Natalie's Reaction

In Chapter 8 of The Trial, we are introduced to a new character called Block. Block shares many similarities with K., he is also on trial, has Huld as his lawyer, but more importantly he is a representation of what K. may become by the end of his trial. The trial basically sucked the life out of Block; it consumed every single aspect of his life. Block is even living behind Hulds house, which is very strange, but evidently it is because Huld does not want to deal with him, only on rare occasions, therefore when he does want to speak with him it is good for him to be close by. It was strange that Huld gets defense when K. tries to fire him as his lawyer, it was even stranger that Block is shocked by K. wanting to fire Huld. Does he not realize that Huld has barely, if at all, helped him? Throughout the novel there is a confusion surrounding K.’s trial, but more importantly the court system as a whole. Chapter 8 is not the first time when an accused person is presented as seeming consumed by their trial. In a previous section, K. visits the court offices and sees other accused persons. In these parts they are described almost “zombie-like”. It is evident that the legal system in this country has issues, to say the least. When a person is convicted of a crime they are basically doomed, they are considered guilty until proven innocent. There is rarely a case when the accused has been declared innocent and can go back to living their life regularly. Usually a person’s case is dragged out indefinetly, and this is considered the “favorable” option. I feel like Kafka was probably criticizing the government at the time he wrote this novel. After learning about the three institutions present in Kafka’s writing (church, state, and family) and how they all serve to block man from succeeding, I feel like Kafka was focusing on the “state” aspect in this novel, and I am pretty sure that with some further research it could be concluded that the court system in this novel shares many parallels with the legal system at the time Kafka wrote this.