Natalie's Reaction

Chapter 5 of The Trial once again had a “dream-like” quality. From the beginning K. discovers a door, which for some reason he had never noticed before. This occurs frequently in dreams, random things and people pop up out of nowhere and they are considered normal. It was also especially strange that when K. opened the door his two arresting officers were in there with a “whip-man”. From all the random events that have occurred in this novel this was not that strange, I think random would be a better word. This reminds me back to when the policemen first arrested K. I found it strange that they had turned his neighbors house into an office room and why did they not just take him to whatever government building they work at. This was similar to what occurred in this chapter. The policemen are being punished and whipped in a random closet of a bank. If this were something to actually happen I would believe that it would probably occur in some sort of government office, yet again it happens there. Similarly the government seems to be described as “shady”. First the legal offices are located in an attic of a rundown building and next they are carrying out punishments in a dark closet. The government is more and more being associated with suspicious activity, they carry out many of their processes in the dark, which gives off the feeling like they are hiding stuff from the people. In this chapter we also learn more about the government and the way they carry out their legal processes through the policemen being punished. We hear them complain about the corruptness of the government and the poor pay they receive. I am not entirely sure if it was due to the situation they are in that caused them to speak so poorly of the government or if this is an ever-present feeling. Regardless, it seems like they can get away with a lot as long as they are not caught. This does not seem right, but I guess it is a reality in all governments. I also found it strange that K.’s statements would so heavily influence the courts actions and cause them to punish their own men. At the end of the chapter one can clearly see that K. is affected by the events that transpired that day, he feels guilty about their punishments and it is one of the first times I actually liked K. because rather than being his usual arrogant self he is actually caring about other people.