations. So far, the book has dragged on at the same pace and we, as readers, are no closer to finding out what happened to the protagonist. Sometimes the events are so ambiguous I find myself getting frustrated because I cannot grasp what actually happened. The dialogue between K. and the wife of the court usher seemed haphazard to me. One minute they would be talking about the books in her office and then almost instantly they would change their topic of conversation to how nice K.’s eyes were. 

But, was funny to see that K. also lacks faith in his court system much like the reader does. While talking with the wife of the court usher, he says that he will laugh at whatever verdict they reach, if they ever reach one. It was interesting to read this after learning that Kafka never truly finished the book. Will the court ever proclaim K. as guilty or innocent? Those who were assigned to translate it found a way to bring it to a conclusion, but this has left me wondering how it will end. So maybe it would be best to try to set my frustrations aside to see how everything culminates. 

Raoul's Reaction to Natalie's Fourth Reaction

Natalie I completely agree, In Chapter 3 of The Trial, we once again see how unorganized the court system is. I also do not understand why they never told K. when his meeting would be. I also feel that if there was a hearing they would not have notified K.. I think this is all some corrupt scandal that the legal system is playing on K.. I also find it peculiar and strange that the court offices are located in the attic. I agree that this supports previous feelings of the courts lack of organization and makes us question the courts validity. It does make sense that this would account for the hearing to be placed in the women’s house. I also believe that it is an abuse of power that the court officials use the court usher’s wife as they please. This also left me feeling disgusted towards the court system and the court officials.

I also saw that more is revealed of K.’s personality in the first half of chapter three. I do see his arrogant attitude towards the usher’s wife. I also saw that at first he really does not want anything else to do with her because he believes that she is below him and cannot help him, but once he finds out her connection with the examining magistrate he becomes attracted to her because he realizes how she could help him. This also bothered me about K., and I know he is the type of person to use people to get his way. I also think that it would be a bad idea to use the usher’s wife to make the court jealous. It can only get the officers mad at him, leading to him getting In more trubble. 

Raoul's Fourth Reaction

The first half of the third chapter of The Trial By Kafka, like last chapter, had a bizarre atmosphere to it, but it was interesting to say the least. I do not like how the story line of The Trial is jumpy and the mood is inconsistent, switching between serious and sexual.

I think it is clear that K. is the victim of the unjust and corrupt legal system. The sexual favors that the student and the examining magistrate get out of the woman are unjust. If the heads of the legal system are committing acts like these, none of the legal system can be trusted. 

The first half of the third chapter consisted of a lot of sexual tension. I have to say, the woman is a slut. She is a married woman who is not only cheating on her husband with two guys but also trying to sleep with K.. On the other hand, she has no choice (at least with the student and the examining magistrate); the legal system will not protect her from abuse because they are the legal system.

I find the situation with K.’s interrogation to be strange. K. has not been informed of anything, and everything seems to be at a stand still with his case. I don’t understand why K. is so confident that the case will be dismissed. I feel like K. is going to be blamed for something unpredictable, and because the legal system is so corrupt he is going to be executed.

So far The Trial has left me clueless. I have no understanding of the legal system of this country and I have no understanding of this trial. I want to read on in order to answer my questions.

Natalie's Response to Ryan

I agree with Ryan that the chapter does not further expand K.’s trial. I feel like this will be the case for the majority of the novel. I also agree with Ryan that K. believes his case is over but that it is too early in the novel to determine this. From the moment it even began K. has undermined that power of the court and believed he was innocent and it’s funny because he still does not know why he is even on trial. I feel that because K. keeps undermining the courts power it is going to affect his trials outcome. Also I do not think that K. should not use the washerwoman to get the court officials jealous because this plan could only backfire on him. I also agree that K. has a superiority complex and this has been highly notable since the first chapter. I personally do like K.’s personality but despite that I also feel like it is going to affect him and his trial. Unlike Ryan I do not think that K. changed his feelings about the washerwoman because he became suddenly attracted to her. I think instead he realized her possible value to him and then decided on his attraction and the actions he would pursue.

Ryan's Response to Natalie

Like Natalie, I think the court system is blatantly unorganized, and that even if there was a hearing that day, K. would not have been advised and then yelled at for either missing the hearing or showing up late. Natalie makes an interesting point, by connected the disorganization of the court system with the fact that when K. was arrested the supervisor occupied his neighbor’s room instead of taking him somewhere, like a police station. Throughout the novel I have also questioned the validity of the legal system as the officials abuse the washerwoman and K. expects someone to ask for a bribe during his trial. Like Natalie, I believe K. has a crippling superiority complex and is an opportunistic person, as he expects to use the washerwoman’s connections to sway his case in his favor, but upon discovering she is not as important as he once though, he dismisses her. I also think K.’s plan to make the courts jealous throughout the washerwoman is not prudent and is likely to hurt his status in his case. I think K.’s plan to use the washerwoman stems from the fact that K. thinks his case is over and there is no chance of any officials or judges continuing on with K.’s case.

Natalie's Fourth Reaction

In Chapter 3 of The Trial, we once again see how unorganized the court is. K. shows up for his hearing, but then is told that there is no meeting that Sunday. K. had no notification of this and was not advised. I feel like even if there had been a hearing K. still would not have gotten advised. The court offices are also located in the attic. K. points out how peculiar and strange it is. This supports previous feelings of the courts lack of organization and makes me questions the courts validity. This does, as K. points out, account for why the initial hearing was located in his neighbors house. The court officials are also abusing their power by using the court ushers wife as they please. This made left me feeling disgusted and an overall disrespect towards the court system and the court officials. More is revealed of K.’s personality as well. His common belief of superiority is also seen in his attitude towards the usher’s wife. At first he really does not want anything else to do with her because he believes that she is below him and cannot help him, but once he finds out her connection with the examining magistrate he becomes attracted to her because he realizes how she could help him. This bothered me about K. and I feel like he is the type of person to use people to get his way. I also think that it would be a bad idea to use the usher’s wife to make the court jealous. He is still on trial and therefore it seems like that would only make them angry and rule against him.