The Trial 166-231

In the last part of the book, I was interested by two contradictory themes. The first being the idea that everyone part of a society is a prisoner of the law. We see this in Block who allows the lawyer to treat him like a dog when the lawyer suggests that he knows something about his case. Before we see him interacting with the lawyer, we can assume he’s a respectable man, but his character has a major shift once he faces the lawyer. We also know that Block sleeps at the lawyer’s place because the lawyer deals with the case whenever he feels that it is most convenient for himself. There is a clear power gap between the two. It is said near the end about the doorkeeper, who represents an extension of the law, that “he belongs to the Law...In that case one can’t see the doorkeeper as subordinate to the man.” (222-223) No matter what, the law overpowers the average man.

On the contrary, we also see the average man’s want to be recognized by the law. The last thing we see the priest saying is, “The court wants nothing from you. It receives you when you come and dismisses you when you go.”(224) This implies that people choose to be involved with the law because the government gives you your identity and to not be recognized by the law is to not be anyone at all.