Raoul's Term paper ideas

Essay 1:

In Kafka’s novel The Trial, we find that our main character is wrongly accused a crime, which he has not committed. However, the government finds him to be guilty can condemns him to death. Interestingly, the struggle of not allowing a guilty man go free while still preventing an innocent man from being condemned, has been a problem for many legal systems. In order to insure that no guilty men go free sadly many innocent men will be condemned. On the other hand, in order to insure that no innocent men are condemned many guilty men will go free. In the society Kafka created, it is clear that members are ok with the collateral damage of insuring that no guilty men go free.

Essay 2:

In Kafka’s stories, we find that the pillars of society continually collapse and inevitable fail the individual. In the case of The Trial, the government, and in particular the legal system, fails Joseph K. through not only its inborn contradictions but also its corrupt system. For being part of society, K. was left with no path to success.

Essay 3:

As we read Kafka’s novel The Trial, we begin to ask our selves “why is K., a good hardworking man, in such a bad situation?” Our narrator lives in a world of corruption and an unstable government. Honestly I believe that the government feared K.. They feared the individual because he posed a threat to the government. It was not flagrant, but K. did believe that the government was corrupt and had negative views for the government system before his arrest. Once, he had his examination it was clear to the government that he would have to be eliminated for the safety of their system.

Essay 4:

Towards the end of Kafka’s novel The Trial, our protagonist has a conversation with a priest. This conversation in Kafka’s world represents the church attempting to convert K. towards their beliefs, similar to the priest at the end of The Stranger by Camu. However, we interestingly find not only corruption within the church symbolized by the podium but also a story that represents many of ideas brought along with the novel. The priest gives K. the story of the guard and present several different perspectives. Ironically enough, this story represents K.’s current position in life.